Biking the Backcountry

May 27, 2016

Cayce Leithauser offers fat bike tours in Emmet County

Plunging into the forest south of Wilderness State Park in Emmet County, cycle guide Cayce Leithauser leads the way as we weave through bogs, beaches and winding trails on our high-tech fat bikes. It’s a rollercoaster ride through a jungle of trees, the forest breaking open here and there to reveal sweeping vistas of Lake Michigan.

Fat bikes (aka fat tire bikes) are the latest rage in the cycling community, and for Leithauser, 36, they’re also a business opportunity. This spring he launched Backcountry

Bikes Mackinac, a fat-bike touring company that enlists his skills as a longtime guide through some of the wildest country in the northern Lower Peninsula.

The tours are intended for adventurous adults who’d like to have a backcountry adventure via one of these go-anywhere bikes.

“I’ve been a biking professional for the past 18 years and have explored these forests since I was a kid,” he said. “So this year I decided to launch my own bicycle touring company to allow people to see the beauty of this area and have a great riding experience.”

FAT FACTS

For the uninitiated, a fat bike is a mountain bike with extra-wide tires of four inches or so. Leithauser has seven new SE-brand aluminum-frame fat bikes at his disposal and an extra large pickup truck to transport them and his clients to trails few would ever find on their own.

Blessed with the gift of gab, Leithauser brims with enthusiasm, keeping up a running commentary on the natural history and lore of the region as we bike through the forest. We float over patches of sand that would send the average cyclist tumbling. We roll through stretches of bog that are six inches deep with mud. At one point, where a beaver dam has flooded the trail and created a large pond, Leithauser bushwhacks a passage through the trees. It’s lucky he knows these woods, or we’d be hopelessly lost.

Finally reaching the beach, we ride along the shoreline, enjoying a view of Waugoshance Point at the tip of the 10,000-acre state park. In short, it’s quite an adventure.

SOME BACKGROUND

Born and raised in the burg of tiny Bliss, Leithauser got serious about cycling at age 10 when he found an abandoned BMX bike in the weeds and fixed it up. That effort eventually led to work as a cycle mechanic at High Gear Sports in Petoskey in his late teens. In recent years, he’s worked in the Mackinac Island bicycle rental business at venues that handle up to 1,500 cyclists per day.

Through the years, Leithauser has indulged his yen for bicycle adventures. A 1998 graduate of Pellston High School, he began exploring the region’s forest trails by bike in his early teens.

“When I was 13, I set out to ride through the forest from Bliss to Mackinaw City and ended up miles out of the way on Waugoshance Point,” he recalls. “I made it to Mackinaw but was totally exhausted by the time I got there.”

While attending North Central Michigan College, he spent his summers as an adventure tour guide at Wilderness and Petoskey State Parks. Thereafter, he studied biology at Northern Michigan University in Marquette and then moved to Albuquerque for a spell.

“As a teenager I felt the need to get out and see the world,” he says of his time in New Mexico. “But then I realized that I lived in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and it was time to come home.”

LIFT OFF

Based out of Cross Village, Leithauser offers 12–15 fat bike routes through the wild side of the region, each tailored to the individual skills of his riders. He offers half- and full-day tours priced on a sliding scale, with discounts for groups of two or more cyclists.

Leithauser is elated that his tours are already drawing customers.

“It’s going a lot quicker than I thought,” he says of his new business. “I’m attracting people who want a real biking adventure. There’s a big difference between a fat bike and a beach cruiser or a comfort bike, not to mention knowing where to go.”

Interested? Find Backcountry Bikes Mackinac on Facebook, or email Leithauser at fatbikemackinac@gmail.com.

Robert Downes is author of “Biking Northern Michigan,” available at local bike and book stores.