The Cycling Association of Yukon kicked off the winter season on Nov. 27 with a fat bike rally on the Gunnar Nilsson and Mikey Lammers Research Forest trails.

Routes at the event included a shorter two-kilometre loop or a longer five-kilometre loop on packed down trails.

Association president Geof Harries said around 40 people signed up to hit the trails on what turned out to be a chilly but mostly sunny day. Both kids and adults turned out for the snowy forest ride.

“People came through with five of their friends or whatever and then they rode the trails and came and had some hot chocolate and cookies. It was a pretty cool event,” he said.

While Wolf Creek, Mount McIntyre and Grey Mountain have trails for fat biking that are groomed or flattened by volunteers, this is the first year that research forest trails have been prepped for the fat bikes.

“This was the first year that you could go fat biking at the research forest. So that was what initiated this event,” Harries said. “It’s a nice place to ride and they’re really beginner-friendly, too.”

While the summer is the busy event season for the cycling association, Harries said the sport of fat biking has grown quickly in the Yukon. For the past decade the association has run the 5+ Hours of Light race around the winter solstice when the days in the Yukon are the shortest of the year.

Harries said depending on COVID-19 restrictions, 5+ Hours of Light and other casual events will be organized over the season and announced on the association’s webpage.

Contact Haley Ritchie at haley.ritchie@yukon-news.com