Studded tires

On my bicycle -- that is. It was probably the winter of 1999 that I purchased a pair of Nokian studded tires for my bicycle. Well, Portland winters aren't that severe, and even when roads are snowed and iced over, it's usually easier to just stay home and wait for the thaw.

Last week while the snow was still coming down and noting that the roads can get quite icy here, I spent an evening swapping the tires and wheels on my mountain bike to the Nokian studded tires for the inevitable times I would want to go out on icy roads.

I got my chance today. It was a bright, sunny day but still quite cool, the air temp just at freezing point all day. Of course, the roads are clear where the sun is able to hit, but shadowed areas are still icy from the thaw and re-freeze that goes on. And the side roads that don't get plowed are still covered with packed snow/ice combination.

I needed to go over to the church to put the trash bin out for pickup tomorrow, and this being a dry day, was perfect for a little bike ride. It was a relatively pleasant ride out and back. When riding, as long as I'm well covered, I don't notice the cold. However, the studded tires add a lot of weight and it takes a lot more work to keep the bicycle moving. The studded tires worked really well -- no slipping or sliding at all. And it makes travel over packed snow relatively easy.

After walking around in the snow and ice at the church, I discovered that the cleats on my shoes had competely iced over. It took some pounding using a pick from a pocket toolset to dislodge all the ice so that I could get clipped back in to the pedals.

So I'm now finding that a bike component I had thought I'd never really make good use of is finding its place here.