Ice Riders?

[vandeda]

Anyone else hear a mountain biker with studded tires to run on the ice ... whether it be lake, river, or whatever?

I have a bunch of guys at work (KAPL for those in the Albany NY area) who love this stuff. They stud their own tires with sheet metal screws ... #6, 3/8", panhead sheet metal screws ... they got it down to a science now lol. Had my first opportunity this past Thursday when the ice was still nice and thick (well, ~4" according to the ice fisherman I was talking with) on the Mohawk River before all this stinky warm weather and rain. Well, all I have to say is it's a BLAST!!!!!! Well, in front of the sanitation station where they were dumping some warm water and the ice seemed a bit ..... thin .... was a bit unnerving. But man, I cannot wait for it to be cold enough again to hit the river again. I have some friends who live right on the river so it'll be an awesome way to commute to their place.

If you haven't tried it and live in where it's cold .... oh man, give it a shot. I highly recommend!!!

Dan

[Ray]

It doesn't get cold enough around here very often to actually ride on rivers or ponds, but we get plenty of ice on the roads. I have studded tires for my cross bike (Nokians, not homemade) and riding on ice is great. It's incredibly secure feeling. The only problem is that most cars don't have studded tires and they can slide all over the place. I've had a couple of mildly frightening moments as cars started coming at me sideways. So I generally avoid bike commuting when there's a lot of ice. The studded tires don't really work very well in snow either, so it turns out they don't get a lot of use. I think riding on a frozen river would be awesome.

-Ray

[davids]

Two hours in the Wompatuck woods this morning, all four of us with Nokian studded tires. There's nothing like the feeling of confidence you have riding studded tires on a frozen surfaces - They're like magic! Last winter, half of the parking lot at the park froze solid - it was the size of a good-sized ice rink. We had a blast zipping around on the slick surface. Although one of us lost his head and put a foot down...

Of course, there's also nothing like the sound studded tires make on dry pavement. Like fingernails on a chalk board...