One of my resolutions for the New Year is to keep my blogs
up to date. Whatever I post here will also be posted to
While in Johannesburg,
South Africa I
was informed that road cycling may not be safe: Cars are not bike
friendly and a cyclist stands a chance of getting "bike jacked" if
cycling alone. My wife knows I "have to cycle". At her
school where she works my wife was chatting with a group of teachers who she
knows cycle. One of them said: "Maybe Joe wants to try mountain
biking. We've got our daughter's bike he could borrow."
Another way to cycle: I'll try it.
Went for a ride with the Johannesburg Mountain Bike
Club. Remember what I said about bike jacking? Their club rule for any
group from beginner to advanced: Must
have at least 6 riders for a group to ride. Strength in numbers!
Oh, the sweep carried a special device that should the group run into trouble
gets triggered to send a signal for help to the police. I fell in love with mountain biking!!
Never had the need to try it before. Wish I had. No cars on single
track.
Leaving Johannesburg
to return home for good I sold the mountain bike and vowed to buy another once
I returned to the states. In the meantime I had been following a thread
on bikejournal http://www.bikejournal.com about Fat Bikes. The Fat Bike Thread
intriqued me about the versatility of a Fat Bike.
Quickly Fat Bikes go back to development in Alaska. Some
history
here.
I kept vacillating between a Fat Bike and a "29er"
mountain bike. The more I read about a Fat Bike the “interested” I got.
In October a decision to move to the Bend Oregon
area sealed the decision. Bend
has a reputation for being a mountain biker's paradise. Our area,
Sunriver, has 31 miles of paved bike paths and is near many forest roads good
for mountain biking. I visited a bike shop in mid Decmeber that sold
Surly Pugsleys. None in stock. Went to a shop that had Salsa
Mukluks. Hmmm...one in my size. Orange. Couldn't test ride it outside
but was able to ride inside a big open area of the building. Felt
Ok.
Fat Bikes are in demand. Some bike shops are already
sold out of their 2013 allotment. Chat with the wife.
Sold! The mechanic said it would take 30 minutes to check it out and I
could bring it home. With over 12" of snow in the last week the
bike/pedestrian paths get plowed but there's at leasat 1" of hard packed
snow there. Perfect for a Fat Bike.
I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BIKE!!! I've taken it on hard
packed paths and on some areas where x country skiiers have packed down the
snow. With this bike living in a cold snow plenty area I can ride any time
me please. And this bike pleases.
Fat Bike Thread on BikeJournal.com:
