Excitement

Exciting times, I tell ya...

Ken gets attacked by cows

New Alaskan Self-Supported Bike Race

The Traveling Vagabond and Emily Chappell are both coming to AK to ride fatbikes!

Get a Far North Fatbikes t-shirt for $20 or order a hoodie for $40. Get both & save on shipping!

L48ers watch out - KB from AK is returning to defend his crown

Looking for custom gear? Tupper is up for the challenge and AK fatbikers sport his goods.

50% off upgrade for Crank Brothers pedals

Cass puts 2.25s on his new Ogre and has room for fenders.

The Return of the Prince: A Fatbike Crusade

The Crown Jester Jeremigha Lafleur, XVII of the North Hood & I, Sir Lord King Josh Spice, VIII of the Banks of Fairshire, went on a crusade to Anchorshireham, reuniting with Sir Lord Prince Jackson Attackus Gadamus, III of West Nomeingham, our fellow fat rider who has been living in his far off lands of western Alaska for the past year.
Us lads enjoyed our stay in Anchorshireham's finest quarters, owned by Captain Cook, himself, and reveled in our time with the Prince of West Nomeingham, brother to us crusading fatbikers of Fairshire & the North Hood. With fast trails & trusty, fat steeds, we traveled the coastal lands in search of glorious sunshine and its life-giving rays of joy.

We hope you enjoy the telling of our journey and share memories of reuniting with your own friends in far away places.


A tale from the voyages of Sir Lord Prince Jackson Attackus Gadamus III from Jeremiah Lafleur on Vimeo.

I should do a post in February

Well, I didn't die. The month-and-a-half long cold snap down to -57F at my cabin didn't kill me because I barely did anything outside the whole time. It almost killed me, though... mentally. I got 50 below in Fairbanks for my birthday and even colder where I live. Thanks, Mother Nature. I really appreciated it. Yeah.
Since it warmed up, I've battled to regain the desire to go outside and experience this thing they call 'fun.' I almost forgot what it was.

Skiing seemed like a reasonable idea during the cold snap and a few friends finally convinced me to go outside. It was worth it.

Then the outdoors editor for the local paper called me and asked some questions about fatbikes. I was featured in the story.

I put out Far North Fatbikes' third edition of our newsletter, The Fat & Happy.

Then, I got to head out into the great white world of Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve to co-manage the hospitality stop (photos) at Slaven's Roadhouse for the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. The aurora gave me a nice goodbye the night before I left and then welcomed me the night I arrived at the historic roadhouse.

When I got back, my buddy Brett & I headed out into the White Mountains with our fatbikes and did the 100 mile loop in two days. It was a coarse reminder of how far 100 miles is and how out of shape we were from the cold snap.
The only thing I have to say, don't wear a backpack while biking. It kills ventilation.

My buddy, Jack, came into Anchorage from Nome, so J.R. & I went down to see him and ride fatbikes.
J.R. put together a video of the trip.

Our bud, Colby designed a sweet new logo for Far North Fatbikes.

I'm working on a trip report of the White Mountains biking trip, but decided I should probably do a post in February.
More to come soon, after I catch up on sleep and do a short bike trip this weekend... just a 40 mile day ride, no big deal :)

I'm getting better at typing

I've been doing a lot of writing, lately, and I'm not even in school. My fingers are starting to hurt, a little, as sad as that sounds.
It reminds me of when the old woman is complaining about her fingers hurting from sewing in Happy Gilmore.
Good thing Happy's Granny didn't speak up.

Earlier this week, we went live with Far North Fatbikes' inaugural edition of The Fat & Happy Newsletter.
Then, Fat-Bike.com asked to do a business profile of Far North Fatbikes on their website.
Fresh off the press is my first article as an author on Fat-Bike.com, discussing the new Surly Nate fat tire.
Along with all this was a whole slough of e-mail conversations in the business inbox, which was possibly the most writing.

Watch for upcoming newsletters, which you can find on our website here, and future articles on www.fat-bike.com.
For now, I think I'll focus on working my legs with hill climbs on the fatbike.
But that might make my back hurt :)

The Fat & Happy: Inaugural Edition

I just published the inaugural edition of The Fat & Happy, Far North Fatbikes' newsletter.

Far North Fatbikes is the only fatbike rental business in Interior & Northern Alaska.

Either view it at the above link or send your e-mail to farnorthfatbikes@gmail.com to receive it upon publication.

Check out our business at www.farnorthfatbikes.com or on Facebook and also an article that was written about
Far North Fatbikes on Fat-Bike.com, available here.

It's been quite the week...

Although I've been failing to get water for over a week now, I have been super busy & productive, after a nine day stint of hunting, hauling, & processing five caribou, which put every other aspect of life on hold.
(I have a dry cabin, so I have a bunch of five-gallon jugs I take into town and fill them up at the local water station. A quarter gets me about 15 gallons. I'm down to my last two liters, since everything is frozen outside and I can't use summer rainwater for watering my dogs.)

To the post office tomorrow go a pair of skis, bindings, & boots for Sir Lord Prince Jackson Gadamus, III in Nome. He's hard-pressed to find some good ones way out there in Nome, so I looked and found exactly what I recommended he get and exactly what I told him he'd never find used at a good price. Ha. Go figure.
I sold Colby a sweet pair of backcountry skis I scored in hopes of passing them on to a friend looking for some.
Took a much-needed day off work to sleep in and wax my own brand-new used backcountry skis. Awesome. Best decision of the week.
Then, I laughed hysterically, after finally going to the grocery store from perusing my cupboards and finding nothing delectable:



I bike-jored six dogs (two at a time) a total of twenty miles, starting their winter snow runs.
Brushed snow off my car almost every day!!!
Ate delicious caribou dinners with friends a few times.
Enjoyed the warmth from a huge bonfire on a cold, clear winter night with some cold, dark winter beers.
Helped some other friends with a few projects of their own.
Thought of and started planning the biggest solo trip I'll have done so far in life (if all works out - skiing 120 mi off-trail in 6 days).

Re-geared my single speed fatbike and then rode it a bunch on the new snow, which is becoming almost ski-able as I write this.
Worked on continually gear-testing a sweet soft shell jacket (now unfortunately discontinued and hence the reason I got it at half-off price) to do a video review for the local outdoor gear store.
Put some time into the fatbike rental business, as our season is just about to be in full-swing!

And, the real highlight of the week:
For the second year in a row, I snagged the first ascent of the year on Fox Creek, a frozen waterfall in the Alaska Range.
This year, it was barely frozen and I decided to free solo it - climb without ropes or any protection - a way to challenge myself in climbing and put huge emphasis on learning how to properly climb ice in all conditions. Pretty thin ice in spots, with the waterfall still falling in full force, which I traversed across in my climb, getting blasted by falling water like standing in a YMCA shower that is spraying ice cold water.
Fortunately, JR got it all on film, which I'm hoping to post soon, along with more pictures of all the adventures of this crazy past week.

Thanks for tuning in. More to come soon, but for now, here is the best packrafting video ever created:
From Luc Mehl, in Alaska, 2011.



Yes, those 70 balloons are filled with helium, and yes, Paul Schauer packrafted down all that BACKWARDS just to make this video.
Brilliant idea. Cheers to creativity at its finest.

Fatbiking Promotion & Insight to New Riders

Recently, I received an e-mail in our Far North Fatbikes inbox from a nice dude in Montana who is looking to purchase a fatbike, but would rather buy one used and save some money, as they are quite spendy and to make sure he likes it before going all in.
This is my informative, and what turned out to be lengthy, response to his questions regarding where he could find a used bike or just ride one and if we had any other recommendations or advice for a new rider.

You're in a common situation... it's just like packrafts, ice tools, skis, etc... there are very few ways to try the most expensive gear items unless you just choke down the hefty price tag. Very few people ever sell them used, once they own.

Unfortunately, you're down there and we're up here, so rental is out of the question. We don't have any used bikes for sale at the moment, so sorry we can't help out there. 

Good idea to ask, though. I've scored a couple deals on packrafts and other high dollar items the same way.

However, there are tons of people 'Outside' (lower 48) with fatbikes. And, if you're up for a road trip, go to Minnesota and visit the awesome dudes at Surly. They would positively be giddy to outfit you with a fatty. 

If you got on the fatbike forum, you could probably find someone not too far away that would let you take their's out for a spin. Problem is, that is their bike, tricked out (or not) how they like it, not necessarily how you would build one.

As far as how they ride and if you'll like it... just go buy/build one. Don't worry - you won't be disappointed with fatbiking... maybe only with the specific selection of the components you choose. They ride beautifully, rolling over almost anything, floating with their wide footprint, barely leaving a track, unlike normal mtn bike tires that cut through and ruin trails. They are super easy to pedal, very comfortable to ride, and just flat out fun to be on. They make riding a gravel road fun.

The fat tires make it feel like having a snowmobile track in front of you when riding on snow, while their high volume acts like a low-travel dual suspension. I have ridden mine through/on/over: dirt, sand, mud, tussocks, logs, creeks, snow, river beds, etc, etc, etc...

They truly are a whole different machine. It's not really comparable to normal bike tires/wheels, although, it is still a bike, so you can't just ride through the snow next to someone on alpine touring skis in the backcountry. You do need some sort of a trail on snow.

Summertime, I've found sustainable riding to max out on about continuous 5+ inch rocks/tussocks or so. Anything else, outside of bottomless muck, should be ridable, for the most part.

Please watch this video for a better understanding of what fatbikes were designed for and what you can ride on/over/through, etc. Then watch this one to see what you can't ride on/over/through, etc.

I even hook up my four Alaskan huskies and bike-jor with them on the trails here in the winter.

One thing I would recommend - build one. Save up and drop about $2500 and do it right.

There are so many specific recommendations I could make, that I'm not going to, because it all depends what you want to do with your fatty. My Pugsley is fitted with two Larrys on Flattop 100s, lightweight Specialized 26x2.? tubes, platform pedals, carbon riser bars (non-cold-conducting), single speed (22-18), and two BB7s, with a monstrous frame bag (one reason I went with a Pugsley) and rear rack if I'm doing a trip.

BUT, that build is specific for what I do, how I ride, and where I do it. It is not my general recommended build, as someday I'd also like to build another (summer-oriented) fatty on 80s with gears and Surly's new knobby rubber.

Take home message, do a lot of research but take a lot of people's builds with a grain of salt... many don't have a practical, functional reason for their build... they just wanted it to be cool. I think mine is cool cuz it's all dark gray and black with Rolff spoke design on my 100mm wheels (only ones in the world???). That's where cool stops and function begins, like my white platform pedals and how they are easier to see at night when my headlamp shines on them. And recently, I tested the strength of the wheels while riding a rough trail for 14 miles (not like I hadn't done that part yet) and then jumping my bike a few times, all with 55 lbs of gear on it, PLUS me at 175. No problems. There's so much air to soften the hit and those rims are really strong, although they may not look like it, with that custom cheese-grater pattern. 

If you have more questions or want to learn winter/fat biking, I'd love to help.

I'd also take ya for a ride and show/teach ya some stuff if you ever found yourself in Fairbanks.

I hope this helps.

Good luck and happy riding,

Josh

Wrangells Fatbiking Photos by Photographer Colby Wright

Beautiful fatbiking photos from the Far North Fatbikes trip to Wrangell-St Elias National Park.
All images by Colby Wright.

Thanks for the wonderful photographs, Colby!

Building the Fleet

Surly Pugsley fatbike rentals will begin by, if not before, the first snowfall of 2011.
Check out all the details at Far North Fatbikes.

Oh, Snow, how I miss you. Please come back soon...

It's coming!

2-3 Weeks:  16, 18, & 20 inch Surly Pugsley fatbikes to start our fatbike rental business! Available for rental starting September 1st.
2-3 Months:  Snow & ice to start a long season of snowbiking, ice climbing, & backcountry ski trips! More glaciers & camping this year.

I own a business!

Far North Fatbikes

Alaska Explorer & I are partners in the first fatbike rental business north of the Alaska Range!

Alaska Explorer is a professional bike mechanic, cross-country & downhill mountain bike racer, and accomplished Alaskan winter traveler, having been born in Alaska and living here most of his life.
I've guided various forms of backcountry wilderness trips, have tons of Alaskan backcountry experience, managed an outdoor gear rental & tripping business for the University of Wisconsin, and have ridden and raced hundreds of miles in Alaska on dirt and snow.

Look for our Alaskan-built fatbikes to arrive soon.
In the meantime, join our Fat Friends Club, oogle at photos & video from past adventures, and check out our upcoming Rides & Trips.

Give us a call to take a fatty out for a roll.
www.farnorthfatbikes.com or check us out on Facebook!

Get fat with us!