Perhaps you’ve seen a fat bike roll through Tahoe City or South Lake Tahoe and marveled at those humongous tires, or been startled by the loud noise created when all that rubber meets the pavement, and you are curious: What are those things and why are people riding them?
Fat bikes or snow bikes, were designed to ride everything from the snows of Alaska to the desert sands. They were built by people who wanted to have a bike that would allow them to pedal anywhere, anytime and in any conditions.
“It’s like back-country skiing, you need to learn about snow conditions to understand the best places to ride.”
–Mike Miller | The Gravity Shop
Fat bikes are mountain bikes with a tire tread that is three times the size of a normal mountain bike, and with lower tire pressure. This helps them get better traction on snow than a mountain bike. Therefore, for those who love to ride, fat bikes provide the opportunity to get out there and ride in the snow when regular mountain bikes are sitting in the garage gathering dust.
If you are a bike lover, however, don’t sell your skis yet. Fat bike or snow bike riding is weather and snow dependent. You need firm, but not icy snow conditions. If it is too firm, it will turn icy and treacherous. If the snow is too soft, it will get sloppy, and you won’t be able to get traction, and you will end up pushing your bike instead of riding it.
Mike Miller at The Gravity Shop in Tahoe City specializes in fat bikes and spends a lot of time in the cold months trying to figure out the best place for folks to ride.
“It is hard to tell you where to go unless I know the snow conditions on an exact day,” he says. “It’s like back-country skiing, you need to learn about snow conditions to understand the best places to ride.”
Miller says that fat biking in deep powder doesn’t work. You need snow that has been packed down by snowmobiles or a steady stream of cross-country skiers or snowshoers. You also need weather that is not exceptionally warm, because after a few days of above freezing temperatures, the snow will refreeze at night and become icy and dangerous.
Where to ride
Coldstream Canyon | Coldstream near Donner Memorial State Park outside Truckee offers dirt roads that are often used by snowmobiles and may be good to ride.
Jackson Meadows Reservoir | Take Forest Service Road 7, located 17 miles north of Truckee on Highway 89. The road, which is heavily used by snowmobiles, leads past Webber Lake to Jackson Meadows.
Tahoe Meadows | The south side of Highway 431 above Incline Village is a popular spot for cross-country skiers and snowshoers. If it has been used for an extended period of time since the last snowfall, the snow will pack down to the point where a ride on the Tahoe Rim Trail to Chickadee Ridge is a possibility.
Blackwood Canyon | Take Barker Pass Road, which begins 4.4 miles south of Tahoe City on Highway 89, and travels seven miles to Barker Pass. The road is a popular snowmobile route.
Fiberboard Freeway | At the top of Brockway Summit on Highway 267, find the Fiberboard Freeway, a major Forest Service road to Tahoe City. Snowmobiles often use this road.
