These pictures aren’t from bike touring, but this ride was so much fun that I put still put them in my bike touring blog. Besides, if you’ve ever ridden a fat bike for 5-10 miles, you know that it feels like a day of touring. At least, that’s the case when you put the tire pressure down, which is what we did in this snow.

I thought riding a fat bike would be fun, but after a few rides, it’s been a lot more fun than I expected. These bikes are big teddy bears to ride. You can go over a 4 inch log, and the bike gently lifts you over it and back down again, as long as the tire pressure is low. Riding these bikes is even better when you’re in an amazingly beautiful place. In this case, we were on the North Shore of Lake Superior, by Split Rock Lighhouse.

Sometimes, the hills gave us a chance to practice our hiking.

Making this cairn felt very right, since this was the first time in a long time that I thoroughly enjoyed a proper Minnesota winter.

Cycling has taught me a lot about physics, in an up-close-and-personal way.. At first, I learned the feeling of cycling up a long or steep hill. Learning about the wind came next. With a fat bike, I learned about tire pressure and size. Fat bike tires can be filled from 4 psi – 30 psi, lower than any other bike. And of course, the tires are 4-5 inches wide. In this case, low pressure puts a lot of rubber on the road. That’s great for traction in loose snow, and great for a workout in a low number of miles. At first, I didn’t consider that very great, until I learned to slow down and enjoy the ride.