Fat Biking
The biking doesn't end when the snow flies!
In the winter, a whole new world of biking awaits: fat biking! Hit the snowy trails on a fat bike this winter for a whole new outdoor adventure.
During the winter, many of our regional trails can be accessed via fat bike.
When fat biking, be sure to use wide tires — deep snow coverage may require tires wider than 3.5 inches. Wide tires provide sufficient traction to allow you to safely control your bike and ride in a straight line.
Additionally, tire pressure will often be less than 10 PSI to provide enough floatation to allow you to travel over snow without leaving a rut deeper than one inch.
Best practices for fat biking on groomed nordic trails or snowmobile trails:
- Only ride at areas that allow and encourage biking.
- Stay to the far right of the trail and yield to all other users when riding, including snowmobiles. Skiers don’t have brakes but you do!
- Leave room for skiers to pass (don’t ride side-by-side in a group if blocking the trail).
- Ride on the firmest part of the track.
- Do not ride on or in the classic tracks.
- Allow the track time to harden after grooming and before riding.
- Some areas require riding only a purposebuilt fat bike, not any old mountain bike. There may be a minimum tire tread width.
- Be an ambassador for the sport: stay polite, educate other riders, discourage bad behavior and follow the rules.
- When riding on snowmobile trails, use a front white blinker and rear red blinker at all times. Wear reflective material on both the front and rear of your body.
- Be friendly! Fat bikers are the newest trail users. Be courteous and open to suggestions from snowmobile riders.
- Consider donating to trail grooming and maintenance efforts.
Get Outside
Groomed fat biking trails
Always check the Trail Conditions report for groomed routes. In-town trails can be hard packed by use as we work on gaining permission to groom.
