When it comes to winter adventure, you may think you’ve done it all, but then they invent a MoonBike and it’s back out into the great white outdoors we go. If you’ve followed my adventures these last two years as I’ve traveled around North America on my solo road trip, you’ll have noticed I don’t spend much time in the snow. I’ve actively avoided it until now. But that was before I saw the word “MoonBike” in a news story. “MoonBike? What’s that?” From there, my curiosity took hold until it ended on a mountain in Upper West Michigan.
What is a MoonBike?
A MoonBike is an electric snow bike with a ski for the front tire. It’s in the same family as the snowmobile, with its rear track drive like a tractor but just one front ski. Unlike a motorcycle, the MoonBike can stay upright without a kickstand. Unlike most snowmobiles, this vehicle is electric, one-third the size, quiet and environmentally friendly. The literature said they were as easy to ride as an e-bike with the power of a motorcycle, so sign me up!
The pictures of their small statue and bench seat reminded me of the minibikes of my childhood, when I spent hours every summer watching my brothers build and refine theirs to go faster and look cooler than any other. They’d fly up and down the city streets and hit the nearby trails in wild abandon. I begged to ride along, and sometimes they let me. Eventually, I graduated to riding alone until the day I lost control and landed under the bike, receiving an engine burn that covered my entire right calf.
MoonBikes, though, are electric and don’t have a hot, exposed engine; plus, they have a ski instead of a front tire and a tractor drive in the back, making them entirely different.
Made in France, MoonBikes weigh just 192 pounds and have a propulsion system that operates without a chain or belt. They offer three speed options, low, medium, and high, and you can reach up to 28 miles per hour on the snow. They are silent, odorless, and don’t leave a trail of black smoke. No offense to my brothers’ minibikes, but these seemed a significant upgrade.
MoonBike tours in Boyne, Michigan
Already popular in Europe, MoonBikes aren’t yet well-established in North America, but I have no doubt they will be. Boyne Mountain Resort near Michigan’s upper west side, between Charlevoix and Gaylord, is the first to have them in the Midwest. They acquired a fleet of ten MoonBikes and offer tours that traverse eight miles of hilly, snow-covered golf course trails. It’s a great way to use the golf course in the winter.
“With our ForeverProject, we are focused on reducing our impact at every level of resort operations, and MoonBikes fit our mission in providing environmentally friendly fun,” said Patrick Patoka, Boyne Mountain’s director of adventure, in a press release.
My friend Erica and I booked a tour and headed north.
Arriving at the Boyne Ski Resort
Once we arrived at the resort, we parked and boarded an open-air shuttle. It was like a hayride wagon with bench seats and people piled on carrying their skis and snowboards. I envied their ability to withstand the cold and their weatherproof, professional-looking cold-weather clothing. Unlike me, they wore weatherproof ski pants, heavy-duty insulated gloves and thick hats with goggles. I wore sweatpants over my jeans, two pairs of gloves, one cashmere, one wool, and a black beret I bought in France. But I did have an excellent pair of waterproof boots I bought while living in Chicago; those very likely saved me a lot of hardship.
We bumped along the roadside, circled a little pond with a water feature I couldn’t believe wasn’t ejecting ice instead of water in 16-degree temperatures, and after a quick few minutes, the hayride driver said, “Here ya go!” and we all hopped off.
The village is reminiscent of a Swiss chalet, I assume, having never been to a real one. The buildings were all dark brown with wood gingerbread cutouts and painted flowers along the trim. The village was festive as the resort hosted a high-energy action show featuring athletes performing big-air jumps and aerial acrobatics. Loud music and beer tents lined the main street through the little village.
At the Adventure Center, we watched a four-minute video that highlighted the bike, the trails and key safety information, including:
- Closed-toed footwear and a helmet required
- Minimum age of 15 years old
- Minimum height of 5’2″
- Maximum weight of 265 lbs
After watching the video, we gratefully boarded an enclosed shuttle bus and headed to the golf course.
Guided Winter Forest Trails
Seven of us met our two tour guides at the golf course and learned about MoonBikes. The bikes were easy to operate, and the instruction period lasted only a few minutes. There is a hand brake on the left, the throttle on the right, with a switch below that says “low, medium, high.”
“We’re going to keep it in low right now,” the guide said, reading our minds.
We were each shown how to get going and allowed time to get used to the MoonBike while we practiced accelerating, decelerating and turning. My experience on a motorbike and snow skis helped, as I understood the concept of leaning into the turn rather than trying to force the front ski to the right or left. A few people fell right away, without injury, and jumped right back on.
After a few minutes of practice, we followed our guides onto the trails. Because it’s a golf course, the trails were hilly, woody and overall picturesque. We plowed through the white power, up and down the gentle curving slopes and along the trees. We ventured into wide open ranges and through narrow trails in the woods.
I shifted to medium power and felt an immediate jump. A few minutes later, I shifted into high gear, and I was once again that little girl on my brother’s minibike, the wind in my hair, the air on my face, and the open road before me. Well, not so much a road, but you get the picture.
Riding a MoonBike
The bikes were silent and other than the noise of our voices, it was quiet. It was so quiet that Erica said she saw a pack of deer frolicking in the snow. I didn’t see deer, but that might have been when I pulled myself out of the bushes I rode into, or when I climbed out of a snowbank at another time.
While the bike was effortless in many ways, it was still challenging because I was inexperienced in the snow. Turns, especially left ones, were tricky for some reason. Quick turns weren’t easy, and I fell off more than once. We all fell off a few times while going uphill or making turns, but none of us got hurt. That’s not to say you can’t get hurt, but the bike was easy to stop, and the snow cushioned our impact.
By the time we were halfway through the tour, most of us were powering through the snow like champions; at least, that’s how it felt. It was the most fun I’d had in the snow, well, maybe ever. Plus, by the halfway point, my hands and face were so numb from inadequate winter gear that the cold no longer bothered me. You really can adapt to anything.
Where to Ride a MoonBike
If you can’t make it to Boyne, Michigan, or one of the other 40 resorts worldwide that offer MoonBikes, you can buy your own for as little as $8,900, and they’ll ship it right to your house.
The cost of a MoonBike tour at Boyne Mountain Resort was about $130 per person for a 60 to 90-minute tour. Reservations are required.
Read more stories about Michigan here.
