Fat bike enthusiasts will race over the sand on their 4-inch-wide tires March 14 for the U.S. Open Beach Fat Bike Championships at Wrightsville Beach.
The course will be a 1-mile loop traversing the soft and hard sand near the Blockade Runner Beach Resort, race director Shawn Spencer said. The beginner division starts first and rounds the loop eight times. The sports division will begin next and make 16 laps followed by the expert division, which will navigate the loop 24 times.
Spencer held a similar fat bike race in November 2014, the King of Wrightsville Beach Biathlon, to introduce the bikes to Wilmington’s active local fitness community and test the feasibility of racing the bikes on the beach.
From that event, he learned a shorter course would be more exciting for participants and spectators because it allows the competitors to be visible the entire race and not get overly spread out.
The course will be clearly taped off, he said, and beachgoers are encouraged to walk up and watch.
“What we’re envisioning is people being able to stand on the side and ring cowbells and yell at the racers as they go by,” Spencer said during a Feb. 25 phone interview.
After completing their laps, competitors will finish under a large inflatable arch donated by event sponsor Red Bull.
In keeping with the fun nature of the bikes, Spencer said there will also be several trick competitions, including a log pull, drag races and a skid contest.
“You get going and then you just lock up your rear wheel and slide really far on the beach,” Spencer said, describing the skid contest. “It’s fun to see who can do that the furthest. … They do that in urban contests so we’re transferring a little of that flavor to the beach.”
Fat tire bikes were originally created to ride over the snow, but the wide tires coast easily over all terrain. Because of their versatility, Spencer said, the fat tire trend has migrated from the north to coastal North Carolina. And for the first time, he is able to hold a beach race exclusively for fat tire bikes and attract more than 20 competitors from around the country.
“We’ve got someone from Raleigh, Myrtle Beach, maybe a couple from Minnesota,” Spencer said.
Local competitor Jonathan Ward said he even knows someone traveling across the country to participate. Ward said his friend Bob Perkins saw a video of someone riding a fat bike recently and decided to order one from a bike shop in his Los Angeles hometown. Perkins is shipping the bike to Wilmington, Ward said, while he takes a plane to meet it just before the race.
Perkins won’t be overly disadvantaged by his inexperience since fat bikes are so new to the cycling scene. The emphasis of the race is entertainment and fun rather than competition, Ward said.
The other purpose of the event, Spencer added, is demonstrating the bike’s low impact on the terrain. The wide tires, he said, coast over the sand without leaving deep tracks.
“By the next high tide you shouldn’t even be able to tell that we were even out there,” he said.
To register, visit www.
triwilmington.squarespace.com
email [email protected]
