If it wasn't hard enough to get around Missoula in winter, try it on a bicycle.
"It's not about survival - it's more about just fun," said University of Montana graduate student Nate Keck as he headed back to his job at the Skaggs Building. "Every day, I ride to school and around town. I ride all winter long, for grocery shopping or whatever. I use a trailer for shopping."
Keck has mounted a wide, studded tire on the front of his Raleigh single-speed bike, with a thinner road tire on the back. He likes the combination of traction and speed the mixed set provides, although he admitted rear studs would be nice - once his budget allows for the purchase.
"I don't have studded tires, although I wish I did," Joe Loviska said as he whisked down the new bike lanes on North Higgins Avenue. "You just need to keep your weight back and don't use your front brake as much. Otherwise, if you get at all sideways, you'll lock up and wash out."
Front bike tires are perhaps the weakest link in an already tenuous transportation scheme during the wintery months. They are easily diverted by frozen ruts and stiff drifts. On ice, the front wheel is prone to collapsing if the rider leans too far forward. Even applying the front brakes can trigger a slide.
Beefing up the front tire helps. Knobby tires make a difference, but serious control freaks want steel on the ground. Very short sheet metal screws do the trick.
"It takes about half an hour," Loviska said of do-it-your-self stud jobs. If that's too much of a technical challenge, your wallet can solve the problem for about $60 a tire. Knobby tires run about half that.
One thing both agreed on was that disc brakes do a better job in winter than traditional rim-grabbers. They don't get as wet, and aren't prone to collecting films of ice that rob stopping power.
"Rim brakes get plugged with snow," Keck said. "Then they'll just squeak and you'll never stop."
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The magnesium chloride de-icing fluid snowplow trucks spray on some Missoula streets leaves mixed blessings for bikers. While it does improve the traction, it can wreck a bike over time.
"Keeping that stuff off you and your bike really helps," said Dan Dahlberg of Open Road Bicycles. "It takes its toll on every part of the bike. Your chain and your whole drive train are going to get beat up."
Magnesium chloride can leave a gummy residue that clogs cable housings and derailleurs. Road sand is equally tough on moving parts, and can cause chains to snap if they get too worn. Dahlberg recommended rinsing your bike with clean water regularly during the winter and keeping it well lubricated with grease.
For downtown biker Guido Baiocchi, fenders are another winter essential.
"Getting snow all over is nasty," he said. And because sidewalks and bike lanes are often unplowed most of the day, he usually finds himself riding in the puddles alongside the cars. That also explains his double headlights and big rear flasher.
"The key is having all your lights, reflectors and visible clothing," Baiocchi said.
At Hellgate Cyclery, owner Dave Hartman has already sold out of the best idea he's seen for winter riding: the $1,500 Salsa Mukluk bike with 4-inch, low-pressure snow tires.
"It looks like a motorcycle without the motor," Hartman said. "As soon as I got them, I sold them. Now they're backordered until March."
Hartman said one of his buyers rides it regularly to work but also likes to take it into the Rattlesnake Wilderness. The rider reported that cross-country skiers thanked him for leaving their trails in better condition than before he rode them.
Hartman himself commutes to work in a much more summery looking All City motocross bike equipped with studded tired and long fenders.
"There were a few days when I wouldn't want to walk on the ice but had no problems riding," he said. "It makes it interesting getting to work. It keeps you on your toes."
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