A winter Ride to Ranger Summit in West Bragg Creek
The trouble with mountain biking in the Canadian Rockies is that the trails are snow covered more than half the year.
Biking on Ice like this would not be fun on a normal mountain bike…. Enter the fat bike
The good folks at Smack Cycles gave me a prize of a Fat bike rental for the afternoon.Mike at Smack cycles suggested I scale back my ambitions when I told him my plans for the day as “Fat biking requires 2-3 times as much effort as normal biking”. I decide I’m awesome and will go for it anyway.After about 2-3 minutes into my trip I realize Mike is a smart man, smarter than I. I’m already stopping for a break and sweating profusely, but I’m stubborn and carry on anyway.This particular area has some trails that only exist in the winter. This one only allows Fat bikes. Skinny tired bikes are not permitted.Time for another break! The fat bike has studded tires and rides over this smooth ice with ease.Close up of the studded tires. The tires are about 4” wide and run very low tire pressure.After a good deal of struggling I make the summit and take a break in the sun. Summit selfie!View from the top.This particular bike has a bamboo & aluminum frame. The bamboo is supposed to absorb bumps a bit. This is the start of my descent back down, which was a blast!
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