Thanks for sharing the journey.
How was the taste?
Max out your tire size. Like big fat tire style. You can sometimes get really big tires depending on your setup. Schwalbe Fat Frank 26´´ x 2.35 was the biggest I could get and they where great.
Let some air out for snow. Works especially well with packed snow and ice.
Probably not as good as studs, but works for me.
At least they're signalling