Intimidated to ride your bike in the snow? Think again.

“It’s hogwash,” Levi Guthmiller said. “It’s just about preparation. Just look at the weather and dress prepared.”

Guthmiller has been a Jimmy John’s delivery rider for nearly eight years. Like Guthmiller, Ian Butler said he’s become comfortable riding in inclement weather, although it wasn’t always that way. When he first started delivering sandwiches three years ago, he didn’t wear the right gear, instead improvising.

“I would ride in jeans and regular socks,” he said. “I would wrap my foot in Saran Wrap to keep my socks dry.”

For cold weather apparel the two sandwich jockeys recommend long underwear, water resistant pants, gloves and glasses, packing extra socks and occasionally extra pants. It can be helpful to use glove and shoe warmers.

They ride bikes that have wider wheels, eschewing studded tires. They have a good set of front and back fenders and they have front and tail lights. Disc brakes are vital, Butler said.

Obviously, wet and icy conditions warrant more caution. In particular, Guthmiller said he keeps an eye out for “metal grates on the sidewalks” because they get slick. He notes that falling in the snow is better than falling on uncovered concrete.

Butler said he prefers the snow in some cases.

“I really like commuting in the snow because you can play in it. … You can throw on your back brake and do a sweet skid,” he said. “When you’re going really fast, the snow looks like you’re going into hyperspace from ‘Star Wars.’”

While it may seem counterintuitive Guthmiller said he’s found drivers to be more respectful and careful around bikers during inclement winter weather.

When biking in traffic, Butler recommends “holding your line but also being kind of loose.”