Year: <span>2014</span>

Organizations Trails

Straw poll Video

Last Saturday morning, my buddy Clay Haglund from MAMB captured my two attempts at a logover that’s along CROCT’s Sechler Park MTB Trail in Northfield.

Watch this 45-second video of the two attempts (each with a 50% slomo clip) and then take the straw poll below.

I’ll post the results on Friday along with my analysis and then open it up for discussion.

12/06 update: See the logover poll results and video analysis in this blog post.

Straw poll Video

Back in the summer of 2013, I blogged about the mountain biking-related possibilities for Northfield’s new Meadows Park. So it was pretty cool to attend the City of Northfield‘s Meadows Park community planning meeting at the Northfield Middle School on Wednesday night and have mountain biking be mentioned by the consultants (Paul Miller Design and SRF Consulting) as one of the possibilities under consideration.

Meadows Park community meeting Paul Miller Design and SRF Consulting Meadows Park community meeting

Even better, there was some support for it from citizens at the small group discussions, helped along by participation from fellow Cannon River Offroad Cycling & Trails (CROCT) members Marty Larson and Scott Klein. 

Advocacy

CROCT logoI’m on the Board of CROCT (Cannon River Offroad Cycling and Trails), a new IMBA chapter here in Rice County. And yesterday, we hosted our first ever group ride in Northfield’s Sechler Park during the area’s first real snowfall of the season.   Nearly two dozen riders participated.

CROCT Board member Carl Arnold made this 1-minute video of some of the rides:

After a couple hours of riding,  we convened for some refreshments at Fit To Be Tri’d in downtown Northfield.

See the large slideshow of 80+ photos (many low res, captured from video) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Organizations Photo album

20th Anniversary MORC Gala at the Varsity TheaterThe 20th Anniversary MORC Gala at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on Sunday was fabulous. As a MORC board member, I’m more than a little biased, of course.  So with that caveat, here’s a glimpse into the wingding.

Kristin Clark, MORC Board member, meteorologist, and 2WheelWeather bloggerThe doors opened at 2pm for the Surly Brewing Happy Hour, with live music by The Lost Wheels. MORC Board member, meteorologist, and 2WheelWeather blogger Kristin Clark (@2WheelWeather & @KClarkWx) was the Master of Ceremonies and began her duties by introducing each of the speakers.

Advocacy Fundraiser Photo album

Trails

South Wirth mapI rode the new South Wirth trail at Theodore Wirth MTB Park in Minneapolis on Monday afternoon. It’s a hoot. It’s crammed with flow features that can be rolled for intermediate level riders. But advanced level riders (or wannabes like me) will have a rollicking good time. There’s nothing like this trail in the metro area. It’s like having a slice of the intermediate/advanced flow trails at Cuyuna, Spirit Mountain and CAMBA , all packed into a very small area. Truly amazing. Props to MORC, MOCA, and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for making it happen (details below).

Here’s a 1 min 45 second video clip, taken with my GoPro in a chest harness. You’ll see when I got to the drops that I stopped and walked them, turned around and walked back, then rode them but not fast enough to clear them. I sorta rolled them and was lucky I didn’t crash. I’ll be back asap to try again.

Trails Video

Guest posts Learning to ride Media

MORC Gala

I have a little story to tell but if you want to get all the info about the MORC 20th Anniversary Gala coming up on Nov. 9, CLICK HERE. More on the Gala’s Facebook event page here.

MORC tent at Cuyuna grand opening 2011

I took up the sport of mountain biking in serious way in June of 2011 after attending the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Festival Grand Opening. In the photo above, I’ve added an arrow pointing to the MORC and IMBA tents in the back of the parking lot at Cuyuna that weekend. I’d never heard of either organization but I became a member a few days later shortly after purchasing a a 2011 Trek Gary Fisher X- Caliber 29’er from Penn Cycle in Bloomington, courtesy of Ben Witt at Milltown Cycles in Faribault.  (If that makes no sense to you and you’re curious, click here.)

I’ve been hooked on mountain biking ever since, as evidenced by the 250+ posts to this Mountain Bike Geezer blog.  And in those 3 years, I’ve done 90% of my year-round mountain biking on MORC trails in the Twin Cities metro area.  I feel a kinship to the organization like no other because of what it’s given me: the enjoyment of a sport I love and the opportunity to meet and spend time with so many great people.  Being a MORC board member this year has been an honor, especially since it’s MORC 20th anniversary season, topped off with this big fundraiser Gala,

Matt Andrews and Pat Sorenson Gary Sjoquist and Pat Sorenson

I’m also pleased that Penn Cycle, where I bought the bike that I still ride nearly every day, has stepped up to be the Title Sponsor for the Gala. That’s founder/owner Pat Sorenson handing a check to MORC Executive Director Matt Andrews in the left photo.

Advocacy Fundraiser Organizations

Yup, voting is now live. Deets here, including photos and videos of all the candidates.

Stage 1 voting ends midnight on Friday, Oct. 31, 2014.

Top Ten MTB survey, part 1

Trails