220 words…one and a half minute read…
Mountain biking on icy single track trails in late February can be sketchy even with arguably the best studded tires available. I equipped my Specialized “Stump Jumper” mountain bike with Ice Spiker Pro studded tires by Schwalbe. They each have 361 wolfram carbide studs and an aggressive snow tread.
Riding the Cranbrook Community Forest trails in southern British Columbia, Canada, I really didn’t realize how well the tires gripped the ice until I got off my bike to take a picture of the icy trail – and promptly fell… hard. Like a 250 pound sack of turnips smacking down. Thankfully I still had my riding helmet on as my head cracked the ice pretty good. Needless to say I have an even greater appreciation for having a carbide stud per knob on my tires.
The Cranbrook Community Forest is a provincially protected recreation site that was established in 1987. It encompasses 2000 hectares (about 5000 acres) of Crown forest land. It literally has hundreds of kilometres of groomed single track mountain biking and hiking trails with the occasional intersecting gravel roads which when open, can be used by motorized transportation. Riding through mostly pine forests with very little underbrush, the terrain varies from gently rolling hills to some pretty gnarly inclines. There is something for everyone.
Adventure is where you find it.
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