Fatbike Beach Ride

Hello friends. Since we are in hardcore money saving mode for our trip, we are not doing too much right now. We have our equipment, we have tried it out a few times and now we just need to wait for our spring departure. There is a bit more happening behind the scenes, but I will save that for a future post once the details get worked out. Until then, I thought I would share some of what we are doing while we are waiting. 

Our friend and sponsor, Broken Spoke Bike Studio, has gotten quite into the fat bike scene. George is the only Salsa dealer in northeast Wisconsin and is doing a great job promoting the fat bike culture. 

Every Monday night, he hosts a fat bike shop ride along the Lake Michigan shoreline. He even has a couple loaner bikes for those who want to try a fat bike before shelling out the cash. (Very few end up NOT buying one) This is what I chose to do as well. 

George put me on a Salsa Beargrease. It is Salsa's racing fat bike. At 26 pounds it is the lightest fat bike on the market. I had an idea from reading reviews that this bike would not be as cumbersome to pedal as it looks like it would be, but I was totally shocked and amazed at how light this bike feels. We rode on pavement, grass, single track and finally the beach (which was a bit hard due to the temp only being in the low 20's) and I literally could not tell any difference between the pavement and the sand. When I got on this bike hard, it responded and took off. I was truly amazed. Which is both a good and bad thing. Good because it made me a lover of the fat bike, bad because it made me a lover of the fat bike and now I want one badly. With our upcoming trip next year however, the money is needed elsewhere, so it will have to wait until we return. Or we win the lottery. Whichever comes first. (Can you guess which one will probably come first?)  

Below are a few pics from my beach ride with George and a few of the guys from the shop. I had a great time and will most definitely do this again. There is a fat bike race in February that I told George he could count on me for too.

Me and a Salsa Beargrease

Pugsleys and Mukluks and Beargrease. Oh My!

The guys and myself. Minus George who was taking the photo.

Not quite a full moon but still bright enough that we could ride without our lights for a few miles.

About a half mile from the end of the ride, I felt the bike get a little bouncy, then heard an odd noise, then felt the rear tire go down, then heard the sound of rim on sand. I stopped and sure enough. The rear tire rolled off. My night was over. George hopped onto the handlebars of one of the other bikes while I hoisted the Beargrease onto my shoulder, hopped onto George's Pugsley and continued on. We relayed the Beargrease between 3 of us (It may only be 26 lbs, but that gets heavy quick when you're holding it with one arm.) and before too long we were back at the shop.

The night may not have ended well, but the awesomeness of everything that occurred previous to the flat, more than made up for the flat. Hey, I was just thankful it happened where it did. It could have happened miles from the shop.

If you ever get the opportunity to give a fat bike a try, I highly recommend it. They are so versatile and more importantly, SOOO much fun. 

Thanks George! I had a great time.