The trails at the Wildwood Conservation Area near St. Marys were broken in Sunday by a new breed of biker. The “Totally Wild Fat Bike Poker Run”, hosted by the conservation area and the Totally Spoke’d Bike Shop, attracted about fifty riders.
Fatbiking is a newer off-road cycling trend that is growing in popularity. Fatbikes have extra wide tires with oversized rims to make them suitable for riding on unstable surfaces like sand, snow or mud.
Organizers of the event say they raised about $1000 to go toward the upgrading and maintenance of the trails at Wildwood. The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority has cut about 23 kilometres of trails through the bush in Wildwood to make the area accessible to nature enthusiasts.
Both fatbikers and cross country skiers can comfortably navigate the trails in winter, thanks to a groomer towed behind a snowmobile that compacts the surface. The poker run on Sunday also gave curious would-be fatbikers a chance to try out the bikes for free.
