Cycling in the snow

Cycling in the snow is fun. In case you missed it, here’s how to do it next time we freeze up.

Preparation is key
Clothes-wise, the rules for cycling are the same as walking around in–5ºC. Feet need hiking boots or, for the serious snow cyclist, neoprene overshoes. Leggings of some sort under the jeans are essential: what feels chilly on the flat will feel like you’re having your legs peeled when you’re freewheeling down a (gritted) hill. Breathable or wicking layers on the upper body will prevent you from turning into a boil-in-the-bag lobster.

At slow, snowy speeds, a woolly beanie may seem more important than a helmet. If you want to wear a helmet, you could wear wrap-around ear-warmers that fit below where the helmet goes. Whatever you choose, I’d counsel against perching a helmet on top of any sort of woollen hat. This not only looks ridiculous but, more importantly, it’s pointless. At the risk of stating what should be blindingly obvious: helmets don’t fit and therefore won’t protect your head if worn over a hat.

Falling snow makes it hard to keep your eyes open. You’ll need clear cycling glasses to cycle while it’s snowing – maybe builders’ eye protectors would do the trick.

In very cold weather, you might as well leave your bike computer at home. The batteries freeze below about –10ºC. Don’t worry if you forget, as the cold won’t damage the computer, it’ll just carry on working once it’s warmed up again.

No front braking
The single most important thing to remember is not to use your front brake. In normal conditions, you should use the front brake first. The rear brake is a weak auxiliary. In the snow and ice, the rules are reversed. Avoid the front brake! If it locks up, you will lose control instantly. In my case, this was easy to remember. The front brakepads on my mountain bike are worn out, so I only had the option of using the rear brake. On your bike, it might even be worth disconnecting the front brake so you can’t use it by mistake. Just remember to reconnect it when you get to a snow-ploughed and de-iced main road.

At corners, turn slowly and wide. Never brake while you’re turning. Brake in a straight line. Use higher gears than usual to avoid wheel spin. On roads that have been cleared, ride in the middle of the cleared area, away from the slush. On side roads, it may be safer to cycle through loose snow rather than snow that’s been compacted by car tyres as this is often very slippery and icy. Watch out for sliding cars and speeding snow ploughs. Listen out: scrunching snow is good. Silence means ice – and danger. Black ice is especially dangerous and hard to spot. If you find yourself gliding silently over ice, never brake – just freewheel to a stop, then get off and push.

Skinny tyres with no grip are as useless in snow as car tyres without snow chains. Some hybrid bikes have tyres with chunky enough treads, but ideally you want mountain bike tyres fully pumped to avoid snakebite punctures. You can actually buy ice tyres with metal studs built in, but they’re more for the Pennines than the Headington Hill.

So, with the next big snowfall, get out on a fat-tyred bike, relax and enjoy. You’ll probably have the road to yourself most of the time.

James Styring

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