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| We happen to have this exact TREK Farley 6 in stock right now. And available for Demo! |
Yesterday there was an article in Bicycle Retailer, which is a
USA-based trade magazine that I assume most of you have better things to do than read every day. I don't have better things to do, and it highlights some boys in not-so-far-away Jackson Hole, and even a few here in Idaho, that are doing good by beginning the conversation about bringing fatbikes to more State and National Parks. Kudos to them, what with their whole bettering the world for more outdoor enthusiasts-thing and all. I guess.
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| Get it? They named it the "Farley." 'Cause he was also fat. |
Anyhoo, I thought I'd bring it to light a bit. It was written by Lynette Carpiet and the original article can be found here, though I've posted a copy below.
State parks provide model for fat bike
use, acceptance
Fat Bike Summit
founders Gary Sjoquist and Scott Fitzgerald
Some 250 advocates, land
managers, U.S. forest service representatives and industry suppliers and
retailers attended the fourth annual Global Fat Bike Summit here at the Snow
King Resort this past weekend. Gary Sjoquist, QBP’s advocacy director, said
that while Jackson Hole is a remote location, it was selected for various
reasons.
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| We also have this (even nicer) Farley 8...right here in our stores! Can you believe it? |
Sjoquist along with retailer Scott Fitzgerald, owner of
Fitzgerald’s Bicycles in Victor, Idaho, founded the event and remain among the
organizers. Helping plan this year’s gathering were local advocacy nonprofit
Wyoming Pathways and local retailer Hoback Sports.
“The first two Summits we had too much snow, so people
couldn’t get to them. And the third one in Ogden [last year], we didn’t have
enough snow. We want to get land managers on snow bikes and we knew there would
be reliable snow in Jackson. Plus, fat bikes are an accepted practice here.”
The Snow King Resort grooms its singletrack and Sjoquist
said the surrounding business community is supportive of fat bike use. Jackson
Hole is also next to Grand Teton National Park, which like other national
parks, doesn’t allow fat bikes. However, with a new park superintendent,
Sjoquist said there’s hope that that could change.
Among the attendees this year were representatives from
Grand Teton National Park, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest
Service, state parks, chambers of commerce and Nordic ski resorts.
“For the first time we were able to have state park
managers talk about — based on what they had learned at previous summits —
they’re now building singletrack for fat bikes at their parks. They’ve got
grooming equipment and now have singletrack available. It was a really good way
to show national parks – look, state parks are doing it and they’re making it
work,” Sjoquist said.
“We didn’t quite get there this year, but Grand Teton
and Yellowstone have at least said ‘we are ready to listen,’ ” he added.
“That’s a big step forward.”
The Bridger-Teton National Forest Unit was presented
with a land manager award for their efforts to create a mountain biking
destination — building mountain bike trails for summer and for fat biking
during the winter. They also were presented with a Surly Pugsley to patrol
their trails.
In addition to a full day of panels and discussions
Friday, a demo area had fat bikes from Salsa, Surly, Trek, Specialized, Durango
Bike Company, Borealis, Felt and Rocky Mountain. The weekend festival drew
three times the industry support it had in previous years. Specialized brought
20- and 24-inch fat bikes for kids to demo.
A short track race next to the expo drew beginners and
experts alike for three-lap and six-lap competitions. Attendees could easily
ride from the Snow King Resort into the adjacent forest’s singletrack trails.
While the location and date of next year’s Summit hasn’t
been set, Sjoquist said the success of the event and the growth in fat biking
means that it will likely return. But it may make more sense to have various
regional summits that address land management issues that are specific to the
local area.
“This was a great, positive event that showed how this
fat bike thing is growing, expanding into kids’ bikes and how land managers are
realizing this is the real deal. It’s not a fad. It’s going to be around a long
time. We need to figure out how to accommodate these bikes,” Sjoquist said.
