Quote Originally Posted by kimikaw View Post
Tho' I also question the need to spend $ on shoes solely for winter MTB at your current level ( or mine for that matter). Black ice, frozen ground just adds to many hazards if you are already concerned about falling and not comfortable with the drop offs next to trails. Isn't there some MUPs you could ride instead? They shouldn't be crowded with either bikers or pedestrians in late fall/ winter.
Agreed. I, personally, don't think I'll be headed out there much past early December, at least this season. Even assuming I have the skills for winter riding, my assumption is that the trails don't remain rideable for much of the winter. It's one thing to get an occassional dry sunny day that's great for road riding, but the trails take much longer to dry out. At least that's my assumption. I don't know how much snow riding one can do out there. I've done a fair amount of winter hiking at BCSP, and even after a heavy snow, the trails become a mixture of snow, ice and mud.

Catrin, you might ask Jonathan about what to expect in terms of winter trail conditions. DH and I went hiking at BCSP last November and we saw a ton of MTBers that day. The ground was frozen but dry. Within weeks though, we had what turned into an almost permanent cover of snow.