Allroy’s Fat Bike Festival Report
At the end of February this year, I participated in the annual Fat Bike Festival held at the Mansfield Outdoor Centre in Mulmur, Ontario.
We had consistent light snowfalls all winter—right up until two weeks before the festival. Then, two back-to-back snowstorms dumped more snow than I can remember in the past decade. So much snow fell that most trails became unrideable—unless you had access to a trail groomer. Fortunately, the Mansfield Outdoor Centre does have a groomer, and they got right to work prepping the trails for the big event.
This was my second time attending the festival, and this year was extra special because my daughter joined me for the 10km Poker Run. The festival offers three ride options: a 20km race, a 10km race, and a more relaxed 10km Poker Run. I chose the Poker Run because I wanted my daughter to have a fun ride with just the right amount of challenge.
With some time to kill before the 20km and 10km races finished and the Poker Run began, we did a few practice laps around the chalet and dialed in our tire pressures.
We also had a chance to relax with a beverage on the chalet porch, where we watched the racers cross the finish line and enjoyed a steady stream of 90’s punk rock blasting from the event PA system.
We rolled out with about 10 other riders and cruised along a freshly groomed, double-wide track. The course was mostly smooth and rideable, aside from a few hike-a-bike sections and a short ungroomed stretch. My daughter got the full fat-bike experience—front wheel washouts and all—tipping over into soft, deep drifts along the trail more than once. She was a trooper!
Along the route, we collected playing cards for our Poker Run hands. One of the volunteers handing out cards was Sarah Caylor—a highly accomplished cyclist and the current Women’s Champion of the 24hr Summer Solstice race here in Ontario (among many other accolades too long to list).
She was super gracious when I asked for a photo—and just between us, she seemed excited to meet Allroy too 😉.
My daughter and I wrapped up our ride just in time to catch the prize presentation from Fat Bikes Canada for the race winners. It was a perfect day.
Huge thanks to Dan Marshal at Substance Projects for organizing such a fantastic event, to Fat Bikes Canada for the awesome prizes, and to the Mansfield Outdoor Centre for hosting. If you love fat biking and haven’t made it out to this event yet, I highly recommend putting it on your calendar for next year.
‘Til next time,
Trevor (Allroy) Hughes