As cold weather begins to ramp up in the Chattanooga area, rain and sometimes icy weather can make mountain biking a bit trickier than in the spring and summer.
BIKE BATH
Bikes require maintenance, and if you want to ride in all kinds of weather, you have to be willing to put in a little extra time to tend to your bike.After a ride in the rain or in wet conditions, give the bike an initial spray down, clean the bike with a soft-bristled brush and soapy water, rinse the bike again with clean water, then dry with a rag. After the bike is dry, lubricate the chain and all of the pivot points on the derailleurs and brakes (be careful not to get any on the brake pads). Go back and move all these parts back and forth a few times to work in the lube, then wipe off any excess with a rag.
Under these weather conditions, it’s easy to accidently erode the trails cyclists love and work hard to develop. If you can’t bear to shelf your bike after a recent rain or freeze-and-thaw, Scott’s Bicycle Centre staff member Zack Gaston recommends using the Chilhowee Trail System and the trails at the Ocoee Whitewater Center as the best bets for cold- and wet-weather trails.
“Those two trails do well even if it’s a little sloppy, unlike a trail like Brush Creek (in the Tanasi Trail System),” Gaston says. “When it gets sloppy it’s like ‘peanut butter’ mud, so it sticks to everything and it can be pretty slick.”
The Chilhowee and Whitewater Center trails are hard packed and should hold up well during the winter while being relatively resistant to damage and wear.