Here’s a mountain biking niche you may not have heard of: Snow biking. Of course folks have been riding their mountain bikes in snow and ice since the beginning but today you can actually buy a purpose-built snow bike from Surly with wide tires and rims designed to “float” on top of the snow.
The San Francisco Chronicle has a great article on the growing popularity of snow races, particularly in places like Alaska where the summer riding season is way too short to satisfy hard core mountain bikers. According to the article more and more mountain bikers are showing up to races traditionally dominated by skiers and snowshoers. A few snow bikers are even planning to take a crack at the Iditarod Trail Invitational which covers the 1,100 mile dog-sled course from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. Burrr.
And lest you think snow biking is just starting to take off in extreme locations like Alaska, there are snow bike races taking place all over the US from Wyoming to Iowa and Minnesota. I would say this could be the start of a trend but instead I’ll place my bets with global warming. Anyone care to help me design a mud bike?
