Photo by John Tonin
SHOWING OFF – Dale Heffernan rides his fat bike with no hands as he makes his way to the end of the nine-kilometre loop during 5+ Hours of Light race Sunday at Wolf Creek Campground.
Fat bikers hit the trails at Wolf Creek
Contagious Mountain Bike Club (CMBC) hosted the 5+ Hours of Light fat bike race Saturday at Wolf Creek Campground.
Contagious Mountain Bike Club (CMBC) hosted the 5+ Hours of Light fat bike race Saturday at Wolf Creek Campground. The race originally planned to be held at Grey Mountain, had to move locations due to snow conditions.
Luckily for the racers, who competed solo or in teams, the trails at Wolf Creek were more than adequate to race on during the nine-kilometre loop.
“The trails are bomber,” said Sammy Salter, president of CMBC and for the day a participant. “The trails are super hard packed, really fast and really fun. The sun is coming out and we are finally getting a beautiful Yukon winter day.
The 5+ Hours of Light race is scored on the honour system, and people can do as many or as little laps of the course as they wish before the sun sets for the day.
“It’s our sister event to the 24 Hours of Light festival,” said Salter. “It is the same rule, there are no lights (allowed on the bike). Instead of doing 24 hours with no lights you do five hours.”
The five hours of light is just a chance to get together. “It’s just a celebration of fat biking and an excuse to hang out together,” said Salter.
Salter says the popularity of fat biking has continued to grow from when she first arrived in the Yukon.
“It picked up in 2010/11 I’d say, and I got here in 2012 and we got fat bikes that winter,” said Salter. “It was sort of a small group for a few years, and then it just exploded. It was partly because a few people started biking and made it popular, but also the bikes have changed.”
“The geometry is a lot more like a mountain bike, they used to be like touring bikes. Also, it used to be boutique bikes, but the major bike brands picked up on it. They became more affordable and the parts became less expensive. It is just more accessible to more people.”
As the cyclists finished a lap and came back into headquarters they had frosted hair, eyebrows, and moustaches made of ice sitting above their grins. Salter says because of the weather, she was concerned about the turnout, but the volunteers did a great job of putting the event on.
Organizers had to change plans when the conditions at Grey Mountain were not suitable.
“I rode the trails (at Wolf Creek) about a month ago and always thought it would be a great spot for 5+ Hours of Light,” said Jaylene Goorts. “The trail conditions at Grey Mountain are so icy and there wasn’t a lot of snow.”
The 5+ Hours of Light had to be postponed twice last year before ultimately being cancelled altogether. Although fat biking can be done in most conditions rider enjoyment and safety had to be considered.
“You can ride a fat bike in almost anything but it is not enjoyable when there is a tone of snow or when it is really super icy, it gets dangerous for some riders,” said Goorts. “So this is perfect, it’s packed, super smooth and fast. There are a few different logistics at holding it at the campground, but it was all worth it.”
Changing the event from Grey Mountain to Wolf Creek allowed everyone to try different trails. Goorts said that some people at 5+ Hours of Light had never ridden the trails at Wolf Creek, but that they had all arrived back at headquarters with big smiles.
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Comments (9)
Up 7 Down 3
Josey Wales on Dec 19, 2018 at 7:52 pm
Geeeez....”mike” are you trying to rid me of my stick in the mud belt?
Funny thing is many of your points are valid, but seems more troll like?
Yes rich indeed...I know.
Perhaps focus on our freedoms, if you have erosion concerns.
Fauna can grow back and return...and does, freedoms once gone?
History is rife with that final solution...just sayin’...”mike”
Ironically many, not all fat tire fans...are flaming socialists a.k.a commi lite
The very same crews aiding in said erosion of our actual freedoms, not just killing some fauna.
Up 8 Down 2
Rural Resident on Dec 19, 2018 at 6:51 pm
All trail use activities have impacts upon wildlife.
Parks Yukon manages this much better than the City. Building mt bike trails in alpine areas that are seasonal habitat for bears, birds, mt caribou, etc., demonstrates that more attention should be placed upon environmental reviews and rigorous planning.
I support these races and mt biking but think it's too easy to dismiss information that may show there are impacts that trail users have not fully considered.
There is even an impact from people walking on trails.
Up 5 Down 3
Cut and paste on Dec 19, 2018 at 3:19 pm
Betcha this isn't even the real Mike Vandeman...cut and pasted from other 'articles'/highly negatively opinionated' pieces he's written. Wonder if there's a Yukon MV hating on the bikers...
Up 9 Down 8
Stick to Cali, Mike on Dec 19, 2018 at 1:54 pm
I am a mountain biker and a fat biker. Keeping people on trails on bikes/walking/skiing keeps activities in one place. To Mike Vandeman from California; why are you commenting on our region when clearly you don't understand it? We're not in the city here and there are many industries, recreational and normal vehicles, and human activities that are much more harmful to our ecosystem than biking. Trolling and trolling--stick with Cali.
Up 7 Down 6
Arturs on Dec 18, 2018 at 7:09 pm
Mr. Vandeman is with the Yukon Party.
Up 13 Down 2
Fat Biker on Dec 18, 2018 at 3:45 pm
If anyone wants to know who Mike Vandeman is, see the link
https://www.outsideonline.com/1808171/trial-mike-vandeman
He lives in California and apparently spends his time searching out news articles on any and all things bike related.
He's quite a piece of work.
Up 9 Down 17
WIWolf7 on Dec 18, 2018 at 2:57 pm
@Mike Vandenman
You know your stuff! Thank you for speaking up for wildlife!
Up 12 Down 4
Johnson on Dec 18, 2018 at 2:47 pm
You gotta be a special kind of crazy, even for the Stars comment section to believe any of that.
Territorial and Federal parks require a permit to bike in them.
HORSE RIDERS are the majority of trail users? Get bent bud, they rut and braid trails worse than anyone, nevermind leaving them covered in feces. No thanks!
Up 10 Down 19
Mike Vandeman on Dec 17, 2018 at 6:30 pm
Bicycles should not be allowed in any natural area. They are inanimate objects and have no rights. There is also no right to mountain bike. That was settled in federal court in 1996: https://mjvande.info/mtb10.htm . It's dishonest of mountain bikers to say that they don't have access to trails closed to bikes. They have EXACTLY the same access as everyone else -- ON FOOT! Why isn't that good enough for mountain bikers? They are all capable of walking....
A favorite myth of mountain bikers is that mountain biking is no more harmful to wildlife, people, and the environment than hiking, and that science supports that view. Of course, it's not true. To settle the matter once and for all, I read all of the research they cited, and wrote a review of the research on mountain biking impacts (see https://mjvande.info/scb7.htm ). I found that of the seven studies they cited, (1) all were written by mountain bikers, and (2) in every case, the authors misinterpreted their own data, in order to come to the conclusion that they favored. They also studiously avoided mentioning another scientific study (Wisdom et al) which did not favor mountain biking, and came to the opposite conclusions.
Mountain bikers also love to build new trails - legally or illegally. Of course, trail-building destroys wildlife habitat - not just in the trail bed, but in a wide swath to both sides of the trail! E.g. grizzlies can hear a human from one mile away, and smell us from 5 miles away. Thus, a 10-mile trail represents 100 square miles of destroyed or degraded habitat, that animals are inhibited from using. Mountain biking, trail building, and trail maintenance all increase the number of people in the park, thereby preventing the animals' full use of their habitat. See https://mjvande.info/scb9.htm for details.
Mountain biking accelerates erosion, creates V-shaped ruts, kills small animals and plants on and next to the trail, drives wildlife and other trail users out of the area, and, worst of all, teaches kids that the rough treatment of nature is okay (it's NOT!). What's good about THAT?
To see exactly what harm mountain biking does to the land, watch this 5-minute video: http://vimeo.com/48784297.
In addition to all of this, it is extremely dangerous: https://mjvande.info/mtb_dangerous.htm .
For more information: https://mjvande.info/mtbfaq.htm .
The common thread among those who want more recreation in our parks is total ignorance about and disinterest in the wildlife whose homes these parks are. Yes, if humans are the only beings that matter, it is simply a conflict among humans (but even then, allowing bikes on trails harms the MAJORITY of park users -- hikers and equestrians -- who can no longer safely and peacefully enjoy their parks).
The parks aren't gymnasiums or racetracks or even human playgrounds. They are WILDLIFE HABITAT, which is precisely why they are attractive to humans. Activities such as mountain biking, that destroy habitat, violate the charter of the parks.
Even kayaking and rafting, which give humans access to the entirety of a water body, prevent the wildlife that live there from making full use of their habitat, and should not be allowed. Of course those who think that only humans matter won't understand what I am talking about -- an indication of the sad state of our culture and educational system.