Winter Cycling Tips with Tyler Wood

By Andrew Salazar

See the video interview with Tyler here

Many Boulder residents embrace the cyclist lifestyle by using road biking as a major form of transportation, even during the snowy months. To get some advice on adapting to the winter weather conditions, I sat down with senior economics major Tyler Wood, a long-time road cyclist. Wood is the Buff Bike Fleet Manager for the University of Colorado and has been professionally working with bikes for over 3 years.

Wood’s first piece of advice for winterizing your bike is to lower your tire pressure and use slightly wider tires with knobs on them. “This helps your tires stick to the snow a little better,” Wood said. “But mechanically, not much else not needs to be done. Everything else on a bike is pretty much weather-proof.”

Wood said he suggests taking the same precautions used while driving in the snow for riding in the snow. “If you feel yourself starting to slip, don’t over-correct," he said. "When taking turns, take them slow and wide so that your bike doesn’t shoot out from under you.”

He also notes there are some there are additional challenges to biking in the snow as opposed to driving in the snow. “In the bike lanes, a lot of debris will get pushed off from the roads by snow plows and cars. That can get messy," he said. “Keep an eye out for this and traffic behind you in case you have to swerve quickly. If anything gets real bad, call the city and tell them to clean it up.”

As for proper attire, Wood said he recommends dressing in layers, but with the bottom layer a material that doesn’t retain moisture. “You’ll get sweaty from riding, and then you’ll freeze anyways," he said. "So make the bottom layer something that can wick away moisture.” The outer layers should be colorful. “In snow and fog it can be hard for cars to see you, and they’ll also have a hard time stopping. So wear fluorescent colors, nothing white or black.” Wood said he also recommends carrying an extra layer, in case the trip is longer than originally anticipated.

As a final tip Wood said he often preheats water when taking it riding in the cold, to help prevent it from freezing along the way.

Contact Andrew Salazar at Andrew.Salazar3@Gmail.com