Fat bikes becoming more common in New Brunswick

Snow storms like the one Wednesday that dumped nearly 40 centimetres of snow in New Brunswick are no longer enough to push all bicyclists off roads and trails.

When storms hit now, rather than hunker down and wait it out, Joey Lamarre grabs his fat bike to go for a ride.

The tires on Lamarre's fat bike are more than 12 centimetres wide and he even has a set of studded tires for icy conditions.

Lamarre says his fat bike is designed for use in snow and is good for beating the winter blues. He says it has even helped him overcome a neck injury.

"Well the doctor told me because of a ruptured disk in my neck, that my biking was over, especially on the snow, where you're not getting bounced around through the woods," said Lamarre. "It's actually quite theraputic."

Lamarre says he's never going back to regular winter sports.

"And it's actually to the point where I'm obsessed with it now, but it's one of those things, as you get older, I guess you could call this my mid-life crisis," said the 50-year-old.

Lamarre got his fat bike two years ago and says he used to get a lot of questions, but doesn't get as many now as the bikes become more commonplace.

Even Kouchibouguac National Park is getting on board, with plans to make fat bikes available for use on groomed trails during March break.

"Fat bikes is an emerging sport so were envisioning it to help us become a year-round destination," said park manager Jerome Lussier.

Kouchibouguac hopes to have a permanent fat biking program in place by next winter, said Lussier.