A lesson in bike handling

Sunday I went out to do pretty much the same ride as I did last weekend. A few laps of the Twrch Trail at Cwmcarn and up and over the mountain behind. The thing is mid week we had a slight thaw and although much of the snow on the low ground has gone a lot of it has turned to ice. The roads are pretty clear but anything off road has now got a thick layer of ice on it.
for instance the canal tow path that joins Newport with the Ebbw Valley had sheet ice pretty much the who length. For some bizzare reason unknown to myself and my friend Simon we decided to ride the tow path.
It took twice as log as normal and was pretty sketchy.

A third of the way up the big climb

When we got to Cwmcarn I noticed it was quite different to last week. We had fluffy snow last week. Now it was a mix of black ice or a crunchy mix of snow and ice. Riding the 1st section low down was a pretty fair indication of what was do come. Tyre tracks in the snow frozen solid so there were tyre sized ruts on the trail. A bleeding nightmare as your tyre just wanted to follow the little rut.

The last of the really icy parts just before the fire track

Normally I don't have to dab my foot down anywhere on the Twrch Trail. It's all very ridable but today there were parts that were a bit too much fun. Getting over some of the normal slippery bits took a bit more care and you really had to attack some of them. Certain areas though were near impossible to pass. The section leading up to the fire track in the pic above was so slippery it was pretty hard to walk up with the bike.

<-- This a way

We didn't go on the jump section this week just on the twisty Twrch Trail at the top. It was fairly icy but was OK as you could ride off line a bit and there was no ice. Over the gate and up onto the mountain as last week. This week all the puddles with thin ice were completely frozen solid and as hardly anyone had been up there it wasn't slippery like on the Twrch Trail. So to be fair we could ride anywhere without fear of slipping about too much. As the sun was so strong and there was very little wind it was actually quite warm up there.

Stunning views up the top

We did have one large frozen puddle collapse which was quite funny as we were about a third the way across it at the time when it gave way.
On the way back down the Twrch I realised that this ice was becoming a bit tricky. Last week was fun I could ride down without having to brake much and the back wheel would skid a bit but was easy to control. This week you hit the brakes and your on your ass. I really felt like I had to keep my wits about me all the time. The ice was really hard to ride down.
The final flowing downhill section which is just about the most perfect flowing downhill I have ridden in the dry was just a nightmare. Last week it was snow this week was icier than anywhere else. My mate Simon was ahead of me and I saw him lose both wheels to the ice and I followed with caution and did exactly the same. The only thing that could make the iced up Twrch Trail totally ridable would be some studded tyres.
Schwalbe do two types. The Snow Studs like in the pic or the Ice Spike Pros which are a bit OTT. With 90% of the trail perfectly ridable with my Schwalbe Nobby Nicks I don't really think I need a full coverage of studs
I'm sure we have not seen the last of this ice so I have ordered a pair of the Snow Studs. I just wish I had ordered them in July when I noticed them in stock everywhere. One thing I took from Sunday's ride is that I really had to try hard to keep the bike rolling up the trail. The iced up trail meant I had to try and roll over obstacles without peddling too much. Something I will only get better at. I need to learn to ride more efficiently, carrying momentum forward with me so I don't waste so much energy. This will be handy in the long endurance races no doubt.

I also saw a group of riders out in Shorts and track mitts. Some people are just too tough or daft (-5C or colder).

Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro

Schwalbe Snow Stud tyre