A cold front came down from Alaska today. The weather forecasters gave a warning of midday rain and snowfall as low as 1500 feet. So I bundled up a little more than usual, grabbed my raincoat, left my new suede boots safely at home, and made a little “think snow” wish as I rolled in to work.
I was hoping for big fat snowfall in our local hills, like the one that gave Katie and me our first snow biking experience two years ago. We were planning a road ride and no sooner than I said to Katie, “We need to stay out of the hills so we don’t hit ice,” I realized that on our mountain bikes the snow might be really fun.
We threw our bikes on my car and drove up Page Mill Road to Montebello Preserve and had a blast. The snow was much easier to ride in than I expected and certainly a lot easier than riding icy roads on skinny road tires.
So the sun is setting now and it didn’t rain here today. The camera on top of Mt Hamilton (elev. 4360′) shows only a trace of snow and there’s no rain in the forecast. So I don’t think we’ll be snow biking this weekend. 
Do you ride regularly in the snow? Are there any special skills you need to handle all conditions?
fiedlerin
January 11, 2013 at 10:38 am
Most of our bike paths are away from the roads and don’t get cleared because they are open for winter sport when it snows.
I usually ride in the road when that happens, packed snow doesn’t bother me, neither does slush. I am worried that I will wipe out and a car doesn’t stop in time, though. Luckily ODOT does a decent job clearing the roads and riding on packed snow is usually not that difficult… 8 inches of brand new, powdery goodness look a little different, but it’s usually just more exhausting.
Richard Masoner (@cyclelicious)
January 11, 2013 at 5:51 pm
This was part of my commute route when I lived in Colorado:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/3602248272/
ladyfleur
January 11, 2013 at 8:48 pm
That looks like a fun way to get to work. How many days a year was it snow covered like this?
Ezra
January 14, 2013 at 9:30 am
I haven’t had too many opportunities to ride in the snow, but when it happens I usually just try to use my hybrid which has more suitable tires for snow than my road bike. I’ll go a bit slower and watch out for ice!
This looks like a really fun ride!