Snow Biking with a Death Wish Factor of 2
It’s time to move onto road stories and the Spring, but before those posts I want to note that in a NYT article about snow sports in Alaska, a reporter snow biked. He and his crew had nearly the same experience we did in Sun Valley, as featured by Wired earlier this month.
Struggling to move forward on the trail, he jokes about how great his obit would read if he died out there and how they were luckily if they “could walk the bikes without falling, never mind climbing hills on them.” Then they saw a moose, a very dangerous animal.
As we rode, I realized we were plodding along at roughly a brisk jogging pace. Once you figured out what you were doing, where was the thrill, the adrenaline rush?
On the uphills on the trail in Far North Bicentennial Park we were lucky if we could walk the bikes without falling, never mind climbing hills on them.
Because in Alaska, even a bike in the park can be extreme.
Snow Bike Dangers charted
The reporter gave Snow Biking a Death Wish Factor of 2. We never feared for our lives, but like he did wanted more thrill and better performing bikes.
Also noted at NAHBS this weekend was the trend towards adventure biking with larger volume tires in general. As road riding and racing wanes in popularity post Lance, adventure biking is the next trend. Fat Bikes are a large part of that and with mainstream media coverage, they can improve and keep selling.