It’s January and I should be spending all my bike time on groomed bike trails through the north woods. After a incredibly late start to winter things were finally settling into normal winter riding conditions two weeks ago. That weekend was spent hiking and winter camping instead of taking advantage of the nicely groomed trails.
And then the weather changed again. We had nearly two weeks of above normal temperatures and rain. Rain in January is extremely rare here. We had a record high, or two, with the temps running 30 degrees above normal. It felt like April.
The groomed trails disappeared or became covered in ice. I hear many of them were still rideable, but studded tires were required. I’ve been riding my Surly Pugsley on snow for 11 winters and have never felt the need to spend money on studded fat tires. In normal years it gets cold enough we don’t get a lot of freeze/thaw cycles that cause icy trails except in the late Spring. I would estimate I have felt the need for studded tires on off-roads trails less then 1% of of the time over the 10,000 miles I’ve ridden on snow with my fatbike. But the past few weeks that would have been the only way to ride and stay upright. I might reconsider the need for studded tires on my fatbike if our winters become milder like this year.
With icy trails I pulled out the all-weather A-train this weekend and rode the streets of Duluth. Ironically this bike has studded tires. No need for the studs because the roads were clear and dry.
four season cycling 