It is a particularly grey morning as Jitka Vidlakova climbs onto her bike.

A stream of yellow and red light flashes by as the early morning commuters begin their drive.

She sighs and carefully edges forward, beginning her trek into the city's downtown core.

Straight ahead she spots a snowy embankment sprawling into what remains of a bike path.

She also notices a mass of cars approaching.

She quickly glides up onto the sidewalk.

A car honks its horn as it passes by.

"Stay off the sidewalk!” a pedestrian shouts.

She sighs again.

Vidlakova is spending her first winter in Whitehorse and getting her first experience at biking year-round in the city.

"Some days it can be dangerous,” says the native of Czech Republic.

"Usually the drivers are nice but sometimes they aren't very considerate.”

Vidlakova cycles to work and runs her errands using her bike each day.

An average days commute to work is a 40 minute round-trip.

She doesn't own a car and doesn't see the bus as a reliable alternative.

"The bus is not always useful for me,” she says.

"If I take the bus, I get to work one hour before it starts.

"If I bike I can get there at my own time.”

Jonah Clark, the service manager at Icycle Sport, has seen a steady rise this season in the sale of their winter bikes.

He attributes that increase to more people realizing the advantages of biking in a northern winter.

"People are beginning to see how fun it is and that it gives you another five months of riding,” he says.

"If you're a really enthusiastic rider it opens up a whole new section of the year.”

Mayor Bev Buckway says that the city encourages active modes of transportation but sees some issues with winter cycling.

She says that people don't always obey the rules of the road and views the issue of visibility as the most distressing.

"If they don't have headlights, don't have taillights and don't have reflective gear it can be really scary for the people in cars.

"You're driving along and suddenly a cyclist appears out of nowhere.”

She also notes that you have to be a ‘die-hard cyclist' to ride in the winter months.

But for around $100 dollars a regular mountain bike can be turned into a snow-battling, ice-riding machine.

Clark says to winterize a bike there are two main tasks that must be completed.

Once the temperature drops to below minus 10, the bike's freewheel mechanism won't engage, which leaves your pedals spinning madly and your bike not moving forward.

Clark says the winter temperatures makes the bikes grease thicker and stickier.

"If that happens to your bike, you're not going anywhere,” he says.

To combat this problem, the bike is given a special bath in a degreaser which strips the grease out of the freewheel mechanism and lets the bike technician replace it with a light lubricant.

Clark calls that a hub treatment and costs $35, he says.

The second step is to add studded winter tires, which range in price from $80 to $125 depending on the number of studs and the quality of the tire.

Clark says the tires provide an advantage if you're doing a lot of winter commuting with a regular mountain bike.

Kalin Pallett of Up North Adventures says winter biking is an affordable and fun way to travel.

"You see the world differently,” he says.

Pallett says he takes extra caution to make himself as visible as possible before he takes to the roads.

"You definitely have to be very aware,” he says.

"The roads are icy and it's dark so I have flashing lights all over and ride carefully.”

Pallet says that navigating a road like Two Mile Hill in a car is more practical but when it comes to the downtown core a bike is the best choice.

"You always have good parking spots, it's good for you and good for the planet,” he says.

Pallet bikes from Riverdale into downtown and says it can be faster than driving.

"By the time you go out and unplug your vehicle and let it warm and then drive, you could just get on your bike and be there by then.”

The hardest part, he says, is just getting started.

Clark, who originally hails from Winnipeg says the winter cycling conditions in

Whitehorse are much better than his hometown but adds that Winnipeg is "probably not a shining example of riding conditions.”

Clark bikes each day and his daily commute includes going up and down Two-Mile Hill Road,

"It's not too bad,” he says, when asked about traversing up the hill that vehicles are known to have trouble with.

"You might have to get off and push your bike a bit if it's been snowing all day, but other than that it's usually pretty good.”

Clark says he usually has a cut off of minus 30 but sometimes ends up taking his bike anyway because his car won't start.

The coldest day he has biked in was minus 36.

He remembers that day well.

"It was incredibly frustrating,” he says.

"It felt like I was riding on flat tires.”

"You have to cover all your skin so you end up getting incredibly hot on your core and then you've got a crazy contrast where your hands and toes are freezing.”

Vidlakova gets off her bike and walks up to the store window.

She's spent the last hour-and-a-half on her bike, braving the cold and attempting to get her errands done.

She approaches the storefront and takes a glance at the sign.

Open nine to three, it reads.

She checks her watch.

3:04 p.m.

She sighs.

She'll try again tomorrow.