River Valley Cycling

Supporting Cycling In and Around Fredericton

2023 Winterbike

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Hey riders – registration for the 2023 Winterbike season is now live. Join!

If you’re new to riding singletrack in the winter here’s the scoop:

  • RVC runs Winterbike on a totally separate membership and budget.
  • Your membership supports our grooming effort at MVP and Woolastook. Gas is pretty expensive and the grooming sleds need regular maintenance.
  • Membership also lets you join our regular group rides. We hit the trails every week. Follow the conversation on RVC’s Facebook and Insta.

Keep following us over the next few weeks as we share our 2023 grooming plans, winter-biking tips, and more news.

Join RVC Winterbike for 2023!

Dress for success! (no frozen body parts)

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As the 3rd installment of our beginner-focused series of winter riding tips, we offer a few tips on how to stay warm and comfortable when the temperature gets very low.

The place to start is your body core. That is where your heat is generated. You’ve probably heard that layering is way to go, but what does layering mean in practice? The key is moisture management. Water has a higher heat capacity than air, and will suck heat out of your body. That’s why a damp overcast day at 2 degrees can feel colder than a dry sunny day at minus 10. So to stay comfortable, you need to keep water (your sweat) away from your skin.

Start with a good base layer. The base wicks water away from your skin and keep you from getting clammy. Go for something tight fitting to touch your skin everywhere for best wicking effect. The material is important. Cotton is an absolute no-no because it will absorb moisture and saturate and suck warmth from your body. Never wear cotton, for any layer. Wool works well and so do good synthetic base layers, which wick better than wool for high output activities. Synthetics are durable – my favourite Craft base layers are 15 years old and still going strong. Some people prefer the feel of wool, and also it tends to smell better – or more accurately – not smell as bad. Modern synthetics are far, far less smelly than the original polypropylene base layers of decades past.

Next you need an outer layer – usually a shell. Its job is to cut the wind, while still allowing moisture transport to the outside air. It doesn’t have to be form fitting, but you don’t want big air gaps either. You also want it big enough to allow a mid-layer if necessary. Cut is important here. A good cut allows free movement during activity. When descending, your arms be extended so make sure your shell is long enough to cover your back when you are leaning your rear end behind your saddle. A shell may also have some stretch fabric to allow a good fit and free movement at the same time. This is more important for activities like cross-country skiing, where you are moving your arms a lot all the time, but it is something to keep in mind if you want to use the shell for both. Some shells are lined with a thin fleece for extra warmth. Which shell is right for you is going to be a matter of personal preference and may depend on the conditions. Armpit zips can be very nice on many rides as they can start off closed and then be opened to vent heat and moisture once your body warms up and you start sweating.

In the coldest conditions you may want to add a mid-layer, especially if you are not riding hard. The mid layer adds warmth by trapping air, while allowing moisture transport. The mid layer does not have to be thick to add significant warmth, and a thinner layer is less restrictive. Three layers are usually the most that are needed for high output activities like fat biking. It is possible to use a very warm layer, like a puffy jacket, as either a mid-layer or outer layer, but these are very warm and do not transport moisture well. Puffy jackets that can pack down small can be a nice thing in your pack for either an after-ride chat or when you need to stop to fix a flat.

There’s some smart layering going on here..

Avoid overdressing – there’s a temptation to dress warmly with extra layers to be safe – but don’t do it. When you stop to take off your extra layer, you will freeze in that moment when your wet base layer is exposed to the cold air and wind. It can be hard to recover from that chill! Instead, it is better to underdress and take an extra layer with you. If you are too cold, you won’t be sweaty, and when you stop to add that extra layer, you won’t get the chill of cold air on wet clothes. You will warm up much faster after adding an extra layer against dry skin. Before you leave the house, try to get the right the right combination of layers for transporting moisture during your ride.

Bjørn here is riding 1,000+ miles to the arctic. You are going to MVP for an hour. It’s probably safe to leave the fur at home.

For your head, a wind-proof hat that is thin enough to fit under your helmet is the place to start. You can add a Buff or balaclava to keep your neck warm. Depending on the size of your helmet, you can layer them both in colder weather or for lower effort rides. Eyeballs get cold, so wearing glasses to keep the wind out is an option. On very cold days, consider ski goggles, These are a bit awkward—they can bump against your helmet—but they are very effective at keeping your face warm. Unfortunately eyewear fogs up when you stop moving – so keep moving!

For your legs, you need free movement to spin without catching on your chain and saddle. Most people don’t sweat as much through their legs, so don’t worry as much about being overdressed. Fleece lined tights are a popular choice. Wear a pair of bike shorts on top; the shorts add significant warmth by blocking the wind and most tights don’t have enough pockets.


Lots of people suffer from cold hands. Mitts are warmer than gloves but get in the way when trying to shift and brake. Lobster gloves are a good cycling compromise. Keeping your fingers together keeps them warm, and you can use two fingers on the controls while still gripping the bars effectively with your other fingers. Pogies are an excellent investment for hand warmth. These are windproof covers that are attached to your bars and surround your grips, brake and shift levers. They have an opening at the back to slide your gloved hands into. They were originally designed for cold water kayaking, and have been adapted for riding. These provide excellent warmth and wind protection. Pogies plus gloves provide good warmth for most people even in very cold conditions, and if it gets warmer, you can leave the pogies on and switch to lighter gloves. If you are serious about cold winter riding, pogies are a must!

Dogwood Designs Poagies, best cycling pogies
Clicky here for bikepacking.com’s thoughts on pogies!

Your feet don’t work as much riding as they might walking or running, so they aren’t generating much heat. In the winter, flat pedals allow a much wider range of warm footwear. Find the warmest boots that you can pedal in and add a good pair of thick socks. It is possible to buy very warm boots that are adapted for clipless pedal cleats, but they tend to be very expensive. If you still have cold feet, consider hot shots (chemical heat packs).

We couldn’t help but notice your sweet winter boots – looks warm!

You don’t need to spend a fortune on winter riding clothes. Chances are if you’ve been living in the Maritimes you already have most things you need. It’s just a question of smart assembly!

Everyone knows that dressing like a taco will keep you warmer than a hotdog.

Climbing hills… it’s no easier in winter

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The next few outings in the RVC 2022 Beginner Ride series will start to move into trail systems with rolling terrain. This means hills; and that inevitably means climbing. Climbing hills is no easier in the winter months – in fact, it’s probably more difficult. Although a lot of fun, fat bikes are much heavier (especially in the wheels) and that can make them a little sluggish going uphill. Chances are good that you’ll probably be weighed down by more clothes and winter boots on your feet. Although you won’t have to face big roots or rocks going uphill the trail may have patches of ice or loose snow, and those conditions present their own challenges. Don’t worry though, with a bit of technique, you’ll get up those climbs!

Climbing is awesome…even Red Bull admits it. This is your goal… Mt. Washington is only a 6.5 hour drive from Fredericton and it’s the closest ‘HC’ rated climb on Strava. Let’s explore how to transform you into an efficient climber!

First piece of advice – don’t worry if you can’t make it up. Even the best riders end up having to get off their bikes and push on tough winter climbs. See those footprints off to the side of the trail? They are a telltale sign that you are not the first person who had to dismount here. We’ll come back to this later.

Let’s look at bike setup next. For comfortable and efficient climbing your seatpost should be set so that your leg is well extended at the bottom of your pedal stroke but not locked at the knee. A 30° angle is ideal and for most beginners, their fat bike will not come with a dropper post. With a standard seatpost and with winter trail riding in Fredericton in mind you should definitely set up your seat with climbing in mind rather than being tempted to drop it to a lower position for descending. Your tires should be properly inflated for the conditions (we covered this last week).

Cyclist on bike adjusting saddle height
Stolen with pride from the internet. Please send in photos of a protractor taped to your leg as you figure this out.

Rider position is very important for climbing hills. Your aim will be to stay centered over your bike, bringing your chest closer to the handlebar, with your elbows in slightly and well bent to absorb any impacts. You want to keep your mass in the center of the bike, preventing your front wheel from wanting to lift off the trail. If it is a long hill you will want to keep your shoulders from hunching forward so that you are able to settle into a regular pattern of breathing. Your body will be wanting oxygen for this. Above all else, remember that we don’t climb hills by standing on our pedals. This is a last resort, often used in desperation to get over a hump you didn’t see coming, and it often doesn’t result in success for beginner riders.

Next let’s think about gearing and cadence. Cadence is the rate which your feet are spinning the cranks. For hills, you want that rate to be nice and steady. Misjudging the hill (or your own strength) and choosing a gear that is too easy will have your feet spinning fast and potentially your back wheel loosing traction. Choosing a gear that is too difficult will mean you are left trying to crank hard and slow, which isn’t efficient. Worse yet, beginner riders who misjudge the hill’s difficulty often try to downshift to an easier gear while their pedals are under load. While derailleurs have been around for a long, long, long time the technology still isn’t perfect. Trying to shift down while cranking hard up a hill isn’t going to work. That’s how chains get lodged in your rear spokes, or worse yet they break. Plan ahead. The goal is to build speed leading into the climb (especially if it is short), but be sure to shift into whatever climbing gear you think will result in a steady cadence just before you start the climb. Remember, you need a pedal stroke or two to complete your shift after you push the trigger on your handlebars.

You won’t always make it up. That’s not a problem. Pushing a fatbike up a short steep section happens to the best of us and it is worth it for the downhill that will come. A few pieces of advice:

  • Give others on a group ride a bit of space. If they need to jump off the bike mid-way up a steep hill it doesn’t do anyone any good to be right on their rear tire. They’ll feel bad and you’ll feel frustrated. Space out wider on the hills.
  • If soft snow led to your failed climb and you need to push please step off the groomed trail into the deep snow. While this makes your job harder it saves the trail for the riders coming behind you. Once that steep hill climb gets bumpy with boot prints it won’t become any easier. It’s ok to leave your bike on the trail.
  • Pushing up a hill is good. It gives you something to work for and it means when you finally get it clean it will feel all the more rewarding.

The Winter Woolastook Loop is a good introduction to climbing with your fat bike. You can shorten the loop as necessary, sticking first to the doubletrack west of the campground, then seeing if you can make it up to Mountain Rd, and finally shooting for that steep climb up to the lookout (this takes real fitness). Good luck!

Trailforks.com

Fat bike tire pressure – dialing in your ride

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Disclaimer – this post is sure to weigh in on what is the most controversial topic since “what’s the best handlebar width“. The views contained below are solely that of the author… and not necessarily the views of RVC. Following this post I may have my website rights revoked. We’ll see. Let’s begin.

Tire pressure can be a perplexing thing for new fat bike riders. Often the bikes come from the shop or rental locations with the tires pumped up as hard as a rock – leading to a harsh ride. If you remember nothing else from this entire article just try riding at 5.5 PSI. However, there’s a lot more to tell.

The author… riding lower pressure in fresh snow.

Fat bikes are all about increasing the surface area of the tire in contact with the trail. This is known as ‘contact patch’. While your rim profile and tire width greatly influence ‘contact patch’ you can’t easily change those things. What you can change is air pressure… and that makes a big difference quickly. Lowering your pressure increases contact patch since your tire can deform to the shape of the trail. Increasing your pressure decreases contact patch and your tire becomes more firm, and less deformed by interaction with the trail. Contact patch area helps create traction on loose and slippery surfaces and it creates flotation in marginal conditions. A tire able to deform around small objects also creates a smoother ride. On the other hand, a big contact patch also increases rolling resistance, and in extreme cases it creates something called ‘self steering’ on hard surfaces (a disconnect between where you point your handlebars and where the bike goes). A tire with tubes that has too little pressure is also at a higher risk of a trailside pinch flat – and that is especially awful with a fat bike.

The lower the pressure the wider the tread. You’ll see more engagement of the lugs on the side of the tire on flat ground.

So with that theory behind us – start by filling up your tire to 5.5 psi and give it a test. Place your palm on the top of the tire and apply ~1/2 of your body weight to it. The tire should deform in your hand and you should see it bulge on the floor. If the tire folds over on itself or you feel the rim coming into contact with the floor you need to add air. If the tire barely deforms with ~1/2 of your body weight you need to let air out. Generally speaking heavier riders are going to need higher pressures to achieve the same contact patch. Use this method to find your starting point. You can also transform this into the ‘pinch test’ to achieve about the same results. Don’t be shy… pinch hard!

Pinch demonstration.

It’s much easier to let a little air out of your tires on the trail than it is to put air back in. Although there are high-volume hand pumps available for fatbikes there is still a lot of internal space to fill and pumping up tires takes time with the best pumps.

When might you want to let a little air out on the trail?

  • You are riding (particularly climbing a hill) and you feel your back wheel slipping in loose snow.
  • Your bike feels like its bouncing off every little divot and bump in the trail.
  • The trail is icy and you are losing control.
  • You are just barely breaking through a surface like a snow crust or leaving a small rut
    (if letting air out doesn’t fix this it’s time to turn around and try coming back another day)
A tale of tire pressures. While most tracks stay on the groomed snow the tread in the center of the photo shows the rider was periodically breaking through the surface. Dropping a little air in this case might have helped.

What about times when you might want to run a little more air?

  • The trails are firm and in great shape. Look for this if it’s been 4-5 days since grooming with no new snow.
  • You feel like you need to pedal in order to keep momentum going downhill.
  • You feel your tire buckling/folding when taking corners or hitting a bump. Put air in now before you get a pinch flat!
    (doesn’t apply to tubeless fat bikes)
A low-pressure gauge can be a helpful tool when you start fat biking. Once you understand how the tire is supposed to feel you won’t need it though.

If you do manage to get a flat tire on the trail it isn’t the end of the world if you are prepared, but it will suck. I often hike-a-bike back to my car if it is a short ride. If you are on a long ride you need 2 levers, a spare tube, a high-volume pump, and perseverance. You can substitute CO2 cartridges for the pump but plan on at least 2 high-volume units (not the kind you use to fill a puny little road bike tire). For my 4.6 tires I use tubes marked 2.5-2.7 on the box. They will stretch just fine and it saves a lot of space and weight in your pack.

Most of what’s been said above relies on the feel and behavior of the tire. For those of you who’d like to put a little more science in the process you can obtain relatively inexpensive and good quality low-pressure air gauges. These specific gauges will give you a much better readout on pressures between 2-8 PSI. Most of the pressure gauges that come built into bike floor pumps won’t be readable in this range. There are some slick digital options available too. Check around the local bike shops.

A note on weather. As air temperature drops so does tire pressure. This normally isn’t a big deal. However, if you fill your tires inside a +20° house and then immediately go ride in – 20° cold you are going to drop at least 1 full PSI during your ride. If you ride in serious cold it’s best to consider that ahead.

#Fatbike !!! Mr. Titus isn’t worried about fussing with his tires. Take in that fresh air!

One last tip on pressure – I never crank the dial louder than 12! Let me explain. Sometimes installing tires on the rim can be fussy and a little trick is to use high pressures to get the bead to snap in place. This can be especially true for fat bikes where the rim and tire tolerances between manufacturers can be wide. On a normal mountain bike it’s common to pump things up to 30-35 PSI until you hear the ‘ping’ that lets you know everything is all lined up. Do not do this with a fat bike. With the air volumes involved in a fat tire you should not exceed 11-12 PSI. You will blast the tire off the rim, destroying it in the process, potentially throwing a lot of money down the drain. You will also most likely suffer temporary hearing loss and possibly a small heart attack. Instead of high pressures get the rim mounting job done by spraying soapy water onto the tire bead liberally just before you inflate it.

Hope this helps. Go easy on me internet.

Chris

Intro to Winterbike 6 Week Ride Series

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Riders!

RVC is excited to be hosting a 6 week group ride series aimed at beginner level fatbike riders starting Sunday Feb. 13th ,10:15 am, in Deer Park. This ride series is totally free, and aims to give you the basics of expanding your singletrack experience to include the best months of the year!

Each ride will be about 90 minutes in length and the ride pace is going to be slow and steady. Nobody will be left behind. The ride plan will focus on enjoyable, but less demanding trails in some of our favourite groomed networks. Between rides RVC will post some tips on our Facebook and Instagram channels on how to get the most out of your winter ride. By week 5 and 6 the ride will mix in a few more interesting trails with a little more terrain but the pace will remain friendly.

We really want to thank rider and volunteer Heather Ongo for identifying a need to do this and stepping forward to lead each ride. RVC is a volunteer driven club and we love it when riders want to make things happen. Thank you Heather!

Heather O. our ride leader for this series!

Now – the ride series will depend on good attitudes and good snow but it will also hinge a bit on the COVID-19 situation. We feel good to launch it now that NB is in phase II but if we go back into lockdown we are obviously off. We do ask that everyone social distance at least 2m while out on rides with people outside your steady 10 bubble and bring a mask just in case you find yourself needing some up-close and personal help. If you are feeling crummy please stay home and rest!

Deer park – tour stop #1

Remember to dress appropriately for whatever the forecast says that morning. Also remember to bring yourself some snacks and a warm drink (pro-tip fill your bottle or hydration bag with warm water to delay the inevitable freeze). Please also remember to Join RVC Winterbike if you haven’t already.

Proud Members of: Velo New Brunswick

Canadian Cycling Association

International Mountain Biking Association