Fat bottom whirls: Slowly but surely, fat bike riding is gaining traction as a winter recreational activity at Tahoe

There are a number of days on the tail finish of the winter when the situations are good.

Not for shredding or ripping down a mountainside. No, on nowadays, go away the skis and snowboards within the storage.

When a winter rainstorm is adopted by a biting chilly snap, leaving the agency snowpack with a crunchy layer of crust, a rising variety of recreationists are pulling dusting off their bikes.

Fats bikes, that’s.

“Fats biking is tremendous enjoyable when situations are proper,” stated Anthony Cupaiuolo, proprietor of First Tracks Productions, a digital media firm based mostly in South Lake Tahoe, and avid fats biker. “For me and one in every of my pals, we really feel prefer it’s an ideal addition to the completely different toys now we have to play with right here (at Tahoe).”

Cupaiuolo stated he was pushed to strive his hand at fats biking throughout Tahoe’s latest string of drought years (2012-16). The predominance of powder-less days, Cupaiuolo discovered, supplied a possibility to traverse mountain terrain on wheels — huge ones.

“The times that I’m going to take it out are the times it’s not good to be on skis and snowboards,” Cupaiuolo added.

Earlier than we roll additional into the ins and outs of fats biking within the Sierra Nevada, let’s pump the brakes and study this distinctive winter exercise.

WHAT’S A FAT BIKE?

Fats bikes are bikes with over-sized tires at the least 4 inches huge which are designed for low floor strain to permit for driving on smooth, unstable terrain.

They had been first invented within the late Nineteen Eighties for winter driving on the Iditarod Path in Alaska. Joe Redington, who invented the famed sled-dog race, conceived a biking model of the Iditarod. Initially dubbed the Iditabike (now the Iditarod Path Invitational), the race requested bikers to trek 210 miles alongside the primary part of the sled-dog course.

Since, fats bikes have slowly grown in recognition throughout the nation, catching on first within the Midwest, the place the constant chilly temperatures, flat landscapes and long-lasting snowpack make for good fats bike situations.

“It’s a distinct option to get out on the snow and benefit from the winter with out having to be taught the abilities of snowboarding or shopping for further gear,” stated Sally Jones, supervisor of the Tahoe Donner Cross Nation Ski Space, which affords fats biking on its groomed trails.

Jones stated buyer request was the principle cause the resort determined to offer fats bikes a whirl in 2015.

Together with snow, fats bikes will also be ridden throughout grime, mud and pavement — in different phrases, wherever you need to take it. The cumbersome rubber tires can ease by muddy hairpins, glide over sand dunes, observe easily over rocks, and float throughout crusty snow.

“There are particular occasions when the fats bike simply is smart,” stated Cupaiuolo, who pointed to a day in April when, with a putting view of Lake Tahoe and his canine Emmie working alongside his outsized tires, he crunched down terrain within the Spooner Summit and Kingsbury Grade space.

SLOW AND STEADY

This begs the query, is driving a fats bike on snow as straightforward as, properly, driving a motorbike on pavement?

Quick reply: no.

“It’s going to be much more work than a standard bike journey,” Cupaiuolo stated.

To that finish, Jones stated anybody who jumps into fats biking must be accustomed to driving a mountain bike and utilizing its gear system.

“We encourage of us to remain on the simpler trails as a result of it may be fairly troublesome,” Jones stated. “They’re loads slower and more durable to pedal within the snow than a daily mountain bike. I might not suggest it for a first-time bike rider. It will be difficult to handle the altering of gears and the stability and coping with the additional part of snow, which isn’t as constant because the grime we journey in the summertime.”

What’s extra, Jones stated inexperienced bikers would possibly find yourself doing extra strolling than driving, which, in flip, makes the terrain more difficult for these of their rear-view.

“The very last thing we would like of us to do is to get off and begin strolling on the steeper terrain,” she stated. “That simply places holes within the snow, which is hard for the folks behind them.”

A SPRING THING

However, once more, the situations should be excellent for enjoyable and environment friendly fats biking on snowy Tahoe terrain. Jones stated the area’s snowfall final 12 months was so sturdy and fixed that “it wasn’t conducive to enjoyable driving, since you would simply sink in too deep.”

Added Cupaiuolo: “We get huge dumps of snow right here, and once you get 10 ft of snow in per week, that’s an excessive amount of snow to get on a motorbike.”

Sometimes, the very best time of the 12 months for fats biking, Jones and Cupaiuolo agreed, is the springtime. Jones added that anybody thinking about fats biking at Tahoe Donner all year long ought to first verify the resort’s grooming report, which can notify guests when fats biking is permitted on any given day.

“We are likely to steer folks extra towards the spring — we will by no means assure — but it surely’s extra more likely to be good situations,” she continued. “It’s simply not like snowboarding the place you may exit in any situation and have enjoyable; you do should have the appropriate situations

“However when it’s good, it’s actually good.”

Notably, Northstar California and Kirkwood Mountain Resort are different resorts within the better Tahoe space that supply fats biking on groomed cross-country trails.