Five days of winter in Algoma – Day two

Fat biking is hot—an odd thing to say referring to an activity that requires snow and cold temperatures. Maybe we should say fat biking is cool; no matter the term it’s hard to ignore the rise in popularity of this winter cycling craze.

Hot, cool, or fun, it’s Day Two of our five days of winter in Algoma and checking out the fat biking scene around Sault Ste. Marie is on the agenda.

We had the pleasure of exploring the area’s mountain biking offerings this past summer with the crew from Vélorution Bikes & Skis; it seemed like the thing to do was pick up where we left off.

“Any fat biking in the area?”

The question is met with bewildered facial expressions from our friends at Vélorution. In retrospect, it was a silly question—kinda like asking if it snows in Algoma? Of course it does and of course there is.

“We groom about 15 kilometres of trail at Crimson Ridge, then there is the Hiawatha Highlands, there are trails on Whitefish Island, Fort Creek is just down the road, and you can always ride the Hub Trail.”

“When do you want to ride, now?”

From past experience I know it doesn’t take too much arm twisting to get these guys out for a ride, but this might be a record, made even more impressive considering it's -26°C outside.

Due to the cold temperatures we decided to start off local. Ten minutes along the road and we hop on to the Hub Trail, the 25-km jewel of non-motorized recreation that circles around Sault Ste. Marie.

In the winter, the Hub Trail and fat biking seem to be a match made in heaven, in fact the trail is the back bone of Fat Mondays, an evening social group fat bike ride that uses the Hub Trail to explore the city.

- Martin Lortz

Read the full article about fat biking around Sault Ste. Marie