When Surly ran that mad sale last month, I decided to buy a Pugsley. Well, I impulsed/bought one. The thinking was something along the lines of: local desert riding, maybe it’ll snow this year, bike packing machine, lotsa wheel/tire options, international travel, what the hell/why not.
Then it arrived when the rains did, and then I was on a plane back east for the holidays, and then when I returned home El Nino happened, and then …
It was time to baptize the bike:
Somewhere around 8-12 inches of snow in San Diego’s Laguna Mountains, depending on tree cover, drifting, whatever … and only an xc skier and a set of footprints were tracked out in front of me. Fat tires be damned, that ride kicked my ass. I was out only for an hour or so. I maybe covered 5 miles, the first half of it was all about breaking trail and feeling like my lungs were gonna die inside my chest.
The smartest thing I did was turn around and rode back on what I had broken in, and it was sooooooo much better!
Discover more from James Murren
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Were finally getting snow here in the Alps. We have a local rental shop with electric fat bikes. I’ve never used an electric, but I imagine in the snow, they could be quite handy.