187 bicycling enthusiasts bundled up against the chill of a mid-February morning and tackled a nearly 27-mile web of trails around and through Lake MacBride State Park Saturday, Feb. 12 for the fifth annual Fat Tire Classic. Sugar Bottom Bikes in North Liberty partners with the Solon Centennial Lions Club to put on the event, which featured a timed race with 137 participants at 9:00 a.m., and a more casual, ride at your own pace fun ride which started at noon.
Fat tire bikes, a bicycle with tires at least 3.8-inch wide, first appeared in 2005 and have steadily gained in popularity since. The extra wide tires, often ran at very low pressure, allow the bikes to glide over difficult terrain, or slick surfaces with ease by creating a larger contact area than a traditional bike tire.
“They can ride through snow and sand, and off-road that a normal mountain bike couldn’t quite hack it,” Event Director Nate Kullbom said. “A fat bike race is any race of any format where people on these bikes are competing for time.” Kullbom said the MacBride race was more of an “event” than a “race” because “most of the people in it are just riding for fun, the top-ten percent are racing it.”
Kullbom, who also is the manager for Sugar Bottom Bikes, oversaw laying out and marking the course.
“There’s a lot of off road trails, a lot of them are hiking only except for this one time per year. I just put together my knowledge of the area, a lot of little secret spots that most people don’t know about…I tried to throw those in to give people a really unique experience; a once-a-year chance to check out some areas of the park that they would never see otherwise.”
Preparation for the event included not only marking the trail but grooming it for the riders. A special device pulled behind a snowmobile compacted and smoothed out the snow while also imprinting a corduroy pattern that helped with traction.
“These are enthusiasts, to the max,” said Kullbom.
The Fat Tire Classic is a fundraiser for the Lions Club, which provides year-round service to the community including vision screenings for kids.
A rider takes a close look at a change in the trail while participating in the fifth annual Fat Tire Classic race.