Fat Bikes Make For Exciting Riding on Snowy Trails
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the off season for bikes. Even if you live somewhere like San Diego or Sedona, the days are shorter and you’re probably just catching up with the rest of your life, waiting for spring and summer to come around in a few months.
If you’re a racer, this is a crucial time of the year. You’re maybe still in the no bike time, and focusing on relaxing, or you might be in the base mileage phase of your annual training plan.
You should also be thinking about something else. Like just having plain old fun again. Even though racing is something we all absolutely live for, it’s tough physically, mentally and emotionally. The off season is time for many things. Like healing. Attaining that killer base fitness. And also letting the mind come back to a normal state. In order to have peak fitness, we need to have some down time. And the brain works in the same way. To have optimum focus during race season, we need to let it relax in the off season. We should give ourselves a chance to chill out and discover why we love mountain biking. To just take a break and ride for the sake of smiling. And that’s where fat bikes come in. Sure, they have their promoters and detractors, but I’ve never seen anyone hop off a fat bike without a smile on their face.
And if you live in a place like the mountains of Colorado, where winter can start in late September, and last until mid-June (I’m talking about the trails covered in snow) then fat bikes can be a great alternative route to training and relaxing. They’re fun, so they bring that aspect of riding, but they’re bicycles and if you’re riding one, you’re using bike specific muscles, which can definitely be a problem for those of us that live in the high mountains. Breckenridge sits at 9,600 feet (2926 meters) and many of the mountain towns in Colorado are similar. Fitness isn’t really a problem for the residents, as many types of skiing and excellent gym facilities exist, but bike specific fitness can be harder to come by.
Fat bikes have exploded on to the scene particularly this winter in Colorado. They’re everywhere. Lots of bike racers are riding. Colorado has excellent trails that get well used in the ski towns, as people are always looking to “get away” from the crowds. The trails get packed down by hikers and cross country skiers, and now, by fat bike cyclists. But one wrong move off the trail can lead to excitement. But hey, it’s all fun, because you land in soft snow.
Fat bikes might not be for everyone, but they’re certainly catching on for a lot of people. Many bike shops are renting them nowadays, so if you want to dabble, you certainly don’t have to purchase one. The models for this article are bike shop owners in Breckenridge, CO, not only do Sydney and Nick rent fat bikes, but they also do guided tours. So now there are no excuses. Get out there, pedal a fat bike, take some hot cocoa (maybe strengthened by the legendary performance enhancer, peppermint schnapps) and put a smile on your face. It’s pretty much a guaranteed good time. Let your mind wander and recoup from a hard season of racing and discover silly bike fun again.
Words, Photos: Daniel Dunn
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