MTBVT’s Second Annual Winterbike Festival Hosts 200+ Fat-Tire Bikers
For immediate release – On March 9, 2013, more than 200 biking enthusiasts basked in the mild temperatures of a glorious winter’s day and rode in the Second Annual Winterbike Festival. Organized by Mountain Bike Vermont and the Kingdom Trails Association, Winterbike 2013 was hosted at the touring centre of the latter and saw double the number of participants from last year with riders traveling from as far away as Ottawa, Canada, to partake.
The focus of the event this year was the free demo of fat bikes, specialty bicycles with over-sized tires designed for riding on snow. Four bike shops (East Burke Sports, Stowe’s Village Sports and Iride and Carver Bikes from Maine) donated 18 demo bikes for the event and attendees were able to test ride the borrowed steeds on miles of snowy trails.
The highlight of Winterbike 2013, other than the infamous “refueling station” (thanks to Long Trail Brewery and Green Mountain Distillers), was the WinterBike 6X, a six-man downhill snow-cross race presented by MTBVT and ideRide. The race was particularly entertaining in the final heat when Vermont’s pro trail building rivals Brooke Scatchard and Knight Ide squared off, raced neck-and-neck, and then crashed near the finish line from an aggressive elbow rub. The two went down in a flurry of snow allowing friend Ben Haulenbeek to overtake them and win the 2013 crown.
“We were impressed with how many people attended Winterbike this year,” says organizer and MTBVT owner Ryan Thibault. “Over 200 people came from all over the north-east including Ottawa, Montreal, Boston and New York. It’s a testimony to just how popular winter bike riding is becoming in our state where the trail systems are perfect for year-round mountain biking.”
Other events that were included at this year’s Winterbike were group rides for all ability levels, musical entertainment courtesy of CopOut members Dale and Darcy Cahill and Jay Knecht, and free local grub and libations.
MTBVT and Kingdom Trails would like to thank the following sponsors of Winterbike 2013: Long Trail Brewery, Green Mountain Distillers, Thule, Surly Bikes, Carver Bikes, Factotum Designs, East Burke Sports, Village Sports Shop, Iride, Darn Tough Socks, fat-bike.com, fatbikes.com, Cabot Cheese, East Burke Market, Louis Garneau, Burke Mountain, The Wildflower Inn, The Inn at Mountain View Farm, Mocean Mate, Vermont Smoke and Cure, Vermont Peanut Butter, Elmore Mountain Bread and Lynnburke Motel.
And of course, a huge thank you to the 200+ riders who came out to the event. See you at Winterbike 2014!
Check out below for more pics from the event.
