New to Fat Biking
I’ve been working at Syringa Cyclery, a bike shop in Sandpoint, ID, for three months. Since then, I’ve bought two bike. If this trajectory continues, I’ll own seven and a half more bikes by the end of the year. I don’t mind this ratio but, my budget and garage do.
One of those new bikes is an Otso Arctodus SLX. After looking deep into the extended weather forecast it looked like we’d be having an unusual winter that would compromise my precious time at the mountain. In the midst of kicking myself for buying a season ski pass, I thought, I can rectify this by buying a new bike and using it on all of the days I’m not snowboarding!
Enter: the activity seekers, poor mans logic.
Otso Arctodus SLX in Glacier / Purple
If you can’t tell, I’m a “can’t sit still” type of person. I also really like double dipping (foods and training tactics). As someone who likes two hit two birds with one stone, I figured that buying a fat bike would also help me walk my dog and train for Sea Otter at the same time (note to everyone out there: I’m not really sure how much riding this bike 10 miles a week is going to help me with a 70-mile mountain bike race… I’ll let you know in April).
Here we are… It’s 7°f out and I’ve just completed my first ride. It was harder than anticipated and required constant focus. Pretty happy with the outfit choice (as noted below) but I will make a swap or two.
Tires: pumped to 5 psi
Socks: 45°Nrth Lumi midweight merino blend crew socks
Shoes: 45°Nrth Ragnarock BOA cycling boots
Gloves: MITTENS.
Scarf/Buff: BlackStrap hood balaclava mask
Top layers: Kathmandu wool long sleeve + North Face
Bottom layers: Swix Lillehammer pant (a winter staple in my closet)
Helmet: Snowboard helmet (thought this would be warmer than my bike helmet. Bike helmet would’ve been fine)
The snow was compacted but soft. Staying within the two foot wide, groomed portion of the trail was way harder than I imagined. As a mountain biker you’re taught that speed is your friend. While fat biking, a quiet upper body and pedaling on a low gear at high cadence is key. You’ll quickly learn that if you don’t keep the front wheel steady, you’re off into the soft shoulder, taco-ing the top tube, and cursing at the difficulty of getting started again. So. Much. Fun.
Frustration occurred as it does while learning any new skill. The main thing I continued reminding myself was that just because I’m a confident road, gravel, and mountain biker doesn’t mean I’m automatically going to be comfortable on a fat bike. Each cycling discipline took time to figure out, just as this one will.
So yes, I will go again. I’ll lower the seat to make sure I don’t jab my bits as I’m trying to get back on the bike; I’ll wear my regular bike helmet rather than snowboard helmet; I’ll allow myself to be frustrated; I’ll laugh at myself after moving through said frustration; and I think I’ll ride more than 6km in 53 minutes and 36 seconds.
