Fat Pursuit race -- in progress

[Rooster Cogburn]

JayP's Backyard Fat Pursuit race has started under perfect snow and weather conditions.  47 riders in for the 200 km.  We need more events like this.

http://fatpursuit.blogspot.com/
http://trackleaders.com/fatpursuit15

[ec_duz_it]

Rad!  I have serious issues with giving out prize money for bikepacking though.  Is that going to be the new norm?   

[Rooster Cogburn]

Yea, the prize money and entry fee is a bit at odds with other races that get thrown together and noticed here.  Sounded like JayP put on a fun (and safe) event though.  Maybe this will inspire others to cobble together more informal fat bike events where folks just show up and ride for the fun and pain of it all.  Considering how many signed up for the Fat Pursuit and how many had to be turned away, there seems to be a pent up demand for races in the snow.  The challenge I see is finding a venue where the route has compacted snow over a long distance, you aren't in constant danger of being mowed down by a snow machine, and you have places to bail out if you get yourself into serious trouble.  The Methow Valley in northern Washington might be a good place to try an informal fat bike race.

[mountainjah]

Maybe this will inspire others to cobble together more informal fat bike events where folks just show up and ride for the fun and pain of it all.

So psyched for both of these,

http://www.velorutioncycles.com/valkyrie/

http://silvertonwhiteout.com

[Rooster Cogburn]

Should have guessed that Joey would be on top of this already.  Sure wished I lived in southern Colorado.

[Jilleo]

The prize money barely covered the race fee itself ... it's hard to really begrudge the organizers for this token prize for the winners, who certainly deserve kudos.

For what it's worth, the Fat Pursuit — like most other winter races save for the Iditarod Trail Invitational — is not a bikepacking race, in the sense that it's not a typically a multi-day race. The bikepacking set-ups are often required by race directors for safety reasons. Not all do, though. The White Mountains 100 has no required gear, despite typical temperatures well below zero and a location in a remote part of Alaska. Given these dangers, each of the five runnings of the White Mountains 100 has been successful without major mishaps. My personal hope for future "short" distance events is a move in this direction, toward letting people choose what they do and do not want to bring. But I'm not exactly looking to take on the liability of such an event, so I certainly can't criticize the required gear lists.

That Fat Pursuit was a great event, interesting course, a nice combination of friendly volunteer support and self-sufficiency. JayP told us he's thinking about extending the race to a multi-day distance next year, which I think is fantastic. The Iditarod Trail Invitational is still limited to 50 participants, and otherwise there's still a dearth of real winter bikepacking events out there — although it's awesome how many winter events are springing up these days.

Thanks to all who made this fun event happen!