COMMUNITY PARTNER OF EVERYDAY WELLNESS
Every other week, Monitor staff writes about a feature article exploring wellness in the Capital Region. We’d like to thank our Community Partner Concord Hospital. Our Community Partners do not participate in the selection of these articles. That is fully at the discretion of our journalists.
After Justin Pare started to suffer from arthritis, he took up fat-biking because it allowed him to enjoy the winter without worrying about injury too much.
“Number one it allows you to get outside in the winter, you know, it’s tough sometimes outside. But the other thing it offers is a much quieter trail system,” said Pare, who lives in Canterbury.
A few years back, Pare started Freezetivus as a way to stay in touch with other riders. Now in its fifth year, the event has grown into a full festival filled with fat tires.
The returned to Franklin Falls for the fifth year in a row to host Freezetivus.
The fat-tire-bike-only event at Franklin Falls brought together up to 225 cyclists to the trails in the middle of winter. All profits from the event supported the Central New Hampshire chapter of the New England Mountain Biking Association to build, maintain, and groom area trail systems.
The chapter described the ride as “miles of flowy goodness” on some of the best trails in the area. The organization also kept its invitations fun, writing about the food options and vendors available.
The bikes often used studded tires to provide grip on frozen trails, while the fatter width provides floation in fluffy snow. Fat bikes can be an all-terrain option during those freeze-and-thaw winters that prove vexing for cross-country skiers.
On top of enjoying the trails, Freezetivus festivities are incomplete without the bacon station. Nothing will motivate people to finish their ride like the smell of 80 to 100 pounds of bacon cooking.
The Yeti became a symbol for the event, and every year, a volunteer dresses up to add to the deep-winter woodland vibes.
Pare also highlighted the availability of other fat tire bike trails around the state, like Spaulding Woods in Northfield, Bear Brook in Allenstown, and Parker Mountain in Littleton.
