First Time Fat Bike Ride

A few days ago, one of the things my wife and I did for our nine-year wedding anniversary was rent fat tire bikes at Lovers Key. We’d never ridden this type of bike before but after 2 hours and 10 miles we were hooked. They are an absolute blast. We rode them on the 5 mile easy nature trail at Lovers Key and that was fun but we probably could have ridden our Townies on that. Where the fatties really shined was on the beach. Of course these bikes roll on the hard sand at the shoreline but they also roll easily over the soft sand. Whenever I go to the beach I always wish I could explore up and down the length of the shore but it’s usually just too much for walking. With these bikes we were able to explore the entire length of Lovers Key beach and we attracted a lot of attention. We had people stopping us asking about the bikes and taking pictures. Everyone assumed that pedaling on the sand must be hard but really it wasn’t.

The bikes we rented were Fat Tire A/T Cruiser II’s. They’re simple, inexpensive, steel bikes with huge tires, coaster brakes, and Shimano Nexus 3-speed hubs. The Nexus was perfect for the riding we did. On the cement you’d shift to third gear, most of the trail riding and hard sand was in second gear, and hills and soft sand was first gear. The 3 speeds covered everything. I’d love to buy a fat bike but for now it will have to go on the wishlist because a mountain bike and new wheels for my road bike come first. 

lots of Gopher Tortoises at Lovers Key

perfect bikes for the beach