The 2019 Borealis Fat Bike World Championships starts in 2!!! days! It’s going to be 4.5 jam-packed days of events. You’ll have the chance to drink some of Colorado’s finest micro-brews at the Brick Oven Pizzeria and Pub, ride some of Colorado’s finest fat bike trails groomed by your very own CBMBA, and demo some of the industry’s finest fat bikes courtesy of Borealis, Specialized, and Why Cycles. There will be food, beer, music, fire pits, costumes, and of course . . . fat biking. So how do you make the most of this jam-packed weekend?
There are several schools of thought on this.
School 1) SIGN UP FOR EVERYTHING AND DO EVERYTHING!
Drink all the free beer they give you. Eat all the free food they give you. Ride all the trails. Go to all the after parties. FOMO!!! DO IT ALL!
Notes on this approach: If you a) are under 30 or b) have been training your drinking and not-sleeping game as hard as your fat biking game, go for it! Why not? You’re only in CB once, right? (Or, like, once a month, but technicalities . . .) If you are a) over 30 or b) not into hangovers, we recommend a more measured approach. 9000+ feet is no joke! And fat biking mile after mile, day after day, well . . . let’s just say we think you’ll need a good night’s sleep in there somewhere.
School 2) Pick one thing and do it well.
Look at the schedule of races, look realistically at your own training, and pick the one that sounds best for you. Even 45 minutes in the Townie Crit could be a leg- and lung- burner if you go full tilt. This is perhaps the best approach if you are a) coming from sea level, b) returning from injury, c) get bored on a fat bike but are trying to stay in shape for mountain biking (we know, we know we’re not supposed to say that out loud, but you know it’s true for some of you), or d) want to enjoy other things during the weekend. CB has great snow up at the ski area right now, so you could ride your fat bike some, Nordic some, downhill some, drink some good beer, and call it a good weekend!
Notes on this approach: If moderation is key in everything, including moderation, we think you should be less moderate. Seriously. With 4 fat bike events, 2 after-parties with 2 bands, free beer, and 4+ days in CB, we really think you should dive in a bit more! We’ll leave the choosing up to you, but Fat Bike Worlds offers a lot more than one banger race!
School 3) Smorgasbord.
Here’s the money shot, we think. Pick two fat bike events to attend: one you’ll take seriously, the other you’ll do for giggles.
Personally, we recommend taking seriously the World Champs Race on Saturday (4 laps or 2, either will kick your butt), and then giggling your way through the Townie Crit on Sunday in costume. Sounds like the best of both worlds to us.
Whatever you choose, plan a good night’s sleep before the serious one. Plan to party after it. The giggles event should involve a costume and should start with bloody marys at The Last Steep and end with beers at the Brick Oven, if you’re into that kind of thing, and if you’re not a drinker, start with mini-donuts from Niky’s and finish with ice cream from Third Bowl. Pick your poison.
Get to CB a night before your race, and kick off your weekend at Montanya Distillers with a cocktail or mocktail (both are delicious) and Animal Fries (this author’s tip-top favorite food in town) or Tater Tot Nachos. Arrive early enough and you can wander Elk Avenue’s locally owned shops: Chopwood Mercantile offers something for everyone, Milky Way has great women’s clothes and accessories, and Paradox Footwear has a large selection of always stylish men’s and women’s shoes.
Stay a day after your final race to clip your feet into skis instead of pedals. CB Nordic offers over 50 kilometers of groomed trail straight from town, and CBMR is crushing it with 14/14 lifts open–including the steeps! Again, pick your poison.
Notes on this approach: You may need a pencil and paper to map it all out, but with so much good food, good beer, good riding, and good skiing on offer in CB right now, we think this is the best of both worlds. If we had family in town, and, by some magical lucky stroke our family liked to fat bike, this is point by point the weekend we would serve them.
So there you have it. One weekend, a dozen happenings, three schools of thought. In the end, do what works for you! Regardless of how you approach the weekend, please remember: don’t drive if you’ve been drinking, smile and wave at people on the trails and streets, and ride your bike instead of drive! CB is still a small town after all, and we’re pretty insistent on small town manners around here. This is part of our charm. You’ll enjoy your weekend most if you just sink into the slower pace, friendlier folks, and car-free lifestyle.
Happy Fat Bike Worlds 2019!