I rode Fort Rock this morning. It was pretty much all hard packed snow. I was surprised how little ice there was. I hope it stays this way for a while.
Anyone have any thoughts on when Ft Rock/Stratham Hill and the places around Great Bay will be rideable with a normal mtn bike (I'm not into fat biking)? I'm getting anxious to get outside again.
Stratham Hill is still a mess - postholed like crazy from hikers. Willowdale has a few smooth spots, but still mostly fat bike territory right now. I saw a couple of guys there yesterday on skinnies, but they didn't look to be having a very good time.
It seems people are slowly filtering to the woods. I see more and more people with their bikes on their cars driving to the trails but I'll wait a bit longer until the trails clear up and the mud has dried enough so I don't wreck the trails.
People ride all winter now a days. Exeter has been in fantastic shape (sure it is soft today) under feet of snow most of the winter. Dedicated multiuser groups have packed out the trails nicely. The snowmobile trails add many miles of potential exploration. Until we have a lot more melting and no longer <32f at night, there is no wrecking, only fun.
Get a fatbike kevin. F the trails. No need for trails. Trails are limiting. The go anywhere crust cruising has been epic for weeks and weeks. Just go early after a freeze at night.
If you look at the vast majority of what you see people riding these days on 'fatbikes', it's rarely anything that people haven't been riding on regular bikes for ages. There are only a handful of days a year I come across conditions where a 'fatbike' might make the difference between riding and not riding. I'm having no problems riding all over the place on crust right now on 2.2 tires, and anything that's seen snowshoe or snowmobile traffic pretty much negates the need for any special equipment (though I do still keep a set of old 3" DH tires mounted to Sun Doublewide rims around, but I haven't bothered putting them on in years.)
i hear your argument a lot. what many folks don't seem to grasp tho is that it's not what can and can't be ridden or conditions, it's the ride that a true fatty provides on all surfaces. it's like sure we skied all conditions on all terrain on long skinny skis back in the day with no complaints, then fat skis came out and opened up a whole new world. the deep and variable became easy, smooth, and soft.
bottom line is that a fatty full rigid is much more capable in more conditions year round than a regular hardtail or fully. and the ride is unbelievable with the big squishy tires.
just got in from a 2.5 hour ride between york and kittery. explored woods you'd never venture into in the summer. weird back woods to powerlines to rivers and streams to untouched smooth singletrack buried under a foot of snow. crazy riding up through ravines, down snow covered rock ledge and faces.........
These bikes give you a better chance of going further into the unexplored and having more fun while doing it than any other bike I've ever ridden. The cold is only annoying for the first half hour or so and then you just roll with it and strip layers but if there really is a physical issue then we should stop preaching... Heh, after this morning you really need to head way south to get out of the snow zone. There are a handful of spots but not many north of VA.
had to steal your words of truth about fatties from the other place
"The dry areas were a blast. Rocks and roots just slide under the tires, the bike is light and tossable, kicking the rear end around on downhill switchbacks is easier than any bike I've ever owned and the traction is limitless going uphill. Unfortunately I run out of go long before the bike
I had pretty much forgotten how much fun a full rigid bike is and with the outrageous outer diameter of these tires it rolls through things like we always wanted our bikes to in 1988. It brings back old skills that had been put away but not thrown out which is kinda neat and opens new doors because they will roll in places a "conventional" mt bike tire won't. I could see having a single speed or internal geared so there's no worry about snapping a der. hanger while bushwacking which in a lot of cases is better than trying to follow a trail this time of year. Game trails are an additional playground component to the woods on a fatbike."
This is not a fatty vs. non fatty thread. If anyone knows when the snow clears and mud season is over, please update to let the people who for whatever reason don't ride fat bikes know that Ft Rock is good to ride.
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