Thursday, August 9, 2012

I'm not alone!

Shocking: a fatbike track that isn't mine.
Last evening I happened upon a familiar tire track freshly imprinted on a local trail. The tread profile was unmistakably a Surly Larry. I was at once astonished and impressed with myself at the finding, almost as much as had I found evidence of bigfoot. After all, that is more or less what I had done.

After scrutinizing the tread a bit, the one thing that troubled me was that, although the imprint was familiar, the scale seemed slightly off. Was this left by a member of the elusive Big Fat Larry branch of the family? I wasn't on my Pugsley at the time, so I quickly took a photo of my finger on the track for later comparison. Notice that the distance between the indentations of the two sets of dart-like knobs one level out from the center ridge equal approximately the length of my index finger from the tip to the second knuckle.

Back at home, I checked against my standard Larry. The equivalent measurement between dart-like knobs to those on the track is shorter. I think this is proof enough that the track was made by a Big Fat Larry, and not by a sibling of my run-of-the-mill Larry. Furthermore, the track must logically have been made by a rear tire, as any imprint of a front tire track would have been overridden by the rear tire. This means that the bike attached to this tire was very likely a Surly Moonlander; the Pugsley's chubbier brother and the most numerous representative of the very small handful of frames capable of accommodating such fat rubber.

So, I am now left with a feeling that is probably not unlike that of a dog encountering a spot marked by another dog. I know there's another fatbiker out there, somewhere near me. I have interpreted the clues to develop an image of what his or her bike looks like. Yet, like a dog that lingers for too long while sniffing, all I can do is wonder. I suppose, to follow a dog's example, my next step is to lay down some markings of my own.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like Gypsy Nick will be laying some fat tracks in your neck of the woods soon. If you get the chance to grab a beverage or something with him he's a good guy with a Pugsley worth ogling.

    And, it looks like you keep an eye on his blog, but if you know where he might find a decent mountainbike for his girlfriend to ride down the Divide let him know.

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  2. Thanks for the heads up, BW. I just got back into town after a few days away. I saw that Nick was heading in my general direction, so I'll see if we can meet up. I've got a few possible bikes for his girlfriend, so I'll connect with him and see if I've got anything that will be of interest.

    BTW, congrats on your little singletracker!

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