A biking bunch

DOUGLAS COUNTY — Riding a bicycle is a pastime that can be done by young and old alike. It can be done in the spring, summer, fall and winter, thanks to fat tire bikes.

“The thing that I like about the fat tire bike is that it is the only bike that I am aware of that you can ride year-round (in Minnesota),” Jeff Pokorney said. “I’ve taken mine mountain biking, on gravel roads and in the snow in the winter.”

Pokorney is the agriculture teacher and FFA adviser at Alexandria Area High School and helps run his family’s beef farm near Bertha. The Pokorney family farm is a century farm, which was a dairy farm until the early 2000s, when the family transitioned to beef. Pokorney returned to the farm after college, where he and his family calve out 50 beef cows each year.

Pokorney is one of two ag teachers and FFA advisers at AAHS. He teaches classes on advanced welding, precision agriculture, and agricultural foods and natural resources.

Farming and teaching go well with the schedule of the Big Ole Bike Club, a biking group that Pokorney has been a part of for around two decades.
Pokorney likes that they are a diverse group, but still have a shared interest.

“I joined 20 years ago because it was a group of people that had the same passion I did: being outside, exercising and pushing ourselves,” Pokorney said. “We have quite the range of backgrounds and ages, and it’s just fun to get everyone together.
The conversations we have while cycling and after are just as much fun as the biking itself, and I think that is what brings people together.”

Fat tire bikes are designed similarly to mountain bikes, but the tires are at least 3.8 inches wide, which makes them ideal for biking in snow, Pokorney said.

“With the fat tire bikes, you do have to put out a lot more energy, so it makes it a more challenging workout to bike in the snow,” Pokorney said. “If the snow is hard-packed down, it’s not so bad, but if it is fresh, wet snow, it gets to be more of a challenge.”

The 200-member Big Ole Bike Club has multiple subgroups within the organization based on the type of biking. There are paved road bikers, gravel road bikers, and others, in addition to the fat tire group. The club meets every Tuesday or Wednesday throughout the year at various locations across Douglas County and the Central Lakes Trail. There are volunteers within the group who groom the trails with equipment to make it easier for bikers to use the trails after a fresh snow.

“We will bike in any conditions except a thunderstorm,” Pokorney said. “Some parks have groomed fat tire bike trails, but we also go on county roads.”

Craig Weber runs a commercial beekeeping operation near Parkers Prairie in addition to being an active member of the Big Ole Bike Club.

“For ag people in general, winter is the slow time of year, and I get more restless during that time, so this really helps with that,”
Weber said. “Harvest and other work aspects aren’t pressing anymore, so I have a lot more idle time. I like having something to do.”

Weber has been a part of the club since 2019.

“I mainly started for the health aspects of (biking),” Weber said. “I was suffering from a few ailments and really wanted to live a healthier lifestyle. What kept me going with the group was that all these people that I went biking with became my friends.”

For Weber, biking is beneficial because of the low-impact workout, and when he was younger, he enjoyed riding a dirt bike, he said.

“Fat tire biking had that adventurous aspect that intrigued me,” Weber said. “I started with the fat tire group, but I kept with the group by riding year-round with the gravel group. I do some biking on my own as well, but it is a lot more motivating to go when you know there is going to be a group going out with you.”

Andy Siira, a fourth-generation farmer near Brandon, joined the group to have something to do in the winter.

“It is important to stay active, not only physically but mentally, this time of year,” he said. “With the short amount of daylight, we need something to keep active outside when we can.”

Pokorney is the president of the Big Ole Bike Club and charged with sending out newsletters and coordinating meetings and banquets.

“We try to find more ways to participate in the community, get more people involved in the club and promote biking as a healthy lifestyle,” Pokorney said.

Pokorney said there are places that people can rent fat tire bikes, and members of the group often bring an extra bike along in case someone new wants to try one.

“If you could only get one bike, I would recommend the fat tire bike because you can use it year-round,” Pokorney said. “Also, riding a bike year-round, you will become a stronger rider across the board.”

While farming and teaching keep Pokorney busy, he makes time to go biking as often as he can with the Big Ole Bike Club — and not just for the biking. 

“I really enjoyed being with like-minded people and the culture within the group,” Pokorney said. “It is a very welcoming group; we always have a good time when we are together.”