I prefer to ride my fat tire bike right now, leaving my full suspension 29″ Santa Cruz Tallboy and my converted Diamondback Apex “road” bike in the garage.
Why? Because each and every bike has a personality and a bike’s personality speaks to the rider in a special language.
Do read Rebecca Rusch’s one page submission from Dirt Rag #189, just like I did this fine Maine morning.
Here it is: RUSCH JOB: ZEN AND THE ART OF FAT BIKING | Rebecca Rusch .” Fat biking is not a fad. It’s here to stay and has opened the doors to a whole new…”
While Rush’s article reflects her impressions of riding on snow, it captures the essence of moving through the wooded trails here in Midcoast Maine, anytime of year. There a bit more calmness to “riding fat”, as The Bubbas call it. For me, at my age and stage of life, riding on 5 inch wide tires sporting 5 pounds of pressure at 5 mph is fine. I’m riding difficult trail sections that were impossible for me to clear on 2″ tires. I don’t steer and aim so much when riding fat. I let the bike slide and hop a bit until it finds it’s own line. It’s intuitive rather than calculated. These same trails are seen differently. I like to notice that.
It’s been hot and humid here, since I have returned from hiking the Portugese Camino this June. It’s still cool out here at 6:45 AM on this fine summer day, and I’m free to enjoy it right now.
I’m heading out the door to swing my leg over my Surly Ice Cream Truck right now : out the door, over the hay fields, rocky streams, and onto the snowmobile trails that I keep open to ride up and around Moody Mountain. I’m happy to be riding fat again this morning.
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