The Rod Reid Trail hosted British Columbia’s first ‘Fat Tire’ bicycle relay on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Held under sunny skies, the first annual Freezer Burnt Fat Tire Relay saw four teams and 21 participants, one from as far away as Prince George, ride the 2.1 km trail on ‘fat bikes’ – specially-designed hard-tail mountain bicycles with wide, knobby balloon tires. Each team completed 12 laps of the snow-packed trail. While organizers placed the emphasis on participation and not performance, the event was won by the -119.4 Team of Ken Giesbrecht, Guy Epkens-Shaffer, Matt Moore, and Kai Epkens.
All three of the remaining teams also finished the race, which was organized by Burnt Bikes.
“I would like to thank everyone who helped with, and competed in, this great event,” said Dave Sandsmark of Burnt Bikes. “We look forward to making it an annual event.”
‘Fat’ bikes were first developed in Alaska by cyclists who wanted to pursue their passion year-round. They are now a fixture in the Iditabike snow race, a grueling 1,600-kilometer endurance event held on the world-famous Iditarod trail.