Winter is usually a time to switch gears and participate in winter sports and put the mountain bikes away for a rest, but this season with unenthusiastic snow conditions and mild temp I figured it was time to try out fat biking.

In the past, I have poo-pooed the idea of riding around on the snow on a pedal bike with cartoonish large tyres as a passing fad and dismissed it as an activity to do in Golden. But after layering up with twice as much as I would normally wear biking, ski gloves and winter boots we picked up the rental bikes from Higher Ground Mountain Sports and headed up to Cedar Lake parking lot.

Fat bikes are designed for riding in the snow. That said, the snow has to be compacted and Cedar Lake is a well-used recreation area for snow shoeing. The trails were in perfect condition and the sun was shining. We climbed up to the start of Arrowhead. Fat bikes have an incredibly low gear ratio and makes climbing a breeze as long as you’re not in a hurry, and with the fat tyres you have excellent traction.

Once on the trail it was just like biking on the dirt. The bikes are not cumbersome at all and the trails were super fun, as long as you stay on the compacted stuff. Venture off and you’ll soon realise that fat bikes don’t surf the pow.

We rode Arrowhead to Barking Dog and back to the parking lot via Cedar Camp; a nice 5km loop and good intro to fat biking.

The following day we hit up a night ride in a blizzard around the Rotary Trails, and lower Mount 7. This was a blast! The rotary trails are perfect for family and beginners, or a great way to explore town. Lower Mount 7 is great for the more adventurous to go off and explore the network of trails that have been compacted by snowmobiles.

So go out and give it a go - you never know till you try! I am for sure going out again soon and exploring what can be ridden.