Wednesday, January 21, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
FAT TIRES: Alaskan
innovation is now big
in Sisters Country
Continued from page 4
and build five lightweight
bikes for competition. These
bikes were very successful
for a few years, but since the
wheels were low in profile
with two inner tubes per tire,
it was almost impossible to
lower the tire pressures and
increase the size of the tire
footprint when snow condi-
tions were soft.
The current fat-tire bike
design arrived on the scene
in 2005, when Surley Bikes
released the Pugsley frame
for worldwide distribution.
The immediate popular-
ity of the Surley bikes soon
brought other manufacturers
to the market. The current
wide fat-tire design on these
bikes, with one inner tube per
wheel, allows riders to lower
tire pressures for a large tire
footprint in soft snow.
Long-distance races in the
snow continued to evolve.
Race organizer Dan Bull
combined all the human-
powered race disciplines into
one race and the Iditasport
was born. At the starting line
competitors were asked to
declare their “weapon.” Were
they using a bicycle, just their
feet (on foot or snowshoes) or
using skis? For a while there
was even a triathlon division.
The combined event turned
out to be very successful and
exciting formula. There were
races within races, and with
hard-packed trail conditions
cyclist usually won overall.
With softer trail conditions
skiers had the advantage.
With time Iditasport has
given way to other events
along the Iditarod Trail.
The Susitna 100 now offers
50-kilometer and 100-
mile races. The Iditarod
Invitational offers its 350-
mile race from the Anchorage
area to McGrath, and com-
petitors who successfully
complete this “short” race are
photo provided
fatbikes can take on even soft snow conditions. they’re catching on in sisters Country.
eligible to race the full 1,000
miles to Nome the following
year.
Fat-tire bicycles have
become hugely popular in
Alaska, and large numbers of
multiple-sport human-pow-
ered races are now offered all
over the state, and they are
spreading to the Lower 48.
To stage these races a coop-
erative working relationship
between fat-tired moun-
tain bikes and snowmobiles
is needed, so trails can be
packed and competitors can
be supported by snowmobiles
during the events.
In Sisters Country, fat-
tire competition is also tak-
ing off. Blazin Saddles and
Black Butte Ranch will stage
the Cow Patty Crit #2 on
Saturday, February 7, start-
ing at noon. Even sooner on
the calendar is the Desert
Orthopedics Great Nordeen
15-kilometer fat-tire race on
January 31, starting at 9 a.m.
from Sunrise Lodge at Mt.
Bachelor and descending to
Wanoga Snow Park.
The fat-tire popularity is
now widespread all over the
world. In Antarctica, during
the 2013/2014 season, Maria
Leijerstam became the first to
ride a fat-tire tricycle to the
South Pole. Shortly thereafter
Daniel P. Burton rode a regu-
lar fat-tire bicycle to the pole.
Fat-tire bikes are also
becoming very popular for
recreational riding. Many
trails can be ridden safely in
the fall, winter and spring
seasons, when skinny moun-
tains bike tires would dam-
age trails. On the soft, sandy
high-desert areas east of
Sisters, fat-tire bikes can also
ride without bogging down.
Bjarne Holm moved to
Sisters a year and a half ago
after living in Alaska for
43 years. For close to three
decades he has participated
in and helped organize long-
distance winter cycling com-
petition in Alaska. Holm is a
professional geologist, and
for 22 years he also taught
science and math in second-
ary schools. He is now a
board member of the Sisters
Trails Alliance.
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