March 2 update: The ride is BACK on the calendar with conditions allowing for snow riding for studded tire bikes with 3” or bigger tires! Ride date is now Saturday, March 5!
The FireFrost Fat Bike Day is a very special opportunity for fat bike riders to experience snowmobile trails, to get a really fun and different bike ride experience, be together with other riders on trails that stretch for miles, enjoy time around a fire, eat hot food and drinks, support a great cause, and be part of something special: the cyclist and snowmobile communities working together to bring this event to life!
Riding snowmobile trails is very different than usual New England single track fat riding. These trails are longer, wider, not as twisty, and feel like they never end - in a good way!
This is a very unique and commuity-centric riding event that we bring to you in the interest of growing special fat bike rides and winter cycling in New England. You're welcome to ride any distance you choose (we will offer you various route options), enjoy time around a nice, hot fire as much as you wish, enjoy hot food and drinks, meet other winter cyclists and fat bike riders, enjoy time with your friends, and if you want to put in some solo miles to enjoy the zen of crunching through the snow on your own, you're more than welcome to do that, as well!
The FireFrost Fat Bike Day is the culmination of the best-of where it comes to winter cycling in New England: the joy of riding bikes, it's time together with friends and making new friends while the winter is still far from being over. This event is a chance for everyone to have good fun in a safe winter environment.
Why You Should Participate:
Photo credit: Our friends of the Hollis Nor’Easters’ Pink Ride.
We're working with the Hollis Nor'Easters Snowmobile Club to bring you this very special fat bike event.
Every year for the past 11 years, the Hollis Nor'easters have hosted The Pink Ride. This was originally started to encourage women to get into snowmobiling and raise money to benefit advances in earlier cancer diagnosis, treatment, and patients' quality of life. Over these years that they’ve hosted this ride, they have raised $183,000 toward the St. Joseph Hospital Breast Care Center. We are donating 10% of all proceeds from this event to the Pink Ride Fund to help them in their fundraising efforts. This year, their Pink Ride had to be canceled due to trail conditions the day of their ride. Let’s contribute to their fund and help them out on a year that they couldn’t be out there!
Proper Bike for this Ride
A bike with at least 3” wide tires. A fat bike is not necessary, but the wider the tires, the better.
A bike that’s in safe working order. Make very certain your bike comes clean, lubed, safety checked with fresh brake pads, and tires in good shape.
Studded Tires: Studded tires ARE required since there is some ice out there. There are a couple of large patches of ice that are avoidable via walking around the ice staying on the snow. One benefit of studded tires is that they generally seem to have better traction on snow, even when the studs don’t feel like they’re digging into ice.
See the longer list of things to bring elsewhere on this page.
What you get
A well-planned route on snowmobile trails
Route file for your GPS computer, parking directions/instructions.
Options! Ride as long or short as you want.
New fat bike rider? This is a safe place to try out fat bike riding and meet new friends to fat bike with. Take advantage of the instructional ride offered during the day!
Experienced fat bike rider or endurance athlete? Test yourself, test your equipment. Are you interested in getting into ultra winter events? Use this as a safe opportunity to be out all day and test your equipment while being within range of help and support as well as hot food, drink, and a fire.
Portable toilet where you park for easy access. This is available to all who park in the lot so it is shared between snowmobilers and other trail users.
Staffed food stop at the beginning and end with water, bike food, hot drinks, hot food
Peace of Mind knowing there are other riders on the same route. There is also peace of mind having other riders out there. If you’re really stuck, you’re not alone and you’re within cell coverage all day. There may be a few snowmobilers out but the conditions aren’t ideal for them so we’ll mostly have the trails to ourselves.
Hearty, hot food and drink at the end! It won’t be fancy, but it will be calorically dense and mostly healthy. Smores are healthy, right? We accommodate all dietary restrictions.
Price
$45
Registration closes on Friday, March 4 at 10am
NO day-of registrations
Refund Policy
If you email us 2 or more days ahead of the ride asking for a refund for any reason, we’ll refund $30 to you and the rest will be donated to the Pink Ride fundraiser.
BikeReg.com offers cancellation insurance which we recommend purchasing if you’re concerned about your ability to attend.
We are emailing everyone who registered for the original date with options for their registration if it’s not possible to attend this date.
Start Location
A private orchard in Hollis, New Hampshire
This orchard is where we have the fire, food, drinks, and staff. It’s serving as the mid-ride stop for longer route options since it is somewhat at a mid-point for the longer routes. It’s just up the road from the parking lot, a short fat bike ride away.
Start Times
Between 8am and 12pm based on your chosen distance and expected pace
Snow conditions, temperature, and weather all affect timing, and expected speed of riders. We’ll establish start times once the weather and snow conditions are known, as well as preferences of those who have registered. We will make certain everyone gets to enjoy the hot food and hot fire without any feelings of being rushed!
Estimated drive times
Most parts of the greater Boston area: < 60 minutes
Salem, MA: 57 minutes
Hillsborough, NH: 58 minutes
Northwood, NH: 60 minutes
Nashua, NH: 13 minutes
Concord, NH: 40 minutes
Route Information
99% of the routes are on snowmobile trails, with a couple of short road connecting sections.
The snowmobile trails are multi-use, riders will be sharing the trails with snowmobiles during the day. Wave and say hello and move to the side of the trail to let them pass - snowmobilers are a friendly bunch!
We will share routes as well as elevation information; some route options are hilly and more challenging though offering views while there is a much gentler route option for those who prefer flatter terrain & still offers views!
A private orchard is at the center of the routes where we’ll have the fire, food, drinks, and people. This is the start/finish and offers riders the ability to go out for awhile, come back, refuel, then go back out again on new trails.
Pace & Ride Options - It’s a Ride for Everyone with a Fat Bike to Enjoy!
Ride with Your Friends/Teammates - If you select to ride with a group of your friends or teammates, you choose your pace and route(s). We only need to have a general sense of your pace for the purposes of food timing. Choose to ride a total of 10 miles up to 35 miles.
Ride solo - If you select to ride alone, you choose your pace and route(s). We only need to have a general sense of your pace for the purposes of food timing and knowing generally when to expect you for safety reasons. Choose to ride a total of 10 miles up to 35 miles.
Ride with a group we assemble - If you select to ride with a group that we’re assembling, tell us about your pace and distance preferences so that we can match you up with other riders who are likely to enjoy a similar ride as you. It’s hard to discuss one’s fat bike pace on snow or preferred distance, either, usually, because this changes so dramatically from one ride to another with all of the variables at play. Thus, we’ll put people together who are likely similar and keep the group size larger at the start so that groups can form naturally of people who will enjoy riding together. Distances offered are 10 miles gentler terrain, 10 miles hillier terrain, 20 miles of both kinds of terrain. Expect 20 miles to take 4-6 hours to complete.
Instructional Fat Bike Rides - We have a designated, experienced Ride Leader (a Ride Headquarters Super Domestique) who is taking new riders or anyone who has questions about fat bike riding on a 1-hour loop during which a lot of tips to winter fat bike riding will be shared. Your questions will be answered and it will be a lot of fun. After the instructional ride, participants will be offered the chance to take on a longer loop to ride to put their new skills to good use and work up an appetite for a hot meal!
General Safety Protocol and COVID:
Please simply be respectful of others since everyone has a different level of nervousness where it comes to COVID worry. Maintain comfortable distance from everyone and since we’ll be outside, there is plenty of moving fresh air. We appreciate anyone who is unwell to not attend and if you believe you may have COVID, please stay home.
If we think you’re being unsafe, you will be asked to leave the ride. You will not be invited to return to any group rides as well. This applies for all aspects of cycling and general behavior.
Everyone must bring a mask that covers your nose and mouth completely for use when it’s appropriate to mask up. A mask is unlikely to be necessary, but bring one in case you need to enter a business that requires it or are in another situation where it’s good to have such as if you need to ride in someone else’s vehicle, etc.
Unregistered riders or riders who haven’t signed the waiver may not participate.
Preparation and What to Bring
We recommend bringing everything you would need for common mechanical situations. We recognize that fixing a mechanical in the cold can be challenging/impossible. Bring a well tuned bike and an extra fat tube along with everything you need for mechanical situations. It’s good to being in the habit of bringing all of this stuff since winter riding means being extra prepared.
I addition to the usual packing list of what to bring for mechanicals which we will share with you, here is the list of items to bring/think about in addition due to the weather and type of riding we’re doing:
GPS Computer - There is no ride leader, even if you ride with a group; you’ll be following your GPS computer, therefore owning a GPS computer is a must with at least one back-up power source.
Cell Phone and backup battery - All of the trails are within cell range; if you need help, your cell phone is how you’ll get it. Cold kills batteries on phones, so be sure to keep your phone in an inside pocket and keep it exposed to the air for minimal time.
A second pair of gloves, an extra neck buff, an extra hat - All of these items might get so wet with sweat that you will need a dry version to change into while riding.
Sunscreen! A Dermatone stick is especially useful for sunblocking and windblocking, and cold protection for the skin.
Hydration of one or both of the following:
2 x 26 oz water bottles. Have a place under your jacket to keep one of the bottles to keep it from freezing.
A lean hydration pack which you can wear over your base layer and under your outer layer.
Front and rear lights - Riders need to be visible to snowmobilers in low-light & shady sections so please come with all-day front and rear lights. Low batteries will not work in the cold, so come with fresh new batteries or freshly charged lights!
Hand/toe chemical warmers x 2 packages for every 4 hours you plan to be out especially if the temperatures are in the single digits. Maybe you won’t need them, but maybe a friend will.
Food bars in case you need a zap of energy out on the trail before you get back to the fire. We’ll have food mid-ride and post-ride available, but having riding nutrition that you know you like on you is a good idea.
If you’re new to fat bike riding or winter riding, bring extras of everything with you to the ride so you have options to add/remove layers and adjust your setup.
Change of clothes so that you aren’t driving home in your sweaty ride clothes!
Assume your pace will be 1/3 to 1/4 your usual road ride pace if you aren’t familiar with your fat bike pace. Then add at least an hour for stops, unexpected slow downs, etc when considering how warm to dress and how many calories to come with. The warmer it is outside, the slower the snow.
Warm gloves/mittens & Winter Boots: Unless you run very warm, cycling shoes with booties are just not warm enough to keep your feet from freezing. Be sure to have appropriately warm apparel considering the consequences of under dressing.
If there’s anything you need for your bike or cycling gear, we are likely to have whatever it is in stock, and we will bring it to you to pick up before your ride begins. Email us no later than 4pm the day before the ride letting us know anything you would like to have. Better yet: prepare the weekend before the ride so if we don’t have what you need, we have time to order it in!
Weather
We will ride no matter the weather except for dangerous weather. Dangerous weather (like an electrical storm or blizzard during the ride) cancels the ride or postpones the start time.
Since this is a fundraising ride and a relationship-building event between the cycling and snowmobiling communities, in the case of inclement weather, we still want to support the efforts all have put forth to bring this ride to life and we hope you want that as well. This ride is an investment in future fat bike riding events that are even bigger.
Last Minute Information and the Nitty Gritty Details
We will email everyone who registers with the latest information and details concerning parking, timing, route options, etc. by 12pm the day before the ride. Please do not email us asking for the routes ahead of the ride.
This is a hilly area, but we’re working to minimize the hard ups and maximize the fun descents.
We have to wait to know conditions to finalize routes and having multiple versions of routes out in the world just causes confusion.
Contact Information
Email connect@rideheadquarters.com with questions. Our store number: 413-461-7433 will reach organizers the day of the ride. Please use this number for questions that can’t wait via email.
Riding Rules
All riders are required to read and are expected to abide by These Rules. Note: ALL rules stated here on this page override any conflicting rules you see on our typical ride rules.