With winter on the horizon, we turn our focus to the enjoyment of riding bikes in the snow. Earlier this year we released our new, easy-to-use fat tire bike storage solution: the Saris Fat Bike Trac. Built with a wider wheel tray, this bike rack is designed for rigs that know a thing or two about frozen fun.
This month's featured bike room is located at the newly opened Burke Hotel (formerly the Q Burke Hotel & Conference Center) in East Burke, Vermont. To learn more about the fat bike parking and facilities available at Burke Hotel, we chatted with the hotel's Director of Marketing and Sales, Jessica Sechler.
How long have you offered fat biking at your facility?
Our neighbors at Kingdom Trails have offered fat biking for more than three years now as part of their winter activities, and we are lucky to have the sport be so highly supported in our area. Mountain biking has become a part of the culture here in Burke so naturally it made sense to ensure our hotel could easily accommodate not only summer mountain bike storage, but winter as well.
What has the response been to fat biking in your area in Vermont?
It continues to grow every year. Our area hosts an annual Winterbike festival which is put on by MTBVT and Kingdom Trails every March, and annual attendance continues to impress. The annual New England Mountain Bike Association festival (NEMBAfest) also saw a substantial increase in fat bikes on the trails this year which is held every June. Our community recognizes that fat biking, as well as mountain biking, is a growing sport and as such continues to adjust or modify any trail rules that might have otherwise not favored participation.
Why did you choose to add fat bike parking to your hotel?
Mountain biking is a part of our amenity offerings here at the resort, plus it is one of the main reasons guests choose to visit our area in the summer. Since x-country and downhill riding is such an integral part of our business it made sense to expand our winter offerings to not only include alpine and nordic skiing, but fat biking as well. After all, our neighbors at Kingdom Trails have some of the best known networks nationwide so we would be silly to not try and capitalize on those guests already visiting the area.
Fat bike parking at the Burke Hotel.
What has the response been from your customers in regards to the fat bike tracs?
Most of our guests are surprised we even thought to offer secure mountain bike storage (for free) as part of their overnight lodging, let alone year-round bike storage to accommodate fat bikes. So it's certainly a unique offering resulting in a very positive guest experience which just confirms our commitment and support of the sport.
Burke, Vermont has some incredible mountain biking in the non-winter months.
What other services do you provide at your hotel?
Our hotel operates through all four seasons, and outside of winter fat biking Burke is also an alpine ski/ride mountain. We also have nearby Nordic trails. Additionally, our mountain allows free uphill routes during operational hours for those that wish to earn their turns or forgo winter lift-serve. In the summer our lifts transform to carrying downhill mountain bikes offering lift-serve mountain biking during the months of May through October. You will also find incredible hiking, kayaking and fishing on and around Burke Mountain with arguably some of the best views in Vermont.
Any other information you would like to provide for future Saris customers or Burke Hotel guests?
Saris has been a great company to work with and provides a respectable, easy-to-use and durable product. Personally I've used a Saris bicycle rack to transport my mountain bike on my car and it's worked great.
Bike. Ski. Nordic. Burke Mountain is a snow (and summer!) sport haven.