FatBikes - Who Knew?

As surprises absolutely no one, even less those people who know me, I periodically am wrong.

Like, remember when I said it’s too icy to ride a bike in Jackson winter streets?

I hereby correct myself by noting that fatbikes are a thing. In my defense, it never occurred to me that anyone would want to bike in the snow enough to invent such a thing.

I’m both too lazy and not interested enough to get into the technical details, but a fatbike has huge grippy tires to allow its rider to bike over the snow. A quick online perusal shows people use them for sand and mud as well. And apparently, modern dance poses wearing shorts and sports bras, because God knows every sport needs its scantily-clad women.

Someone else's little red fat bike - note the crazy tires. And the falling snow.

They’ve been popping up in my consciousness for a few weeks now. You know, just long enough to prove me wrong about biking in the winter.

I saw a whole group of people riding them at Grand Targhee Resort on a recent ski trip. When you still ski in the kids’ zone, you’re low enough that the out-of-bounds area isn’t so much an avalanche risk as nice deep snow in the woods, which apparently is the perfect terrain for a fun sub-zero bike ride. I’m not exaggerating, by the way. The high that day was eight degrees.

Then I saw an out-of-date ad for a FatBike Festival a few hours away in Island Park, Idaho. Granted, this area’s smaller wilderness towns (and I solidly include Jackson in this list) are prone to festivals. They break out in festivals at the drop of a hat in the hopes that manufactured excitement will be contagious and infect pocketbooks nationwide.  However, the ad did indicate to me that there are enough people who are into this whole fatbike thing that the town of Island Park thought forming a festival around it would be enough to draw people and their money to the area.

The sighting that sparked this post was just a few days ago when I passed by The Hub on my way to get a burrito at the place next door.

I’ll post a picture as soon as I remember to take one, but it will be of a fatbike with a “Rent Me” sign on it. And what look a lot like neoprene oven mitts attached to the handlebars, presumably to keep one’s hands warm.

The Hub, home of both helpful question answerers and snooty road bikers (as noted during the spring), is open in the winter! (who knew?) And they offer fatbikes for rent, presumably because there is enough demand to make it worth the effort.

I give up. Winter in Jackson Hole is apparently no reason not to put on your snow pants, stick a balaclava under your helmet, strap on a pair of oven mitts and hop on your bike. Even if you’re not on a fatbike, at least based on the person (well, I assume it was a person and not as appearances suggested, a bundle of weatherproof cloth with a helmet on top) riding a normal mountain bike down Snow King Avenue this morning.  Of course, the bike lanes play host to layers-deep frozen slush, so he (we'll go with he) was biking down the middle of the road, but you almost had to admire that kind of commitment to green transportation. Or being out of gas, which is a pretty powerful motivating factor to bike to work in my experience.

All that being said, my resolve to not bike during the winter is unchanged. When I can’t always get my car up icy hills in this town, it’s kind of asking for trouble to do the same on a bike. At least when I get stuck in my car, there’s a heater. And if there’s anything you learn from living through a Jackson winter, it's that you gotta love a heater, amirite?