Our 5th Annual Winnipeg Global Fat Bike Day Ride was a Big Fat Blast! We had over 75 riders connected with our main ‘Media Loop’ and our 3 separate routes after that all ended at our chili-fest hangout!
There lots of pictures and videos floating around already, but for now … here’s our Group Picture captured again this year by our very own fatbiking photographer Gregory McNeill:
Giddy up ‘Fatties’, it’s time for 5th Annual Winnipeg Global Fat Bike Day Ride on Saturday December 3rd 2016 starting at 11:30 AM at the Forks. We had 70+ rider out last year and we had a blast, so let’s make this year bigger and better!
We will meet at The Forks Canopy/Tower Atrium area at 11:30 AM, organize and head off on our ‘Media Loop’ at 11:45 (led by Jason Carter, Keith Holm, myself and others) to ride across the Esplande Louis Riel Bridge to arrive at 12:00 at our usual Group Photoshoot on the East side of the Red River down from the St B Cathedral, where our very own Gregory McNeill will be waiting to capture our gathering and then we will ride south behind the St B Hospital to the Norwood Bridge and the “Green Bridge” back to The Forks.
There are then three riding route options:
SHORT “Hop, Skip & Jump”: Forks to the BDI Bridge and ‘Casa Fat Tom K’s Place’ for a “Chili-fest” pitstop. Route 8 kms via the Churchill Parkway with Lori and Tom K leading.
MEDIUM “When Ducks Skate”: Forks to the Assiniboine Park Duck Pond and back to the Forks, then south via the “Hop, Skip & Jump” Route to the “Chilli-fest” pitstop. Route is 26 kms to Tom K’s Place, with Keith Holm leading with assistance from Brian Dyck and Big “Lou”.
LONG “Barclay-Burchill-Gauld Maraton”: A special “Quest” Route designed and lead by Jason Carter. Route is 42 Kms and my take as long as 3 & 1/2 hours to return to the Forks (less for speedy and crafty folks), then south via the “Hop, Skip & Jump” Route to the “Chilli-fest” pitstop or via vehicle if you parked at the Forks.
This is a ‘Fat Bike’ event, so ideally you will be riding a fat bike (3.7 inch tire width +), however if you don’t have one yet, you have a few options:
1. Sign out a ‘Demo’ Fat Bike from a conveniently located Bike Shop – White Pine Bicycle Co (http://www.whitepinebicycleco.com/) located in the Forks Terminal Building. Brendan at WhitePine has offered them for free use in connection with our GFBD Ride and will be there at our 11:30 gathering.
2. Ride your MTB and we will welcome you to see what all the fatbiking fun is about … we know you want one! 🙂
Here’s the Press Release:
Gregory McNeill went ‘all patriot’ this week to capture the coveted – FAT PHOTO OF THE WEEK honours!
Check out the Canadian Flag with Liam Mohan getting ready to issue the next ‘challenge’ to the assembled riders at the 4th Fatlevels Skills Clinic of 2016 …
Last night there was an invite from Wayne Bishop at 2 Wheel Revolution for people to go ride with him in the evening at the Bur Oak trails in Bird’s Hill Park. There was light snow on the ground and it is assumed that it would be fat tires only, but there was no requirement. 4 of us attended, all riding fatbikes with tires from 3.8 to 4.8 inches, 2 Specialized Fatboys (1 carbon), 1 Trek Farley 27.5 (carbon) and 1 Salsa Blackborow (mine).
The trails were relatively hard packed, with some loose ‘corn’ granular snow in the berms and some small areas of water and no snow cover. There was an overcast and there was almost no light at all, so strong front lamps were mandatory.
I tried to stick with the elite riders, but after a few kms I just waved Pat Burr by so he can join his fast friends at the front. It is a closed loop course so riding by myself was not a problem for I just followed the tracks made by the other three, and I could follow their lights for the majority of the time. It was very peaceful and I rode at my own pace. If I got lost, I know they would not leave me out there. Mark Seel, maybe, but not me. 😀
We were out there for 1.5 hours, and left close to 8:30 p.m. Be sure to be dressed before you go so you don’t get heckled by your friends and given an ultimatum of not being invited anymore!
Wayne has informed me that there will be an effort to have Wednesday night rides at Bur Oak at 6:30 from now on led by 2 Wheel Revolution. Of course situations and conditions may not permit these events from being continuous, but there will be effort made so local people can come out and experience the beautiful peaceful park at night. If you want to ride with the leaders, pack light and leave all of your extra gear in your vehicle – these people don’t screw around 🙂
If you live in the Winnipeg and surrounding Manitoba area and have the means to get to ride the St. Norbert trails, I hope this post will encourage you if you haven’t done so before. Selflessly maintained by local MTB racer Kevin Braun and friends, the combination of intense serpentine singletrack and off camber ungroomed riverside trails provided the Fatbike Manitoba “Masters of Mud and Snow” a great training area for the skills building clinic last Sunday. Along with local Fat Levels rider Liam Mohan, a special appearance by 2 Wheel Revolution’s David Hamm completed the ride. Local Monster Truck Builder and fatbike rider, Richard L’Heureux, led us through some spectacular scenery. What a great day to spend the afternoon 🙂
So I did something today I hadn’t thought to do since we started our FBM website last December 2015 … I checked the website STATS. Well now, thanks to Gregory McNeill’s cool pictures and more sharing with our FBM FaceBook group and FBM Twitter account, our visitors and views are SKYROCKETING this month … and hey New Zealand, we know you’re watching! So come on over and join us for some fatbiking fun and adventure! 🙂
* End Nov 16 Update … the “Gregory’s a Star” effect = almost 7000 views!
Look what I ordered and just got … saaweeet!
Wayne Bishop and the 2wheelrevolution folks are putting on a series of three Manitoba FatBike races this winter … all on sweet groomed trails thanks to the Wildcat Groomer he has recently picked up and a ‘sled’ to pull it ta-boot!
Exciting times for us Manitoba ‘Fatties’ and any fellow like-minded folks in nearby provinces and states!! 🙂
How does the song go? “Let the good (FAT) times roll, Let … !” 😉
Fatlevels Clinic #3 was BIG success last week, onto #4 and here it is:
“Masters of Mud & Snow: Fat Levels Skill Clinic #4
Sunday NOVEMBER 27 at 1:00 p.m. at
IF it is dry conditions: St. Norbert – MEET at Sunrise Cafe & King Express, 3564 Pembina Hwy, on Elise Ave and Hwy 75;
[ IF it is wet conditions, we will go to Burr Oak – decision will be made on this thread next Saturday. ]
[ DO NOT use the train bridge to access the St. N. trails!! CN & RCMP are just about a ruthless as a real train! We will show you the safe access route. ]
Late Comers: Indicate that you will be late on this thread and we’ll set up a text system to let you know exactly where we are. Super late comers may be better off starting from La Barriere park.
Liam Moham will instruct using the St N trail system that awkwardly connects to the La Barriere systems. This area is a main fat bike playground when the river is frozen, so we will explore it when the leaves are down and the riding is a bit easier. Excellent trails for newbie riders, with longer gravel road sections/Brunkild Dike for Actif Epica training too.BYO food, hot drink, and/or cash for post clinic java brew.
Fat bikes only, please (borrow, don’t steal, one if you have to).
Once again thanks to Gregory McNeill for snapping this week’s … FAT PHOTO OF THE WEEK!
Here it is: Liam Mohan, our intrepid Fatlevels Skills Clinic #3 ride leader giving us a sweet demo how to ‘catch some air’ on his fattie and with style no less!
Liam and ALine Alphonso held another great day of skills development last Sunday. Riders met at the Forks and rode up the Churchill drive trails learning how to tackle steep climbs and general riding through wooded areas. Some of the group went home and others continued back to the Forks via the trails by the Seine River and Whittier Park. Next week’s training will take place at the excellent St. Norbert trails, selflessly maintained by Kevin Braun and friends.
Check the rest of my pictures on flickr: HERE
Giddy up, mark your calendars and get ready for our 5th Annual Winnipeg Global Fat Bike Day Ride on Saturday December 3rd 2016 starting at 11:30 AM. We had 70+ rider out last year and we had a blast, so let’s make this year bigger and better!
We will meet at The Forks Canopy/Tower Atrium area at 11:30 AM, organize and head off on our ‘Media Loop’ at 11:45 (led by Jason Carter, David Cobb, Keith Holm, myself and others) to ride across the Esplande Louis Riel Bridge to arrive at 12:00 at our usual Group Photoshoot on the East side of the Red River down from the St B Cathedral, where our very own Gregory McNeill will be waiting to capture our gathering and then we will ride south behind the St B Hospital to the Norwood Bridge and the “Green Bridge” back to The Forks.
Details are yet finalized, but after the Media Loop, their will be a variety of ‘short-slow’, ‘medium’ and ‘longer-faster’ ride route options and opportunity to ride over a period of one to three plus hours, with ride leaders and ‘back of group’ guides.
We also hope to have a social connection aspect to the ride, which can involve venues at The Forks (details pending) and a local ‘Fatbiker Friendly’ home location (details pending).
Here’s our 2014 Wpg GFBD Ride Video:
Here’s our 2015 Wpg GFBD Ride Video:
This is a ‘Fat Bike’ event, so ideally you will be riding a fat bike (3.7 inch tire width +), however if you don’t have one yet, you have a few options:
1. Sign out a ‘Demo’ Fat Bike from a conveniently located Bike Shop – White Pine Bicycle Co (http://www.whitepinebicycleco.com/) located in the Forks Terminal Building. Brendan at WhitePine has offered them for free use in connection with our GFBD Ride and will be there at our 11:30 gathering.
2. Ride your MTB and we will welcome you to see what all the fatbiking fun is about … we know you want one! 🙂
Check out at our FBM FaceBook GFBD Event – HERE
Also check out our brand new Twitter Account – HERE
MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW, BUT TIME TO GET READY!
SEE YOU ALL THERE!! 🙂
Since 25+ of us had such a good time the last two Sundays, we have called for a third!
Masters of Mud: Fat Levels Skill Clinic #3
Sunday NOVEMBER 20 at 1:00 p.m. at THE FORKS – MEET ON THE GREEN BRIDGE
Late Comers: Go to the Paddling Club on Churchill Drive and Redboine, then follow your nose to find us.
Liam Moham will instruct using the south bound trail route towards BDI, with lots of stopping to “segment” the trails into challenging parts that inhibit the elusive “flow”.
BYO food, hot drink, and/or cash for post clinic java brew. Fat bikes only, please (borrow, don’t steal, one if you have to).
Thanks again to Gregory McNeill’s photographer skills (while riding his fatbike no-less!),we have a winner for our new weekly contest … FAT PHOTO OF THE WEEK!
Here it is: Guy ‘Muddy Guy’ Anthony in the lead as 25+ of us fatbikers are about to cross the Louis Reil Esplande Bridge (Cdn Museum for Human Rights behind) during our 2nd FatBike Skills Clinic of 2016 on 13 Nov 2016. Will that be our last ride before the snow flies??? It’s all good to us! 🙂
Adrian Alphonso took today’s Nov 13th Fatbike Free Clinic riders through skill building techniques and shared his lifetime of experience of riding safely and correctly. Adrian, Tom Kolesnik, and Wayne Bishop from Two Wheel Revolution were on hand to talk about coming events this winter and how we can participate and support the local Fatbike scene here in Manitoba. It was a glorious day weather wise, and the trails in Whittier Park did not disappoint this large crew. Many happy faces out there 🙂
Check out this very slick video “An Introduction to Fat Bike” which was filmed by Brandon Landgraff (our fellow fatbiker Ken’s son and video enthusiast) at our recent Fat Bike Skills Clinic and which he specially edited for our viewing pleasure – thanks Brandon! 🙂
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