Last Saturday was the Fat Bike Frozen Ididaride, a local fat bike race hosted by Cycle Works that has been going on since 2018. Most years we've had some snow and every year we've had some cold, this year was light on the snow but it made up for it with bitterly cold temps made worse by brisk winds and sub zero wind chills.
If you show up early to lend a hand you get rewarded with a prime spot to stay warm at uncrowded fire pit. And who would want to miss out on a #ricksplanin opportunity about what needs to be done.
Despite the cold once you get going the extra rolling resistance provided by the crunchy snow and the sharp climbs that make up the course really gets the blood pumping and you forget all about being frozen. Team Just Sad Pandas raced, again, and we got third place, again. Third seems to be our spot, we have finished in third place every year so far except the one year we got second place. We might have had a little help in the way of a slight miscalculation by the judges... that year might not have survived a recount of the hanging chads if it were put under a microscope but it's in the official record so it is what it is now. You could say that what we lack in team speed we make up for in consistency.
One of the great things about the Ididaride, in my opinion, is that it can be whatever type of race you want it to be. There are those who go all out and are competitive and then there are those who treat it more like a ride through the snow and neither is the wrong way to approach the event. As gravel events start to get more and more popular, participant numbers continue to rise, registration fees skyrocket and the number of people showing who get paid to ride their bicycles grows each year some of that "gravel and chill" vibe of yesteryear starts to disappear so it's nice to still have local events where the grass still has roots. Even if those roots are frozen and buried under the snow.
