A few years ago, my friends talked me into entering a marathon relay with them. I reluctantly agreed, but to put things into perspective, the last time I had actually ‘run’ any distance had been decades ago, and even then, my longest running distance was probably one mile. Why I agreed to enter an event where I’d be expected to run 6+ miles is still a mystery to me, but I did, and I’ve been enjoying it ever since…sort of.

I’ll admit that I hate training for a race, of any distance. It’s not so much that I dislike the running, but it’s the whole idea of running on a schedule for the intended purpose of an event. It just feels too regimented…but it’s all part of the process. I hate it right up to the event…and then on event day…all is good. There is something really fun about being part of a race…no matter what the distance. There’s a lot of excitement, music is blaring, there are signs and banners up everywhere, people cheering, and it is just a fun day. Usually it is fun enough that the pain I endured to prepare for the race has subsided and most often, I’m ready to sign up for something new as soon as the race is over.

This year, my brother and I entered the SMP River Challenge Paddle Tri in Rochester, NY. We entered as a relay team with me running, my brother biking, and then both of us paddling in a canoe on the Genesee River. The race is held in mid April of each year, and it’s a great way to force yourself to start getting outside and exercising…even when the body and the weather fail to cooperate.

I don’t remember when we actually signed up, I just remember that it seemed like it was not enough time to get my ‘have not run since fall’ body into the kind of condition needed to not make a complete fool out of myself. My brother is an actual bike racer, he admits it; he’s part of a team, and he rides on a regular basis. So, this event was not the stretch goal for him that it was for me. Despite the odds, I proceeded to drag my tired self out into the cold late winter air and started running. We even found some time to get out on the river and practice our paddling.

Before we knew it, our training time had come to an end. On the morning of the race, we had to be there early to get our 30-year-old rental aluminum canoe staged for the paddle portion of the race. Compared to some of the racing craft that was there, it seemed we had brought a knife to a gunfight, but that did not dampen our spirits. With my brother’s bike in the transition, we were ready. The run was the first event, so at 7:33AM, I took off with the rest of the Tri-Team runners. The anxious nerves of standing around waiting quickly subsided and my goal was now to cover 3.1 miles as fast as I could make my unprepared self go. I felt pretty good as I made my way along the race route, passing some, and being passed by others. As I approached the transition area, the excitement of being done with the run and handing off the timing bib to my brother gave me a short burst of energy and before I knew it, he was on his bike and gone. After a short time, bikes started to come back. I had a rough idea how long my brother’s 20 mile ride would take and I was ready when he got there. A quick shoe change and we were running to the river for the canoe paddle. Race helpers got our boat in the water, we grabbed our life jackets, and we were off. The first half of the three-mile paddle is with the river’s current, making the second half a bit more work. Being admittedly poor paddlers, we held our own, and though we made no exciting passes on the river, we did not lose any ground, or water, in the process. As we reached the end of the paddle portion, volunteers were there to catch our canoe and we ran the final short sprint to the finish line. Success…no we did not win, we didn’t even get a trophy, but we had done our best and were competitive for the whole race.

So, what’s the point of this whole article? Well, it should certainly not be confused with any form of training advice. There are lots of folks on the interwebs that are qualified to provide that expertise, and I am clearly not one of them. My goal at the beginning of every run is to simply return under my own power with no help from paramedics of any kind. This article is written for that person that might be thinking about taking up running, or biking, or even swimming or paddling and is looking for the motivation to get started. My advice is this: find an event that you can do alone or even better, with a team, spend the small amount of money to actually commit to the race, and start training. It likely won’t be fun at first, but it will get easier. The reward, in addition to making a healthy lifestyle change, will be race day. It’s hard to describe the feeling of being part of a race like this, but it is a great feeling, and who knows, maybe you’ll get hooked. Just Tri it…

Over the past couple years, a new trend has been emerging in the world of mountain bikes.  That trend is Fat Bikes.   These predominantly steel framed, rigid, big tired pedal machines have been taking the industry by storm.   Originally targeted for riders wanting to play in the sand or snow, the fat bike is even finding itself at home on fire roads and technical single track.   And the reason for that…they are just too much fun.   These are the monster trucks of bicycles, just looking for obstacles to crush in their path.

This past spring, the temptation to own one of these bikes was more than I could handle.   With manufacturers from high end to entry level getting into the Fat Bike market, choices were abundant.  After a lot of research I ended up with the Nashbar Big Ol’ Fat Bike.  With a chromoly frame and fork, a SRAM X5/X7 3×9 drivetrain, Hayes MX5 mechanical disc brakes, and a price just under a grand, this Big Ol’ Bike came with all the goods to deliver Big Ol’ Grins.   Fat Bikes tend to be everything that the mountain bike industry has been trying to get away from for years… low tech, no suspension, and heavy.   Maybe that’s what makes them just so appealing.

I spent most of the summer riding my new balloon tired toy for all my off road riding.  Despite the lack of shocks, this bike was just too much of a hoot to leave hanging in the garage.  With tire pressure below 10 PSI, this thing is a traction beast.   It rolls through rock gardens with ease, climbs like a champ, delivering on the fun every single ride.

As the leaves began to change color, and the weather turned colder, I was excited to try this bike where it was designed to be used…on the snow.

It was a nice March day that I finally got out on the bike.   Fortunately I live close to a trail system that gets a lot of traffic from cross country skiers, snow shoe’ers, and hikers, making it the perfect place to try the Big Ol’ Fatbike in its element.   However, just getting to the trails proved to be quite a feat.  With over two feet of unpacked snow on the ground, pedaling was not really an option.   After a short, and tiring push to the trail, it was time to do some riding.   The day I rode was in the thirties, so the packed trails were starting to get a little soft, but the big wide tires floated nicely.  I found that keeping momentum was key to not letting the front end dig in.  I also learned that this snow riding thing is quite the workout.   Coasting is not an option…it’s a ‘pedal all the time’ experience.  The gearing on the bike proved to be perfect with plenty of low end for the slow snowy uphills.

It did not take me long to get a good cadence going as I enjoyed the opportunity to bike in a setting that I usually don’t get to see in the winter months.   In fact, the only thing that slowed me down was stopping to answer questions as I met skiers and hikers on the trail.   All of them were curious as they tried to figure out what this crazy looking bike was all about.

After a four mile loop through the woods, I was tired and grinning from ear to ear.  Like an overgrown kid running through mud puddles…I almost felt like I was getting away with something.

For bikers in the North Country that can’t get enough seat time, a Fat Bike is a great way to have a year round biking season.   These bikes handle the snow with ease.   They’re also a whole lot more fun than riding your bike on a trainer in the basement and gets you outdoors in the winter months.  I’m not saying everyone should buy one…but everyone should try one…and the buying will surely follow.

To take a cue from Queen’s song book…. Fat Tired Bikes, you make the biking world go round.