Last week, some asshat from
Michigan started schwinging these shirts online:
I was taken aback by the
message and went down the internet rabbit hole to research who this joker
was. He didn’t hold my attention long but
as I explored FAT BIKE HATE online, a myriad of Google results turned up
interesting reads extending back over the past few years. After loosing a
number of hours to this bs, I was really only sure about one thing, this
world’s got plenty of hate and there’s no need for any more.
Fatbikers are the new kid in
school and it’s usually not prudent to claim the slide at recess on day one.
You’ve got to ease into the sandbox and slowly get the group to share their
shovels with you. To me, this sport’s
emergence is akin to the birth of snowboarding and is eerily similar to my
experience as a pioneering grom back east in the eighties.
I strapped on a deck 28 years
ago on the ice coast and remember what it was like to approach a resort’s lift
ticket window and ask if they “allowed?” my sport. As a13 year old in Boston, you
rely on the bus. The bus from the church, the bus from the rec department, the
bus from the ski club, you rely on any bus that you can by a ticket on an escape
the city to the slopes up north. Too many times I sat excitedly on the bus,
only to be turned away at that ticket window, resigned to sit and stew in the
lodge awaiting the bus trip home. I experienced first hand what it’s like to
try to participate in a sport that’s “not allowed”
But rather than let the fear
of something new, detract from what was soon to become the multi-billion dollar
snowboarding revolution, the industry began to aggressively educate the public
and utilize advocacy and collaboration with stakeholders to gain access for the
sport. Although this approach pissed us young punks off, as most of us had come
to snowboarding from skateboarding and had quite the rebellious streak, it was
ultimately the correct and appropriate approach and the results speak for
themselves.
Living in this beautiful
mountain hamlet, it’s hard to trouble ourselves on issues that extend beyond
tubing rules, plastic grocery bags and the buzz bus. But being a part of this
beautiful, burgeoning fat bike community here in this blessed bike crazy town
we all call home, I think it’s important to keep our eyes on a growing dialogue
pertaining to our sport and be proactive when considering FAT BIKE HATE through
our Durango lens. Although it will be easier to have general acceptance of big
tires in this neck of the woods, I challenge us all to be proactive and
positive ambassadors for the sport. IMBA
has put out a solid foundation here and we should all be ready to provide these
guidelines to land managers, nordos and naysayers:
We should also be aware that local challenges exist. One man’s
positive perception is another’s fodder for a
Facebook Hate Group. The Nordic center has been exceptional in welcoming
fatties this year and there’s been very little negative feedback. But, there
has been been some. Additionally, the site got a report that a fatbiker buzzed
the sled at Haviland which doesn’t sound too cool. Wanting to be an informed
advocate, I recently spoke with the Columbine District’s Recreation Ranger about
fatbike access at Vallecito. He informed me that the situation is tenuous at
best and there’s already been some tension between the nordos, homeowners and
other user groups up there. The conversation was my attempt to clarify the
legality of fatbiking at Vallacito. Technically, one can argue that unless the National
Forest is shout down for safety or a gov’t clusterfuck, then no group can
prevent access to your public lands. Think skinning at a resort that leases
land from the USFS- you are not entitled to the lifts on that land unless
you’ve paid for a ticket but resorts that have tried to prevent public uphill
travel have been unsuccessful. Similarly, Vallecito is your public land. It’s
your national forest and the Nordic Club only provides signage and grooming.
You could, I could, we could press the issue here but please consider this…
The USFS is all about
compatible use. The USFS told me that “fatbiking is not a nordic sport” and not
a compatible complement to the x-country efforts at Vallacito. Really,
snowbikes aren’t a nordic pursuit? What is snowbiking then, a maritime
endeavor? I pushed back on this fuzzy logic and questioned why we are playing
semantics to block user access? As the ranger spoke, it became clear to me that this was more about being the new kid at
school and we just joined a recess where the other students we’re already
having trouble playing nice. I learned that in years past, the USFS has had
to broker a deal between home owners and
the trail club which has resulted in crazy situations like the left half of the
road plowed while the other side of the road remains snow packed for grooming.
Capt. USFS inferred that the situation up there is tenuous at best and I think
the want to exclude snowbikes has more to do with not wanting to confuse and
already complex situation. FYI- it was reported that there’s already a
Hatfiled/McCoy type relationship with the dog sledders and snowshoers out there
with the nordos. I told the USFS that I didn’t think that they’d have an issue
with fatbikers because we are blessed with a lot of options when it comes to
selecting locations for a good ride and we don’t like being around people. I
believe that the ample trails and open space that are found in an around
Durango provide us all with a bigger sandbox within which we can all find room
to get along. He agreed and said that’s
the current feeling from the district’s head ranger…..for now. However, the
tension surrounding bikes on ski trails, as exemplified by our local dynamics,
the national dialogue or the bullshit t-shirt above is real and should be
acknowledged an attended to. I think we should be discussing our options here
so we can present a united front should a showdown occur. As I am only one big,
impulsive, not-to bright, smelly mtbiker, others’ thoughts on this matter are
much appreciated!
And in the meantime….. go
ride and play nice you fatties! I can only speak for myself here, but I hope we
follow the examples of past pioneers of sport and use education and advocacy to
gain access to new places to ride. I hope we can start a dialogue with the
Vallecito Nordic folks so as to be proactive in addressing the ambiguity
surrounding mulit-use trail planning up there. (As of yet, repeated attempts to
speak with the club have gone unanswered via phone and FB) And I also hope we
can come together and figure out how to work with land managers and federal
agencies to better promote and champion this
incredible sport…..or maybe we’ll just agree that fatbiking is not fit
for the snow and the mountains and head on down to the 32nd street. put-in
to practice our craft…..
And at the risk of sounding
like a colossal “hippiecrite,” a final negative thought for all you curmudgeons
that I discovered are lurking out there on the Hater-net and the Hatebook…. I
could give a fuck what you think my “clown bike” looks like or if you call me a
“Durango Fadbiker”….I’m still not sure why big grins and big wheels have you so
threatened…..I’m looking for peace man. I’m also looking to educate and empower
the masses and share with all the secret we’ve discovered: Fatbikes are year-round, they are utilitarian,
they’re a blast and they are here to stay. Welcome to recess everyone!
Some recent spirited dialogue
about our sport can be found here:
and here:
