Michael Boehnlein captured this striking image at The Carver Lake Cold Catfish Cup winter race up near the Twin Cities this January. Mike and I are gnome-fest cousins. He rides with los gauchos del (MORBID) a la choy… Fat Foto Friday is a weekly feature where we try to help kick off [...]
This sounds like so much fun! Click the Flyer to open the event web-page. For more races, demos and festivals, visit our Event Calendar sponsored by 45NRTH for more Fat-Bike Fun!
Written By : Chris. Schotz Photos By : Jordan Schotz The rugged and challenging, underdown mountain bike trail system in Lincoln County was the chosen venue for the Snowbound in the Underdown - Race #6 in the 9:Zero:7 Wisconsin State Fat Bike Race Series. The solo race was run on a six mile ribbon of snowshoe trail, that led riders [...]
Story by Josh Gabriel Photos by George Kaptz & Craig Smith Manitowoc’s second annual Fat-bike race on the now notorious Shelltrack is in the books and as the saying goes, ‘What a difference a year makes.’ Just one year ago, Fat-bike fanatics were laying down fast laps in short sleeves, this year riders were layered [...]
Written By : Sierra van der Meer Photos By: Tony Gonda It’s easy to forget that the land of the Midnight Sun is also the land of the Midday Sunset. All summer, Yukoners celebrate long days with midnight bike rides on flowy singletrack. Our biggest event of the year, the 24 Hours of Light is a [...]
That’s the photo that led me to come in contact with our new amigo from the Netherlands, Tommy. I learned that Tommy is a guide at Lola Bikes and Coffee and that the shop runs Fat-Bike Tours in The Hague, the capitol city, of the Netherlands, nestled on the sandy shores of the North Sea. Every [...]
Sled-Hed v 1.0 – aka – the widow maker I read a parable on the surly blog the other day about a rope and pvc-pipe fat-bike sled that inspired me to build Sled-Hed v1.0. Noah had his arc and I….well I have a kid’s psychedelic plastic sled that I bought at the local hardware…. which (in [...]
I am totally in love with my Smartwool base layers. Most specifically, the Smartwool Microweight Long Sleeve Crew. This is my go-to shirt for almost any ride and is comfortable for me in weather from 45 degrees to about 70 degrees just as it is. I typically use a lightweight, short sleeve shirt underneath to [...]
Grip Studs recently sent us for review a couple of packages (250 studs total) of their tungsten carbide, screw in studs along with an installation tool for inserting them into your favorite fat-bike tires. The promise of Grip Studs is a good one; customizable traction with easy to install, wide-auger thread inserts to secure them [...]
The Kick Off event for the 9:Zero:7 Wisconsin State Fat-Bike Series. The Platty Fatty is a night race. Sponsored by www.fat-bike.com, 9:ZERO:7, Momentum Bikes, 1up USA, Plattucky Wiscy, and PHPT. Check out www.phptrails.blogspot.com for more information. Or check out the facebook event page to see who’s attending - https://www.facebook.com/events/374987942582352/ This is a Fat Bike Night Race. The [...]
Have you been waiting to hear what 45NRTH has been teasing us with, all summer? Today is the day you get to meet Wölvhammer! We spoke with David Gabrys from 45NRTH and asked a few questions about these much anticipated, new boots. Wölvhammer Cycling Boot What Sizes will be available? Sizes 38-50 (full sizes, there [...]
Our newest contributor to the site is Sierra van der Meer. Sierra lives and rides up in the Yukon, so we thought she’d be a perfect candidate to test out the Ruroc Helmet System for us. You can enjoy more of Sierra’s words and pictures at http://northsixty.com/ Imagine driving to work on a dark winter morning. Coffee [...]
On our trip up to Minneapolis last month we spied this Ti Fatback with it’s carbon fork and the signature twisted downtube of a Lynsky fab’d frame and we knew that we wanted to talk to it’s owner. This sweet scooter is owned by elite racer and ex motocross pro, Jeff Colbert of North Branch [...]
What seems even more routine than doing the 100 mile loop in the White Mountains National Recreation Area every year on my fatbike, is how I somehow always do it ‘off-the-couch.’ Maybe because I know I can? In 2010, I had just gotten my 29er with Snow Cats and thought it would be a good [...]
I had an epiphany and learned something pivotal this past weekend… It’s not about what you can’t do, it’s about what you CAN. How can a 36 mile winter fatbike ride be more difficult than a 100 mile winter fatbike ride? Soft snow and one gear. When I had my 29er with Snow Cats, I [...]
Wide, light, grippy, and a good feel underfoot. What more could you ask for in a pedal? Durability, maybe, but I’m pretty sure high-impact nylon has proven itself in so many other applications that I have no worries here. I most recently took these pedals on a 100 mile backcountry ride on winter trails through [...]
Written by Blatz – aka Mark Petterson Gomez passed on a pair of Bar Mitts pogies to me and asked me to give them a try. Bar Mitts are made of Neoprene with Velcro and a zipper. They retail for around $50 to $65. Installation is pretty simple with one exception*. The Velcro strap used [...]
Our entire den of pug-scouts from troop 666 in Milwaukee converged on Decorah, Iowa for the PWC (Pugsley World Championships). For the readers that might not know…….Decorah is a hidden gem of mountain biking located in the driftless region of Northwestern Iowa. Several of our Gnomefest cousins hail from Decorah along with Sov and some [...]
2012 Pugsley World Championships February 25, 2012 The Ax is Back Registration will be Day of the race at
Wednesday Morning, Jan. 11, 2012. I woke up and asked my puppy if it had snowed yet. She looked back with sleepy puppy eyes as if to tell me she didn’t care at all. Well, I’d have to check for myself. I made my way up and out to the front window. Green and faded [...]
Race Recap written by ~ Josh Gabriel The beaches of Manitowoc were stormed by nearly a dozen, four person teams on the sunny and unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon of February 4th. Fat-bike aficionados were invited by The Broken Spoke Bike Studio, The NEW OM(NorthEast Wisconsin Off-road Mountain) bike club and Pabst Brewing Company to dirty their [...]
Psst……….Have you ever thought about what fat heaven would be like ? Unlimited beer, candybar trees, bikes and pristine trails right? Unimaginable???? Not so much if you know where Eau Claire, WI is… Let me tell you about this heavenly wonderland where fat bikes, and all things fat, exist. It’s called Northwest Park. Quietly tucked away, [...]
I’ve owned my Pugsley for five years, and like most- have constantly sung its praises. I love my Surly Pugsley. I have delivered pizza, ridden singletrack (singlespeed and geared), floated it across flooded roads, ridden through snowy fields, and thrown basically everything in my arsenal at it with great success; the Pugs stood its ground. [...]
Who else liked art class in grade school? Well here’s a fun little art project for you if you’re coming with your fat-bike to the Team SnowBike Enduro. Nothing to stress over either, because we’ll have a good supply of paper plates and markers for anyone that needs a number plate on the day of the race. If you [...]
Keeping the digits warm while fat-biking in the cold is one of the most important parts of winter biking. Cold fingers equal less control, potential frostbite and, in extreme conditions, loss of said digits! So how best to keep your hands warm? While there are a lot of cyclists out there using variations on the [...]
The Decorah NYD ride is a 13 miles gravel route to the Blue Collar Friendly Randy’s Bluffton Store. Temps in the 20 Degree range. 55 to 60 MPH head wind on the way out. 25 to 30 riders. 3 Moonlanders. 2 Pugsleys. ? Barley pops and a jug of Home-made Apple Pie Moonshine. This was [...]
The Cold Bear Challenge Race Series is one of the most established winter bike competitions in the lower 48. There’s 3 races in the series with a fat-bike festival on February 12th, complete with shennanigans, according to long time race director Rich Omdahl. Rich is the man behind the grandaddy of all winter race series up [...]
Fatbikes: 2 Mukluks 1 ti’ Fatback 1 9:Zero:7 2 Pugsleys: the Fugsley, and Don’s DUC32 Pugs Stats: December 11, 2011 19.34 miles 2:23 ride time (8.1 mph average pace) 2270ft vertical You’d think it would be a singletrack traffic jam on a day like this: sunny, cold—but not too cold, with the saturated ground nicely [...]
Fat-Bike.com is happy to announce an additional race to our Wisconsin Fat-Bike Race Series. The Sweaty Yeti will be hosted by Steve Meurett out at the Levis Trail Center and adopt the fun and frantic format, just like the Team Snow-Bike Enduro and The Growler. Mark your calanders and get ready for FUN!
Ride #3 ~ A cold snap froze everything solid over night so my previous plans to get the new Moonlander out to Kettle looked promising for Friday. I waited to get the ‘all clear’ from the DNR trail hot-line and by mid-day, I was on my way out to see how this thing will handle a real [...]
The first time I ever met Sven and Puck was at either the Fat-Tire Tour of Milwaukee or Santa Rampage. We’re blessed with a rich and diverse cycling culture in Wisconsin…from the Cyclocross National Championships or the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival – to the Tour of America’s Dairyland or the first ever ‘Rails to Trails’ trail built, our state [...]
If this report seems moderately disjointed it is because both Gomez and I wrote reports and I bailiwicked them into this conflagration. About twenty fat-bikers from SE WI and NE IL assembled on the shores of Lago del Michigami for the much anticipated Full Moon Beach Ride Redux along the stretch of beach from Port Washington [...]
After a few years of mistrusting my pump gauge and guessing what pressure I was running, I decided to purchase a digital air gauge. I asked my riding buds what they used and most were in the same camp that I had been in for years…..a pump guage (that starts at 10 psi) or the squeeze [...]
This is a video shot by Rich Omdahl. Rich is the man behind the grandaddy of all winter race series’ up at Hillside Park in Elk River, Minnesota; The Cold Bear Challenge. Hillside is home to many unique technical trail features. This video was put together to show what some of these features look like in [...]
This fat-bike/hunting article about a trip to Wisconsin’s Northwoods over Thanksgiving Weekend is a guest post reprinted with permission from Dave Schlabowske, Communications Director for the Bike Federation of Wisconsin. Thanks, Dave! I am back from hunting in Peeksville, where I used my Schlick Cycles Northpaw to ride out to my deer stand. We had [...]
Every time someone asks about biking in the cold, I guarantee them they will dress too warm and sweat within the first fifteen minutes. We’ve all been there and it’s challenging to avoid a repeat experience. Although, it does feel good to sweat on a fast trail ride when it’s 25 below, but we’ll get [...]
What a dichotomy… your body is sweating but your hands and feet are freezing. It takes some time to figure out what to wear for every weather condition and temperature you might face during cold weather rides. And of course, no two days are the same and I don’t remember last year, so it often leaves [...]
With the exception of a bit of time spent in California I’ve been riding in cold weather for as long as I’ve been riding bikes. You want to ride year ’round here in the Midwest you ride in the cold. For me, some of my most memorable rides have been in the winter months on [...]
Without question, it was love at first sight. Infatuation, maybe, but it’s quickly proving to be deeper-lugged. We hooked up a few times and I’m pretty happy with the ride quality. I know it’s moving fast, but I’m actually thinking about proposing… proposing the idea of bringing another into the relationship. The Surly Nate is [...]
