By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

Caleb McGuire knows for certain one thing about riding a bicycle on ice: it’s fun.

“It was very exhilarating. I felt free,” he said of his first spin across West Brook Skating Rink. “I just felt like I could do anything.”

McGuire, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Biddeford, plans to hop back on a modified bicycle to compete for a trophy during ice bike races Saturday to raise money for the Community Bicycle Center of Biddeford. 

The Knights of Columbus and Free Masons of Biddeford will host the third annual Community Bicycle Center ice bike and skating fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. at West Brook Skating Rink on Pool Street. Tickets are $5 and all proceeds benefit the center’s youth development programs. 

Any ticket holder is invited to enter the ice bike race in the middle school, high school or adult category. Participants will compete for trophies sponsored by Quinn’s Bike and Fitness of Biddeford and Gorham Bike and Ski of Saco, said Andy Greif, executive director of the bicycle center. 

This is the second year the fundraiser includes a chance for people to ride an ice bike. Greif encourages people to make their own creative bikes or try out ice bikes built by the center. Other activities at the fundraiser include open skate, pick-up hockey games and a 50/50 raffle. 

Greif said the idea to build ice bikes came about a few years ago. Volunteers and students worked together to make the bikes, which have either studded tires or a studded rear tire and ice skate blade in place of the front tire. 

“We just started playing with different designs,” Greif said. “The kids got all excited about it.” 

Matt Perkins, 11, rode an ice bike for the first time last year and has since learned how to make his own studded tires. 

“It was fun because it’s different than just riding on the road,” he said. “You’re slipping around so you have to keep your balance.” 

Perkins, who has logged 1,000 miles on a bike since last summer, has shown others in the shop how to make studded tires. To prep tires for riding on ice, Perkins puts screws through the knobs on the tire tread before cutting off part of the screw and lining the tire with duct tape and inner tube. 

“It’s not that hard. My fastest one was done in two days,” he said. 

Jamie White, 12, has never tried an ice bike, though she logged 844 miles since last summer and has completed the Trek Across Maine. On Saturday she plans to hop on an ice bike and take home a trophy.

“I’m going to win,” she said. “I think it will be a little hard to brake and turn without sliding.” 

Amber White, 12, said she also will try riding an ice bike for this first time this weekend. She wants to build her own bike with studded tires.

“I’ve seen it before and it looks cool, but I think it’s going to be hard,” she said. “My strategy is if I fall down to keep on biking.” 

McGuire said riding an ice bike can be a little more slippery than riding on the road, “but if you’re really confident you won’t fall.” 

Greif, who has tested ice bikes on a number of lakes, ponds and ice rinks, said riding on ice is no more difficult than riding on the road. 

“If you have a sharp blade or well-studded tires, it’s real secure,” he said. “You just have to learn to trust it.” 

Greif said the ice biking event is a chance for people of all ages to enjoy an evening in a “festive atmosphere.” Many people find themselves reminiscing about skating at the rink as children, he said. 

But Greif’s biggest reason for encouraging people to get outside and ride on ice?

“It’s pretty simple: it’s fun,” he said. 

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.