Ten fat-tire bikes and one fat-tire unicycle lined the sand in front of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort Saturday, Nov. 15. Competitors huddled at the starting line waiting for the start of the inaugural King of Wrightsville Beach Biathlon, wearing scarves and mittens to screen themselves from the cold wind whipping over the sand.
Shortly after 9 a.m., participants peddled north, coasting over the soft sand on specialized 5-inch-wide tires. The recent spike in popularity of fat-tire bikes inspired race director Shawn Spencer to create the unique biathlon and introduce new equipment to the active local fitness community.
The bikes were originally designed to ride over snow, he said, but they have become popular for trail and beach riding due to their low impact on the environment.
“It’s physics,” fat-tire bike enthusiast Dave Ellegood explained while watching the biathlon from the sidelines due to a recent knee injury. “You push your finger down on something and it will spread it, but if you lay your hand flat down on something the weight is dispersed over a greater amount of area.”
The bikers traversed the first of four 1.6-mile laps to Johnnie Mercer’s Pier and back, weaving through the thick, soft sand as well as the hard-packed sand near the water’s edge. After the first lap, Spencer, who has experience both riding fat-tire bikes and selling them in his shop, Bike Cycles, had opened up a lead on his competition.
Matthew Wisthoff was not far behind. Although Wisthoff had never ridden a fat-tire bike on the beach before, he drew on his natural athleticism as a professional triathlete to keep Spencer in his sights.
“Shawn [Spencer] was schooling me!” Wisthoff said after the race. “He made it look really easy, and he’s definitely got a leg up on me there as far as skill and technique goes.”
Competitors farther back had the advantage of being able to stay in the tracks created by Wisthoff and Spencer. Blockade Runner general manager Nicolas Montoya held a steady pace in third. Dane Britt, dressed in skinny jeans, black boots and pink gloves, finished his first lap and popped a wheelie in celebration.
James Turner kept pace with his competitors, despite riding on only one wheel. Turner completed the entire 6.4-mile bicycle ride through the sand on a fat-tire unicycle.
“I just put the biggest tire that would fit on there,” Turner said. “It’s not really that hard to learn how to unicycle but [to ride on sand] takes a little more oomph.”
Stacey Savage used her first lap to learn how to ride the fat-tire bike she borrowed from Bike Cycles. She had stopped by the shop the day before the race to buy a helmet and Spencer convinced her to enter.
Savage said her second lap was easier than the first, and her third was easier than the second.
“But then, by the fourth lap, I was too tired, so the couple times I goofed up I didn’t have the physical strength to get out of it. It was really fun, and mentally challenging too,” Savage said, explaining that she spent energy fighting through the ruts in the sand rather than letting the thick tires follow the path of least resistance.
Spencer finished the bike ride first, giving himself a head start leading into the 3.2-mile run to the south end of the beach and back. The gap he opened on Wisthoff during the bike leg wasn’t enough to hold off the professional triathlete during the run, however. Wisthoff crossed the finish line first in a final time of 40:39 and was crowned King of Wrightsville Beach until next year’s biathlon.
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