300 Screws in Each Wheel: Welcome to the Bike Race Held Entirely on Ice
The first Ice Cycle Crit, run entirely on ice, was held this month on a frozen pond in Western Massachusetts.
A local bike shop and cycling club organized the race to engage the riding community during the winter cycling months.
Seventeen riders toed the line in freezing temperatures as more than 50 spectators watched.
The first Ice Cycle Crit champion didn’t win because he was the strongest or fastest rider there. On a course made entirely of ice, Jeremy Manzolini’s win came down to his setup: nearly 300 screws drilled into each of his bike tires, providing him with maximum traction.
“There was more traction on that bicycle than [on] any bike I’ve ever felt. It was crazy,” said Jaryn Pierson, one of the race organizers and a worker at the Berkshire Bike and Board bike shop, which sponsored the event. “Trying to keep them inflated was a whole other issue.”
More than 50 people braved the cold, blustery morning of February 9 to watch the inaugural Ice Cycle Crit, held on a roughly 300-yard course on frozen Card Pond in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Organized by the Wheel Benders, a new cycling club operating out of Berkshire Bike and Board, the race had its riders face not only slippery terrain but also winds of up to 38 mph and a high of only 27 degrees. (Hopefully they had the winter cycling gear to make the experience less than frigid.)
The idea for the crit was a logical step for cyclists in the region. A small group of club members and shop employees had been brainstorming ways to engage the local riding community in the winter months, when Western Massachusetts’s summer crowds aren’t around. Instead of avoiding the ice, someone reasoned, let’s embrace it. The Ice Cycle Crit was born.
Organizers drew inspiration from motorcycle races and figure skating. They initially dreamed of jumps, barriers, and a figure-eight course, but settled for a loose oval with some added turns. Ice thickness, a major concern early on, was never an issue: The pond’s ice was 12 inches thick on race day, far more than the 3 inches recommended by state officials.
Seventeen riders, including some as young as 10 years old, eventually toed the line. As the makeshift tournament began, Pierson said, everyone quickly realized that power was almost irrelevant. Success became a challenge of how to best customize your ride to the frozen conditions-a task made even tougher by the safety-conscious rule that any screws drilled into tires had to face inward.
The format made for plenty of minor crashes and spills, but that’s exactly what race planners were hoping for.
“When we were kids at the skatepark, the best part wasn’t riding a bike or landing this trick-it was the razzing your buddies sitting on the bench, the community aspect,” Pierson said. “We can have a circle on the ice for a bunch of people to ride their bikes around and crash, and have people building each other up.”
A criterium, where spectators can easily cheer riders on, was a natural fit for a winter-friendly event meant to build community. To the Wheel Benders, the Ice Cycle Crit was a small but promising success, and club members said they are eager to try it again next year. In the meantime, it’s back to the usual group rides on safe, dry land.
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