The advent of the fat bike has removed many of the typical winter obstacles for local cycling enthusiasts. The bike’s thick, knobby, low-pressure tires make pedaling possible on both snow and ice, elements that generally aren’t conducive to two-wheel travel. But how would a fat bike fair in the most inhospitable weather in the world?
Beverly resident Tim Johnson decided to find out. On Feb. 2, the 38-year-old Johnson became the first person to ever pedal a bike in winter up the unrelenting 7.6-mile Mount Washington Auto Road in Pinkham Notch, N.H.
“For a winter that’s been hit or miss, the one place you’re guaranteed to find winter is Mount Washington,’’ said Johnson, reached by phone late last month as he attended USA Cycling’s Fat Bike National Championships at Powder Mountain in Ogden, Utah.
“It’s a treasure for us here in New England.’’
A Red Bull-sponsored rider and six-time national cyclocross champion, Johnson admits to a fascination with Mount Washington that dates back almost as far as his fascination with bikes.
While making his mark as a young mountain biker in the 1990s, the Middleton native and Masconomet Regional graduate was drawn to the Northeast’s highest peak, affectionately known simply as “The Rock Pile’’ for its hardscrabble summit.
Johnson has participated in the Mount Washington Auto Road Hillclimb race – held annually every August – six times previously, winning twice, in 2000 and 2001. His personal best time came during the 2001 victory, when he reached the summit in 53 minutes, 31 seconds (just four minutes off Tom Danielson’s record time of 49:24). The victories were two highlights in a two-decade cycling career that has ranged from mountain biking to road racing to cyclocross.
The arc and scope of Johnson’s career fits nicely with his advocacy work for People For Bikes, a nonprofit organization that aims to make cycling more accessible for anyone who wants to pedal.
“I’ve always shaken off [labels like] a mountain biker, ‘cross rider, road rider,’’ he said. “I’m not just a fat biker. It’s really great for me to do these different things. It’s still on a bike.
“The work I do at People For Bikes is an example of that,’’ said Johnson. “It’s bikes for anybody and everybody, and it’s not any on particular type of bike. The fat bike is another awesome reason to be out on a bike. That’s why I want to continue to do work with People For Bikes, to get more people a chance to ride a bike safely and easily.’’
However, the pedal up Mount Washington was neither safe nor easy. Though Auto Road and state park officials gave their blessings for the attempt, due to a break in the weather, Johnson said there were no guarantees. Mount Washington has a well-deserved reputation for volatility, and Johnson was escorted by the Auto Road’s SnowCoach, a custom-made four-track vehicle, to ensure that he had an escape plan.
“It’s not your normal scenario,’’ he said. “I knew that if the wind was over 55 miles an hour, they were going to call it off, unless I thought for sure that I was going to make it.’’
Johnson’s rig of choice — a Cannondale Fat CAAD 1 — was prepared at Riverside Cycles in Newburyport by the shop’s fat bike specialist, mechanic Scott Dallaire of Lynn. Johnson and Dallaire swapped out a number of parts and installed a pair of lighter carbon wheels to bring the bike’s total weight under 30 pounds. Each of the two 5-inch tires featured more than 250 steel studs to provide more traction.
“The stuff I didn’t have traction on was that clear-as-glass ice that was on the middle to upper slopes,’’ he said. “At the top was rime ice, and rime ice has a lot of air in it. It almost looks like the feather on an arrow. That stuff, you can actually get traction on.’’
During his ascent, Johnson had to stop several times, allowing Dallaire, who was part of his support crew, to reduce the air pressure in his tires for more grip. “I also had to stud my shoes, in case I had to get off’’ the bike, he said.
“I thought it was going to be three hours,’’ Johnson said, but the actual ascent, subtracting time taken for adjustments, took 1 hour 33 minutes.
Given his goal of making the mountaintop weather observatory in one piece, despite near constant 30-mile-an-hour winds and wind-chill temperatures dipping well below zero, he could say: Mission accomplished.
On March 13, weather permitting, the Auto Road and Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center will host the annual “Ski, Shoe & Fatbike to the Clouds’’ race, billed as the “North America’s Toughest 10K Winter Race.’’ For information, visit skitotheclouds.com. If you have an idea for the Globe’s “On the Move’’ column, contact correspondent Brion O’Connor at brionoc@verizon.net.
