When it comes to mountain bike races and tours in sub-zero temperatures, it's not just the bike that needs to be prepared for the extreme conditions, but also the rider of the two-wheeled vehicle. I personally experienced many aha moments at the Snow Bike Festival this week. There is a lot of discussion, but nobody really has much experience. That's why I like to trust my own ideas, even if they are sometimes met with wide eyes.

Goggles - or how do I protect my eyes over a large area

In winter, we cyclists are always wrapped up from head to toe in many layers of state-of-the-art functional clothing. What is often forgotten is the face. Yes, you need to be able to breathe as well as possible. But at the same time, your face is exposed to the wind. The wind whistles around your ears and, despite wearing goggles, makes your eyes water so much on the descents that you can hardly see where you're going. That's why I decided to simply put on my goggles. But ski goggles usually do the trick too. The most important thing is to have a lens that can cope well with changes in light and shadow. And voilà - no more watery eyes and a crystal-clear field of vision.

Warm feet, because it's no fun with cold ones

In addition to watery eyes, cold feet are one of the biggest inconveniences when cycling in winter. Special winter cycling shoes are one solution, of course, but putting warming cream on your feet is another. Worked great for me this week. And I've asked around: this really is the number one pro tip here.

Eating lots of spices has also worked well for me. Cinnamon, ginger, pepper and chili warm you up from the inside. In a figurative sense, you can imagine that these spices, together with exercise, heat up the human furnace and the clothing then only has to insulate this heat. A tip from grandma's bag of tricks that still works like a charm today. If you want to know more about spices and how they work, you can find lots of useful information on the website of spice guru Dr. Feil: www.dr-feil.com

Charging batteries - no, not the e-bike ones

At the same time, it is also important to keep feeding combustible material into the stove after it has been heated up. In concrete terms, this means throwing in a few carbohydrates at regular intervals. This not only helps against the threat of hunger pangs, but also helps you stay warm. The human body is a pretty sophisticated system. It has to heat up more in the cold, so it burns more and therefore reaches its limits more quickly. For these reasons, it needs to be kept in good spirits more regularly in winter than on a midsummer ride.

It goes without saying that you need to drink regularly despite the low temperatures. Most people don't feel as thirsty in the cold as they do in the heat. But our bodies simply cannot function without fluids, and this applies to all seasons. That's why it's best to carry your drink on your body so that it doesn't freeze, or simply buy a thermo-bidon. Mine is ten years old and still works perfectly.

Eliminator Action

The tire change described in yesterday's blog worked wonders on today's stage. In addition to the tiny mental kick that such a change always brings, the reduced rolling resistance was actually clearly noticeable. An increase in fitness from one day to the next is completely out of the question. Therefore, the newly fitted tires must have been the reason that I was able to compete for a podium place in the morning stage right up to the finish line and was even able to wave from the podium in second place in the night eliminator.

Podium Duties

The last stage awaits us on Sunday and I'm looking forward to telling you more details about the friendships between the racers in tomorrow's blog.

About our guest blogger

Nathalie Schneitter started her international mountain bike career in 2004 by winning the junior cross-country world title. Since then, she has been racing full throttle on the world's circuits. In 2008, she qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing and in 2010 she took home victory at the Cross-Country World Cup in Champéry.
Since autumn 2016, she has been part of the organizational team for the Bike Days in Solothurn and the Urban Bike Festival in Zurich.
Nathalie also goes full throttle off the race track: she laughs a lot, is a bit crazy (original Nathalie quote) and dances in every possible situation. She has been racing for the "Rose Vaujany fueled by UltraSports" team since 2015.