Over February vacation, Steve the Bike Guy and family went on week long fat bike vacation. Now, I’m sharing tips from our trip.

The first challenge of our fat bike winter vacation? Packing. Or, more specifically, figuring out how to pack all the items – bikes, clothing, bike equipment, and people – into our Volkswagen Tiguan.

As you can see from the photo above, we were able to make it work! Our Yakima 5-bike hitch rack (available at the Studio or on Amazon) easily accommodated the three larger fat bikes, while our daughter’s smaller bike rode on top next to a Tule cargo box which held bike clothing and helmets. Due to the extreme cold driving up the Lake Placid, it was important we not put anything that would freeze in the cargo box.

In the hotel room, things were a little tight as we rearranged furniture to accommodate the extra bags and bicycles.

Packing up the car to head to our second vacation destination, the biggest challenge was not fitting all our belongings back in the car – it was answering all the questions!