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Shredding in a Winter Wonderland

09.03.2022

It’s said that in Finland, they have approximately 40 words for snow! Or at least, forms of frozen precipitation.
These range from “nuoska” which means that lovely snowball-able snow, to “räntä” that describes sopping wet snow which instantly turns into horrible brown slush.
It will come as no surprise then, that the Finnish winter mountain biking conditions are just as varied, and potentially as hard to handle, as the language. Here is what I have learned during my time here so far…

Back in 2019 when I moved here to Finland from the UK, the first winter definitely attempted to make me feel at home. The heavens opened and the ground was soon plastered with a paste made from soggy leaves and mud. My slop surfing skills acquired on the slick steeps of the Tweed valley, Scotland, translated perfectly to my new local trails.

Winter 2020 changed the game completely. It appeared that overnight the entire country had been encapsulated in a giant snow globe. Flakes the size of butterflies floated down from cotton-wool clouds, forming a fluffy carpet which would leap into the air like moondust when disturbed by feet or tyres. When the flakes were thicker and slightly more damp, they settled into the most satisfyingly crunchy blanket, each squashing footstep now reverberating with that iconic crunchy-squeak that Hallmark-Christmas-movie foley artists dream of.

Now, growing up in the U.K. these amounts of snow would usually make mountain bike trails impassable and have had me reaching for a sled instead. Not so in Finland! Here the Finns have developed both a transport infrastructure of gritters and ploughs to open the roads, and more importantly, a community of bikers with fat-bikes and handheld snowploughs who will go and open the trails for everyone else, purely out of the love of being able to ride in the winter.

As the trails are ploughed, compacted and smoothed out, normally gnarly rocks and vicious roots are hidden. Many sections are transformed into something more akin to a luge track. With rear suspension now all but redundant, Finns will often swap out their heavier and more cumbersome full-sus bikes, for more lightweight hardtails. So begins their KOM-hunting season.

Compared to the vascular criss-crossing of trails in the summer, the fewer trails available in the snow are much easier to follow, though it becomes harder to forge your own path. Your front wheel wanders off line? It’s arse-over-tit you go! Although, if you are going to crash, this is the time of year to do it, as you’re essentially riding surrounded by a foam-pit (here I am speaking from a wealth of experience).

This year in 2021, I’ve been trying to avoid crashing at all costs. Why? The trails have become an ice rink. The temperature has been fluctuating between minus 15ºc and barely above zero, and the freeze-thaw cycle has coated everything in lethal ice. These were brand new conditions for me to get to grips with. For you see, regular tyres here are more than useless, even if you’re running the softest compound and the chunkiest knobs. In these conditions you need to call in some reinforcements - in the form of small metal spikes.

In Finland it is mandatory by law to change spiked tyres to motor vehicles for the winter, so it makes common sense to apply the same logic with our two-wheeled companions. For mountain bikes you have two options: a) buy some ready-made spiked tyres, which can range anywhere from 80e to 200e, depending on the size and build quality required, or b) go full DIY, and drill some screws in to your favourite tyres - the advantage here being that you can stick to a tread pattern you’re familiar with.

I was initially sceptical about spiked tyres, since it’s an extra expense, extra hassle cleaning out your tubeless setup, and besides that, I enjoy getting a bit loose, and had slight trepidation about hanging my rump off the back of the bike, over what is essentially a spinning cheesegrater. However, nature leaves you with no choice. Once the ice appears, if you want to ride, you’ll need some studded tyres. Frugally, I chose Schwalbes Ice Spiker Pro’s - 29x2.25, with 402 studs per tyre!

It’s quite an experience, the first time you hit a large patch of glassy-looking trail at full pelt, trusting in nought but a few millimeters of pointy metal, and your own body weight and balance. However, after only a couple of corners, I realised what a game changer the spiked tyres are. The difference is day and night - with spikes you’re upright, and with regular tyres you’d be lying down, out-cold in the cold.

I would compare riding with spikes on ice, to riding regular tyres in normal conditions. The same basic techniques apply. Be careful how far you lean over on corners, watch out for off camber sections, and just keep a little bit more weight over the front end than usual.

As the tyres turn and the spikes bite into the ice, your ears are treated to an unfamiliar yet strangely comforting sound, somewhere between a crackling fire and velcro being pulled apart.

Trails that you may have ridden a hundred times before, take on a new lease of life, with smoother sections allowing you to carry more speed than ever, or a snow-sculpted bump here or dip there encourage you to pop, manual and flow your way through the winter wonderland.

Once you become comfortable, spiked tyres really do open up a whole new world of winter riding. Now there is no off-season. You can continue to keep fit all year whilst enjoying the beautiful landscapes in all their seasonal glory - just remember to occasionally glance back at the trail ahead, as you try and remember the words for all the marvellous types of snow flying by.

Words: Sam Stanfield

Photos: Red jacket pictures: David O’Weger
             Blue jacket pictures: Jimmy Doyle 
             Orange jacket pictures: Antti Saunam ki
             Bike pictures: Myself 

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