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Photo album: Penn Cycle Thursday night MTB race at Buck Hill

By Griff Wigley, on May 11th, 2012

Penn Cycle Thursday night MTB race at Buck Hill Penn Cycle Thursday night MTB race at Buck Hill Penn Cycle Thursday night MTB race at Buck Hill
I’ve got a blog post coming about my first ever mountain bike race in the dirt: the first 2012 event in a series of Thursday Night Mountain Bike Races at Buck Hill in Burnsville.

But it’ll take me a few days before I get it written up and I wanted to get the photo album posted quickly.

See the large slideshow (recommended) of 182 photos or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

8 comments   Competition, Events   ,  

Shredding and shedding the red in the Yawkey Unit at Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trail System

By Griff Wigley, on May 5th, 2012

As I was loading my bike at Hillside Park in Elk River last Friday afternoon, a local rider named Derek Broten pointed to two loose spokes (nipples gone) on my rear wheel. Oy. I phoned Ben Witt at Milltown Cycles: “Ben, I’m scheduled to go riding at the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trail System on Sunday with Aaron Hautala. Can I ride with two loose spokes?”

Ben strongly urged me to get it fixed, saying that bad (expensive) things can happen. I was due at a friend’s cabin on Mille Lacs so there was no time to find a local bike shop to fix it.

Cycle Path & Paddle in Crosy, MN Cycle Path & Paddle bike mechanic Ryan Anderson Cycle Path & Paddle employee Becky McKay Griff Wigley with Shred the Red hoodie and T-shirt at Cycle Path & Paddle
I arrived in Crosby-Ironton on Sunday at about 10 am and was still undecided about what do to. I drove by Cycle Path & Paddle and thought I was hallucinating. The sign said OPEN. At 10 am on a Sunday?  Be still my heart.  There’s no way they’ll have a mechanic on duty now.

The Cuyuna gods smiled upon me. Owner Jenny  Smith wasn’t there but mechanic Ryan Anderson was and within 45 minutes, he cheerfully fixed my wheel, trued my rotor, and did a few other adjustments. Total labor charge: $16.  I tried to tip him $10 but he wouldn’t take it.

I decided I had to spend more money at the store or the Cuyuna gods might extract payment in other ways.  I bought a “Shred the Red” hoodie and t-shirt and asked store employee Becky McKay to take my photo.  She coached me on how to hold the shirt so “Shred the Red” was visible on the hoodie. Other than my wife, I don’t think anyone has ever coached me when I’ve asked them to take my photo. Very cool.

Yawkey Unit - Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trail SystemI met up with Aaron Hautala in the park’s Yawkey Unit (Inset D on the PDF map of the park; screengrab image on the right) and after a warmup (hah!) up and down the amazing Bobsled trail, we headed over to Timber Shaft and its challenging double X rocks. I’d been itching to ride Timber Shaft since I first walked it as a newbie last summer after purchasing my bike.

Here’s a 3-minute video of Cuyuna Lakes Dirt Boss Nick Statz riding Timber Shaft on his fattie in March:

Aaron Hautala riding the Yawkey Unit in the Cuyuna Lakes MBT System Tricky rock: Yawkey Unit in the Cuyuna Lakes MBT System Aaron Hautala (R) and riders in the Yawkey Unit at Cuyuna Lakes. Griff Wigley in the Yawkey Unit at Cuyuna Lakes. Photo by Aaron Hautala
The photo above shows one of the Timber Shaft rocks that gave me trouble (there were, um, others). I thought the left line (red) would be tougher to clean because of the sharp left turn required to get around the small rock (red circle).  Not so. While the green line was a straighter approach with a slight down and up, after 5 tries, I hadn’t cleaned it. I kept spinning my rear wheel as I tried to accelerate (green check mark) to get up enough speed to get over the big rock.  I finally figured out that if I delayed acceleration a few more inches, the bike was more level and traction was better.  As long as I unweighted properly, I was able to get over the rock clean just fine.  Lesson learned. For now.

We met up with some guys from the Twin Cities, two of which I’d met at the Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout awards ceremony back in March.  See their photo with the Yeti here. I promise to write down their names next time.

Aaron and I then rode all the other Yawkey Unit trails (Tugger, Little Rock, Grizzley, Man Cage, Manual Drive, Skip). WHEEEE! When he had to head home, I followed him, as it’s a short bike ride. The lucky guy lives adjacent to the park.

John Seery, Michael Knoll and friends in the Yawkey Unit at Cuyuna Lake MTB Trail System Shred the Red or Shed the Red? John Seery, Michael Knoll and friends in the Yawkey Unit at Cuyuna Lake MTB Trail System
I rode back to the park and decided to re-ride all the Yawkey Unit trails again. When I got back to Timber Shaft, I ran into John Seery and Michael Knoll from Michael’s Cycles in Prior Lake who I rode with back in late March at the MN River Bottoms. They and two other friends were tackling the narrow and rocky upper section of Timber Shaft and one of the guys fell and sliced his leg on, you’ll never guess, a sharp rock. Shred the Red became Shed the Red.

Michael had a first aid kit, patched him up, and he promptly got back on his bike and cleaned the section where he’d fallen. Take that!  Off they went to the Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby to get him stitched up.  Just another way that mountain bikers bring economic development to the area.

Caleb and Aaron Hautala Cycle Path & Paddle proprietor Jenny Smith
By chance, I ran into Aaron later in the afternoon. He’d returned with his five year-old son Caleb who has gotten quite adept at riding Man Cage.  I also happened upon Cycle Path & Paddle proprietor Jenny Smith out riding Haul Road. I told her she saved my butt by having her shop open on Sunday, and for being savvy  in hiring these two talented young adults at her store, Ryan Anderson and Becky McKay.

So after 5+ hours of riding Yawkey, I reluctantly headed home. Cuyuna, I do love thee so. I will be back. Soon.

5 comments   People, Trails   , , , , , , , , , ,  

Anatomy of a MTB trail work crew: adding options to the XX rock gardens at Lebanon Hills

By Griff Wigley, on May 3rd, 2012

Half of the Lebanon Hills trail crew, April 24, 2012Last Tuesday I joined a Lebanon Hills trail crew working on the XX rock gardens and was amazed at what was accomplished in two hours.

I only took one photo that night (right), and that was just half of the 20+ people who showed up to work from 6-8 pm. So this week I went back for round 2 to chronicle the follow-up work with photos.

A MORC mountain bike trail work crew is typically organized by the Dirt Bosses for the trail. One of them announces the date and time in the MORC forum for that trail, inviting others to sign up.  When I saw this April 23 invitation by John Lundell, one of the Lebanon Hills Dirt Bosses, I just had to go since I love Leb’s rock gardens:

We will continue our efforts in the XX rock gardens this week. Meet in the parking lot (assume trail will be open) – everyone is welcome! Post up if you can make it. Crew leaves the lot promptly at 6pm so if you are coming late let us know.

First lesson I learned: you don’t ride your bike to the work location on the trail.  The Dirt Bosses bring all the tools for the job but you’re expected to help carry them.  So everyone walks in. They recommend long pants, gloves, boots, and eye protection.  Newbies are given a short safety chat on handling the sharp tools.

The task for the crew on this project was to add some difficulty and options to a couple of Leb’s double X rock garden areas. One of the hallmarks of good mountain bike park is that it’s constantly changing, drawing riders at all levels back for new challenges.  Leb excels at this and last year’s addition of a huge advanced beginner’s loop is but one example.

Worker bees like me on last week’s crew spent much of our time digging out boulders from the wooded areas around the XX portion of the trail and rolling them downhill (bowling?) for the ‘architects’ to place.  While the Bosses have a general idea of what they’re trying to accomplish, everyone’s input is considered because the terrain and available rocks require creativity. "We’re making this up as we go" is the modus operandi.

New lines for a double X section at Lebanon Hills New lines for a double X section at Lebanon Hills Double X section work crew at Lebanon Hills, May 1, 2012
The photo on the left shows what was accomplished after this week’s session with one section of the trail. The green arrow indicates where the only option was originally.  The red arrows indicate four new options, with varying levels of difficulty. 

In the center photo, the green arrow shows the original more difficult line down the rock.  The red arrows show two new challenging lines down the rock steps.  Previously, that line was quite easy.

For a closer look at the process, see the large slideshow of 40+ photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Leave a comment   Trail work   ,  

Hillside Park in Elk River: technical heaven among the switchbacks

By Griff Wigley, on May 2nd, 2012

I rode the all the trails in Elk River’s Hillside Park last Friday and I was stunned at how fun it was. The DirtWirx crew has packed a huge number of challenging technical areas into a twisty 7 miles of fast , switchback-infested singletrack.

Hillside Park in Elk River Fee station: Hillside Park in Elk River Fee station: Hillside Park in Elk River Fee station: Hillside Park in Elk River
The $4 daily fee is a bargain.  I don’t understand why more city/county parks don’t charge a usage fee for mountain biking.

And to paraphrase what I wrote yesterday, while Elk River is about 90 minutes from Northfield, it’s very close to the mountain bike park at Elm Creek Park. So a day trip that consisted of a few hours at each park would be saaaaaweeet.

 

MTB development at Hillside Park in Elk River MTB development at Hillside Park in Elk River MTB development at Hillside Park in Elk River
And guess what they’re building?

See the large slideshow (recommended) of 40 photos of Hillside’s technical obstacles (taken with my Android’s crappy camera) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

 

Tina by Sue Seeger Tina by Sue Seeger Tina by Sue Seeger 
And about halfway through the ride I met Tina, a most amazing sculpture by Sue Seeger:

Sue Seeger with Tina at Hillside ParkTina was created from an old stock car found here in the woods of Hillside Park. She took over 2 years to make, using my own time and supplies, and is for everyone who enjoys this park and trail.

Please be cool and help look out for her. Thanks — Sue Leeger.

More info and pics can be found by googling: suelandia — tina’s home

See Sue’s November 2010 blog post that chronicles (with many photos) the entire process of creating Tina.

4 comments   Trails   , ,  

Elm Creek Park: a rolling and flowing beauty

By Griff Wigley, on May 1st, 2012

Elm Creek Park mtb trail IMG_20120420_160123
Two weeks ago I rode the trails at Elm Creek Park for the first time. It’s a new trail (June 2011) and relatively long (13+ miles). I think it’s the most picturesque park in the Twin Cities that I’ve ridden thus far.

The MORC review describes the character of its trails well:

At Elm Creek, you’ll ride through a variety of terrain from mature wooded tracks to open prairie areas . Flowing trails with small bumps and rises (designed to keep water off the trail) make sections of this trail feel like a pump track.

When I bring beginning and intermediate riders to Salem Hills and they ask me where they should go next, I’ll strongly recommend this park.  

While Elm Creek is about 90 minutes from Northfield, it’s very close to Hillside Park in Elk River. So a day trip that consisted of a few hours at each park would be saaaaaweeet.

See the large slideshow (recommended) of 11 photos of the technical obstacles (taken with my Android’s crappy camera), or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Leave a comment   Trails   ,  

MN High School Mountain Bike League Leaders’ Summit: instruction at its best

By Griff Wigley, on April 23rd, 2012

The Minnesota High School Cycling League held their first Leaders’ Summit over the weekend. Northfielder Sue Welch and I attended both days (Head and Assistant Coach licensing) as we’re planning to be coaches for the soon-to-be-formed Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Team (“Mountain Bike Racing for High School Students in Minnesota’s Cannon River Valley“). Hopefully, we’ll have others join us as coaches and Ride Leaders.

Gary Sjoquist Austin McInerny Michael Hayes Sue Welch, Michael Hayes, Griff Wigley, Austin McInerny

Gary Sjoquist, QBP’s Advocacy Director, organized and hosted the event at their Bloomington headquarters.  Austin McInerny, (NorCal High School Cycling League, Berkeley High School Mountain Bike Team) did the classroom instruction on Saturday. Michael Hayes, Colorado Rocky Mountain School, conducted the skills training (in the classroom and on the bike) on Sunday.

Austin and Michael were impressive instructors: very thorough, great storytellers, well-organized, interesting, and funny. Gary treated us royally with breakfast, lunch and even dinner on Saturday, with ample snacks throughout each day and happy hours at day’s end. The only disappointment: it rained all day Saturday and on and off on Sunday so the end-of-the-day-rides had to be cancelled.

I’m pretty enthused about all this. Sue and I will soon host a community info night in Northfield for interested student athletes and parents.

See my album of 27 photos (large slideshow recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Leave a comment   Coaching, How to Ride, Organizations   , , , , , ,  

A revamped pump and jump park opens in Eagan

By Griff Wigley, on April 21st, 2012

The City of Eagan has had a BMX bike park for a few years, adjacent to the skate park at the Lexington-Diffley Athletic Fields (Google map here). It’s undergoing a complete revamping and currently has two pump tracks, beginner and intermediate levels, with a third advanced level pump track opening in May. Also planned: three levels of jumps.

Chance GlasfordChance Glasford, MORC member and author of the Self-Sponsored Cycling blog (RSS feed now aggregated on my right sidebar), has been the leader of the effort to revamp the park. I met Chance at last month’s High School MTB Kickoff and expect to see him this weekend at the Leaders’ Summit.

Chance Glasford and Griff Wigley(Update 4/22, 6pm: I’ve added the photo on the left of me and Chance taken earlier today at the Leaders’ Summit.)

Chance has cited an article in Elevation Outdoor Magazine titled The Park’s The Place , because “it pretty much says it all about why we, the riders in the metro, need bike parks, why I pushed for it and why we are working so hard to get this completed to make the bike park a reality and an enjoyable place to ride, train and improve as riders!”  An excerpt:

Lory-2_FIXEnter the latest trend in mountain biking: bike parks. Designed and built especially for bikes, these facilities offer everything from jaw-dropping stunts to beginner-level trails. While an in-town setting doesn’t provide the escape of a long ride in the mountains, bike parks are highly accessible and a great way to improve cycling fitness and skill levels…

“It’s been exciting to see the explosion in popularity,” says Lee McCormack, who teaches mountain bike skills clinics at Valmont. “The parks really have a broad appeal. Dads and moms, older and younger siblings can all find elements that challenge them, while staying in close proximity to each other.”

And, says McCormack, when you do get out for that remote singletrack journey, the practice you’ve logged in the park will pay off. “I’m riding better than ever on trails—smoother, faster and more controlled—because of all the time I spend honing my technique in a park context,” says McCormack.

DSC08847 DSC08863 DSC08850
I visited the Eagan bike park last night. Trevor ? (white shirt) lives nearby and has been working on the park with Chance. He was there with his friend Nate and gave me a few quick lessons on his new BMX bike.  Saaaweeeet!  I was able to get around the beginner level pump track without pedaling on my 29er hardtail. It helped to lock out my front suspension.  The intermediate loop (they’re connected) is a hoot and definitely  tougher.  Trevor can fly around it and it was inspiring to watch him. Here are a few more photos:

DSC08855 DSC08861 DSC08857

 

DSC08853 DSC08858 DSC08867

It’s no surprise that Tim Wegner has had a hand in this. He wrote last fall in the MORC forum:

A few months ago Chance contacted me and asked if I thought we could renovate the Lexington Park. I told him I would assist with city type things and help him get approval for the work he wanted to do. This discussion went on for a while focusing around not only a dirt jump area but also building a pump track.

Chance and I met with the city of Eagan yesterday afternoon and have gotten approval to move forward with the plan Chance has put together. We are using some design plans from Lee McCormick as well as local input. The city of Eagan is going to begin to destruct half of the jumps this fall yet, move the dirt into piles with construction to begin next spring or earlier if this dry weather holds. Eagan is totally on board with the plan and are excited to see someone take hold of this project.

The big build day was last Friday.  Chance wrote about it in a blog post titled, On the 8th day God gave us pump and we rode!

I just want to thank everyone that showed up to help build! We had a great turn out despite the on and off rain all day. I believe we had 12 people that showed up. I want to give a huge shout out to Tim Wegner and Mike Mullany for bringing their machinery and operating it all day long for us! We moved a ton of dirt and made a lot of awesome track!

I want to thank QBP for allowing so many of their employees to come out and help build. I want to think Josh Abrahamson for bringing a grill and sausages. I want to thank Clay Haglund for driving all the way up from Mankato to help out and donating a push broom to the cause! Shout out to Adam Buck for sending the beautiful Red Bull ladies our way for a nice mid afternoon pick-me-up! I also want to thank Thor and Nick for all their attention to detail and really making the two completed tracks super dialed in!

Over all it was a huge success. We dialed the beginner pump track, completed the second pump tack, which is a replica of the Whistler Crankworx ’10 and got the 3rd pump track, a replica of sea otter ’09 roughed in!

Here’s one of a dozen fabulous photos by Scott Haraldson from that build day:

lpp23

You can follow the Lexington Street Bike Park on Facebook.

4 comments   Trails   , ,  

River Bend Nature Center and mountain biking: exciting possibilities

By Griff Wigley, on April 20th, 2012

As I mentioned last week, I first blogged about mountain biking at the River Bend Nature Center (RBNC) in Faribault back in January and shortly thereafter, learned about the problems with it.

Mountain bike meeting at River Bend Nature Center Mountain bike meeting at River Bend Nature Center
So I was really pleased that RNBC staff hosted a meeting with about 25 local mountain bikers last night at the RBNC Interpretative Center.

Barbara Caldwell, RBNC Executive Director Garrett Genereux, Naturalist Educator; Barbara Caldwell, RBNC Executive Director Ben Witt, owner, Milltown Cycles 
After everyone introduced themselves, RBNC Executive Director Barbara Caldwell, RBNC Naturalist Educator Garrett Genereux, and Ben Witt, owner of Milltown Cycles in Faribault, each made brief presentations about the status of mountain biking trails in the park.

Barbara set a positive tone to the meeting right from the start, saying that they were genuinely eager to learn more about mountain biking, given the increase in riders that they’ve seen recently. She said that while they had no desire to become a mountain bike park ("We’re a nature center"), they are multi-use and see mountain biking as another way to engage the public in their mission.

Garrett showed a special map he’d created of all the trails in the park, both authorized and unauthorized. (I’ve obscured the map in the photo above.)

Ben Witt expressed his appreciation for the willingness of RNBC staff to even have the meeting, seeing it as a huge opportunity.  He explained how many sections of the authorized trails are not only bad for the park because of erosion, they’re also not the new style of mountain bike trails (eg, switchbacks for up-hills) that help to make the sport so enjoyable.

 John Ebling Glenn Holman DSC08829
The rest of the meeting was open discussion. I urged RNBC to see mountain biking not as something to do to accommodate to a group of users but rather as a strategy to protect the park. By putting in new-style mountain bike ‘flow’ trails that are fun and challenging for a range of skill levels, they’ll create a powerful incentive for riders to only ride on those trails, thereby protecting the rest of the park.

John Ebling made the point that local ‘ownership’ of these trails by local mountain bikers who work to create and maintain them eventually can create a culture of responsible use by the wider mountain biking community.

DSC08831 DSC08824 DSC08835
The plan now is to create a local task force or working group to figure out next steps. Contact Barbara or Ben (see right sidebar of his Milltown Cycles blog) if you’d like to be involved. 

RBNC Membership page

And above all, become a RNBC member.  Our voices as mountain bikers will be far more influential if we show we care enough about RBNC to support them financially.  Their online membership signup form makes it fast and easy.

9 comments   Nature, Organizations   , , , ,  

Mountain biking at River Bend Nature Center: opinions & ideas sought for information meeting next week

By Griff Wigley, on April 13th, 2012

Back in January, I blogged about mountain biking at the River Bend Nature Center (RBNC) in Faribault. I subsequently learned that there are officials trails and unofficial trails, making for a delicate situation.  As I wrote in a comment, the RBNC website doesn’t mention mountain biking specifically but #18 on their rules and regulations page says:

it shall be unlawful to… Operate a bicycle except on official trails and in designated areas;

Next week, there’s going to be a meeting to discuss mountain biking. On the RBNC website:

RBNC mtbCalling All Mountain Bikers

On Thursday, April 19, from 7 to 8 pm, River Bend Nature Center will be hosting an informational meeting regarding the trails that are being used for mountain biking. The meeting will take place in the Interpretative Center. Snacks and beverages will be provided!

Thanks to Curtis Ness at Milltown Cycles in Faribault for alerting me to this meeting. I’ll be there. 

Leave a comment   Trails   , , , ,  

Bill Metz and bicycle friends raise $3K for S.A.V.E.

By Griff Wigley, on April 6th, 2012

Marybeth Coyle-Frederick and Bill Metz Bill Metz stopped by my corner office at GBM yesterday morning to deliver the print that Robbie and I acquired at the Big Ring: 2nd Gear Art Auction last week at Angry Catfish Bicycle and Coffee Bar in south Mpls.  The event was a benefit for SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education).

The artist, Northfielder Marybeth Coyle-Frederick, happened to stop in for coffee so I got her to pose with Bill and her donated piece. Bill said the event raised over $3,000.

Scenes from the after-auction party:

Big Ring: 2nd Gear Art Auction at the Angry Catfish Big Ring: 2nd Gear Art Auction at the Angry Catfish Big Ring: 2nd Gear Art Auction at the Angry Catfish Big Ring: 2nd Gear Art Auction at the Angry Catfish

Events, People   , , ,   K for S.A.V.E.">Leave a comment   Events, People   , , ,  
 
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