Jamaica "Fatta" Tyre Festival

The Jamaica Fat Tyre Festival is a week-long mountain biking extravaganza that highlights Jamaica's unique, vibrant culture and awesome trails! SMORBA has been running the event for the past 6 years and you can get a professional opinion from the likes of Dirt, MBUK, Decline and Singletrack magazines on the SMORBA Mountain Biking and BMX Media Coverage page.

Dates for the 2012 version of the Festival have been set. We start on February 18 with the Welcome Party and end on February 25. Below is a quick run-down of the week's activities. If you are interested in riding, the Jamaica Fat Tyre Festival Info page will get you started.

Please note that the amount of riders we can (and want to) handle is very limited. In fact, we've capped this year's total registration at 20. You absolutely need to give us a shout as soon as possible in order to reserve your spot!

2012 Overview:

The Festival kicks off with a welcome and registration party on the evening of February 18th at John Crow’s Tavern (the Festival HQ) located in the heart of Ocho Rios – the vibes capital of Jamaica’s beautiful North Coast.

The bicycling begins on February 19th with a day for Jamaicans to show off their own riding skills. Dubbed “A celebration of Jamaican Bicycling Culture” the Jamaica Bicycle Bash is designed to provide a unique, fun-filled atmosphere centered around all things bicycle. Highlights include a 5 mile race looping through Oracabessa, Skills Course race, the ever-popular Rambolympics and many other games and contests that provide great entertainment!

On February 20th you'll be shuttled up to Murphy Hill, perched high above Ocho Rios for the day called “Murphy O-Hamilton Gets Conscious”. After taking in the view your brakes will overheat on the blistering descent to world renown Dunn’s River Falls. After regrouping at John Crow’s, the crew will head out to the friendly communities of Oracabessa, Hamilton Mtn, and Jacks River. Checking out SMORBA’s trails in western St. Mary will prepare you for the after-ride relaxation and the evening’s festivities at “Conscious Corner” bar in Rio Nuevo.

On Tuesday the 21st you will trek to Pimento Hill in St Mary for the day called “The John Crow Has Landed”. A more relaxed day of single track, downhills, and waterfalls is in store - all ending at Black Sand Beach where a meal of roast breadfruit and other local dishes prepared by local SMORBA dude, Natty Grant will await.

February 22nd (“Roots, Rocks, Reggae, Rum”) will see you going deep into rural Jamaica near Robin’s Bay, St. Mary. These amazing, technical singletracks (including the famed Carlton Pass) are the trails that led Katrina Strand to proclaim “This is the best day of my life… and it isn’t even over yet!”

Later in the day on the 22nd we will make our move to the "Top-Secret" location in the Blue Mountains for the 2 day Ken Klowak Memorial Ride. Ken was the trail builder responsible for the fantastic riding at the site and we will pay our respects to a great friend by ripping his trails as he would have wanted.

On Saturday, February 25th we'll make our way down from the Blue Mountains and head back to Ocho Rios. On the way we will tackle the Red Light trail which will take you from Newcastle all the way to the edge of Kingston. After a quick stop to eat and replenish the fluids we'll head back over the mountains to John Crow's Tavern for whatever ridiculousness the last night of the event has in store.