Fat Bike Birkie 2026 Race-Day Dispatch
March 2, 2026, by Greg Smith
Fat Bike Birkie 2026 Race Day Dispatch: Nine Degrees, Perfect Snow, and a Whole Lot of Grins
I left Milwaukee in fifty-degree weather and drove five-plus hours north to Cable, Wisconsin, to photograph the Fat Bike Birkie. The next morning at race start, it was nine degrees.
Race day delivered.
Close to 500 riders started across three distances at the American Birkebeiner Trailhead in Cable: Big Fat 47K, Half Fat 21K, and Fun Fat 10K. If you remember the early peak years, the crowd was smaller than that era. Compared to the last three years, it felt about the same, maybe slightly down.
What stood out most was the trail.
The course was as good as I have seen it in several years. The area had solid snowfall leading into the weekend and the surface was near perfect. Firm and fast, with enough grip to let people carry speed and settle into a rhythm.
Posted March 5, 2026 at 12:48 pm
