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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2016)
Wednesday, December 28, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 11 Fatbike tracks make mountain biking a year-round sport By Mike Morical The (Bend) Bulletin BEND (AP) — For those who just refuse to stop moun- tain biking, even when most Central Oregon singletrack is covered in snow — fatbikes are an option. And soon, they will be able to ride those fatbikes on groomed singletrack snow. Again this winter, Bend’s Gary Meyer will groom sin- gletrack trails for fatbikers at Wanoga Sno-park, where they can ride starting January 1, 2017. He estimates at least three feet of snow has accumu- lated at Wanoga, about 12 miles west of Bend, where he plans to groom trails via a temporary permit with the Deschutes National Forest. The past two winters, Meyer groomed about nine miles of two-foot-wide trail (a three- mile loop and a six-mile loop), using a snowmobile with a metal roller attached behind. Meyer, the winter trails steward for the Central Oregon Trail Alliance, says he plans to begin grooming on Monday. With all the snow on the ground lately in Central Oregon, more and more fatbikers are taking to the streets. Global Fatbike Day was December 3, and numer- ous groups held outings in Central Oregon to commem- orate the occasion. “There [were] 35 of us that rode out to Tumalo Falls,” Meyer says. “Then on Facebook I started look- ing, and I counted at least five other groups that had 20 or more people. There was a group of 25 that took off at Wanoga, another big group at Dutchman Flat Sno- park, another at the Phil’s Trail network. It’s amazing how fast it’s grown. Yeah, you see a few people riding around town, but out on the trails, now it’s big groups of people.” Some fatbikers are not even waiting for Meyer’s grooming to ride snowy sin- gletrack. Several have been working along singletrack in the Phil’s Trail network west of Bend to pack down the snow on the trails with snow- shoes so the trails are ridable on fatbikes. “There’s people saying, ‘OK, I wanna try to keep this loop in the Phil’s Trail network packed as long as we have snow all winter,’” Meyer says. “As long as you keep riding it, if there’s just a little snow, it’s easy to keep packed. Even though we’re grooming trails, other peo- ple are doing man-powered grooming.” Fatbikes’ wider tires (typically 3.8 inches wide versus 2.25 inches for moun- tain bike tires) allow for bet- ter traction in snow or sand. Central Oregonians primar- ily use them for riding in the snow. Tire pressure can be as Happy Holidays! low as five or six psi on fatbikes — mountain bikes are usually between 30 and 50 psi — to provide even more traction on challenging terrain. Groomed trails give fat- bike riders a firmer surface to avoid sinking into the snow. Fatbikes are capable of ripping through about two to three inches of fresh snow. Anything deeper than that becomes extremely difficult, Meyer says. Fatbikes are also allowed on groomed snowmobile trails in Central Oregon, but they are prohibited at Nordic ski areas such as Virginia Meissner Sno-park and the Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center. “You can go on the snow- mobile trail, you can go on the snowshoe trails, but stay off the ski trails,” Meyer says of fatbikers. “With snow- mobile trails, when you hear them coming, get off to the side, because they cannot see you very well. You can hear them way before they’re near you.” While riding snowmobile trails on fatbikes can be fun, groomed singletrack is much more enjoyable, Meyer notes. It is similar to riding regular dirt singletrack, but on snow. “A snowmobile trail is like you’re riding down a big, wide street,” Meyer explains. “There’s not the twisty, turny, flowy singletrack experience, and that’s the biggest differ- ence. 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