| I recently wrote about the benefits of biking on the blog, where I briefly mentioned fat tire biking. Today I'm going to expand on that. Back when I first moved to Miami Beach, I got a fat tire bike to try out on the sand. It looked like fun, and I thought I might do it once in a while as a lark—after all, there was all that water there for all the standup paddling I could ever want. But to this day I am into fat tire biking more than ever. I'm addicted. I only ride on the sand, trying to go twice a week. Usually, I do an hour 10 to an hour 20. We talk about "packed" and "powder" when we talk about sand here in Miami Beach, very similar to snow. The packed is easy to ride, very pleasant. The powder is challenging, sometimes almost impossible. It makes it a great technical workout, as well. You have to distribute weight appropriately, gear down accordingly, and be very adaptive in steering since often the bike will want to go in the direction of a rut or tire track when you are actually headed in a slightly different direction. The good news is, the worst that can happen is you fall over sideways in the soft sand. You really can’t hurt anything except your ego. For the reasons mentioned above, it can be both an easy cardio and a high-intensity workout. You can cruise on the packed sand at a good clip, enjoying the weather, feeling the sun, letting the breeze caress you. Just get some movement out there. Maybe hit a few all-out sprints where you just bomb down the beach. You can grind it out on the powder, going as hard as you can, yet still moving slower than you can imagine. This is a killer lower body strength session and cardiovascular workout. If you have access to sand, I recommend giving the fat tire bike a shot. Rent it first, see what you think. If you don't, you can also ride them in snow. I have friends who ride their fat tire bikes on snow, which sounds fantastic. What physical activity are you really into these days? Let me know in the comment section of New and Noteworthy. | 