What better way to ring in 2016 than a great fat bike ride on the La Salle River!
I met up with my old riding buddy/new fat biker Brian Dyck, plus Dallas Sigurdur and Dan Lockery, who were finishing their own out & back on the La Salle from La Barriere Park. We three rode to La Barriere on our own, except for a few friendly snowmobilers (thanks for packing the river folks :-)).
The ride back to La Salle on the reverse route was uneventful, except for the crisp bright scenery.
Oh that was fun! As Wayne Bishopof ‘2 Wheel Revolution‘ put it:“Love the work ethic …. -25 windchill not a problem, hiking holes on the trail not a problem, 6 km loops not a problem . Packing the loop with a dozen fatties never a problem! Great community effort!”
Here a few of my GoPro screencaps … video in the works.
Greg Carrigan framed by the sun and snow kicked up by my ‘Bud’ tire!
The track was quite narrow (about two tire widths) for our first few laps, but totally rideable and a blast! With more riders following, Bur Oak should be in perfect condition by now … so giddy up Fatties – let ride 🙂
THIS IS AWESOME – CHECK OUT A GREAT VIDEO! My good friend Brian Dyck has recently bought a fat bike and now I find out he’s been holding out on me … he has access to a drone!
It was the day of our first real snowstorm of winter 2015-16 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada … way overdue, so some of us local Fatbikers did not hesitate to get out there and lay down some fresh tracks. The result was our “Fattie Snowfest Foray”! Great fun … bring on the snow! 🙂
Let’s just say we’ve been waiting a long time for this snowstorm and were quick to take advantage of the new snow last night … gathers some riders and voila – “Fattie Snowfest Foray”:
Good times were had by ‘Skinny’ Charles Burchill (thanks for the ride idea), David Rustau, Luke Friesen, Keith Holm, Serge Brasseau, Bass Bagayogo and Fat Tom K. Once the tire pressures were dropped down (like < 6 PSI Low) it was all good and rideable. Great to be laying down fresh new tracks! 🙂
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Check our Fat Luke’s tire rim ‘snow ribbon’ after spending more than an hour in Fat Tom K’s ‘Fat Cave’: … there’s some BIG ‘FAT MAGIC’ going on in there 😉
Our 2015 – 4th Annual Global Fat Bike Day ride in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada was even BIGGER and BETTER than last year!
Almost 70 Fat Bikers gathered at the Forks in the heart of Winnipeg to start our GFBD ride (or joined us along the way).
Some rode a shorten route, some longer, but all enjoyed a great day of early winter fat biking on a beautiful sunny day.
Our official photographer Gregory McNeill did the honours again on the East side of the Red River at our now standard perfect riverside spot.
This year Gregory was riding his new Fat Bike and still carrying all his cameras and tripod … hardcore tough that guy … just the way we like him!
Our route this year (after our Prologue across the Red River and back to the Forks) took us west along the Assiniboine River walkway and river=edge trails, through Wolseley, along Wellington Crescent and on the Assiniboine Park ‘Monkey Trails’ to the Park Duck Pond Shelter (no need for it this year). Then we made our way south to Fort Whyte Park via Assiniboine Forest pathways and to our 3/4 route goal of ‘IKEA Hill’ and a short steep up to another group photoshoot.
Most of the still large crew made a pitstop at the Buffalo Cafe (funny name – since we call them Bison in Manitoba and there are actual Bison at Fort Whyte Park in a large enclosure field).
Onward east now took most either along the MacGillvary pathway or Bishop Grandon Greenway to the Wildwood Park area and north to the Elmpark (BDI) Bridge and the official “Casa Fat Tom K’s” Pit Stop … chili-fest, suds and hot ‘toddies’. Good times! 🙂
First Fat Bike single-track trail ride of the season on snow and it was a blast! Four of us (Wayne Bishop, Jason Carter and Mike Stiles) put in a few laps and kept the trail packing going while new snow kept falling and then another eight ‘fatties’ joined us for more sweet fatbIking and setting the trail for later riders. 🙂
Last year’s 3rd Annual – 2014 Winnipeg Global Fat Bike Day Ride was a blast, with over 50 Fat Bikers joining in on some or all of the biking and social fun! This year’s 4th Annual Ride will be bigger and even more fun!!
Plan to meet at The Forks (Canopy Rink beside the glass Tower Atrium) at 11:00 AM on Saturday December 5th 2015.
No costs … just bing a smile and a helmet of course 🙂
* Btw, we will be obeying all traffic signs on a group ride, though we hope to use as much trail as possible …
After our first Mass-Group ride over the Louis-Riel Esplande Bridge to the shores of the Red River for our group photo, we will ride back to the Forks Riverwalk trail and head west. There will be several options to bike for as little as 1 Hour or over 4 Hours, with coffee/warm-up stops along the way and opt-out points enroute to the Assiniboine Park Duck Pond Shelter and eventually back to the Forks via a special stop-over `Casa` (with chili and suds) for the longer distance riders.
Good times gathering around 30 of the ‘Fatties’ together and getting ‘schooled’ for the upcoming winter season by Liam Mohan, Adrian Alphonso and Mike.
Dust off your steeds and mark you calendars for this great season opener:
Sunday, November 8th at 1:00 p.m. at Bourkevale Community Club for the….
First Annual Fat-Skills Clinic, hosted by The Fat Levels Bike trials Team.
Adrian Alphonso and Liam Mohan will instruct, help and cajole us into the groovy side of riding fat – the sweet spot of skills that maximize big tires and gob-smack your significant others.
Here it is folks, probably our last chance to gather the MB Fat Bike Herd for a group ride on groomed winter ski trails … yes, you heard me and it’s true! Once again, we have been granted access by MB Parks officials to the Grand Beach Prov Park ‘Winter/Ski’ Trails for some fat biking fun! This is just for the end of the ‘snow season’, but should bode well for future coordinating of more regular access. 🙂
So, giddy up Fatties:
When: Sunday, 22 March 2015. Start at 9:00 AM – sharp
Where: GBPP Parking lot for XC Ski/Hiking Trails
Who: Any Fat Biker
Bike Tech: Minimum 3.7 inch wide tires and low pressure – 10 PSI Max (float & traction = :-))
It’s a Fireside Potluck BBQ – bring something Eh!
KA-POW!!! SUPER DUPER FAT BIKE RACE!
The 2015 Fat Bike Birkie Race held at Cable, Wisconsin, USA, on March 7th was once again the BIGGEST FAT BIKE RACE ON THE PLANET with over 800 registered racers (3/4s on the 47 Km loop and the rest on a 20 Km loop)!
Just like last year, it was a blast to race and capture the event on video … this year I used a $5 broomstick to raise my helmet-cam up to get a ‘high pan’ of the BIG FAT MASS of racers … kinda envious of the drone video guy though! 🙂
Fat Tire Biking continues to explode around the world and no where was it more evident than this past weekend at the Birkie Ski Trails complex, with just 2 days access for fat bike racers to check out the amazing trails, in great conditions (-5 C overnight and +2 at race end), expertly groomed by the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation and all their organizers and volunteers!
The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation once again but on a world class race event and handled the merry mass of fat bikers!
Definitely coming back next year and EVERY YEAR!
… 
FatBikeManitoba.com 
