By Ambassador Sandra Beaubien

Embrace the variety

With temperature fluctuations and large and small snowfalls, the conditions will always be changing. Instead of limiting your riding season, embrace all conditions and don’t wait for them to be ‘perfect’. Machine-groomed singletrack flow trails are a blast, but partially covered rocks with a textured icy layer can provide amazing traction. Get out there and enjoy it all!

Explore!

Get out and ride somewhere you don’t get to in the summer! Use your fat bike as an adventure machine (and find adventurous friends). It is scary but also exhilarating to ride on frozen lakes.  It is such a neat feeling, but not something to do solo or with friends you don’t trust!

Take pictures!

Stop and think about what you are doing – riding a fat-tired bike in the snow, in freezing cold weather. Just take the selfie, or a group picture with your friends and enjoy the sun beaming down on you.

Invest in good gear!

Proper gear that is fatbike specific can be expensive, so use what you have to start with. It might be cross-country ski clothing or an old fleece sweater.  Good clothing will have cycling-specific cuts and fabrics that are highly breathable and keep you warm.  Add a couple of items to your Christmas list or birthday wish list each year.  Focus on keeping your fingers and toes warm first.

Make it a MTB!

When fat bikes were first coming onto the market, the selection was limited, and riding a fully rigid fat bike was old-school and felt kinda cool. Things have evolved and both forks and dropper posts are available that work well in the cold. It really extends the winter riding window and you aren’t always looking for perfect conditions (see Tip #1).