Category: <span>Businesses</span>

Ryan LeechI’m pleased to announce that I’m teaming up with pro mountain biker Ryan Leech at his Performance Mountain Biking & Coaching website, RyanLeech.com. As a longtime customer and student of Ryan’s, I’ve seen firsthand how his instructional philosophy mirrors my beliefs that:

  • Online instructional modules should make use of videos, graphics, text, so you can pick your preferred ways to learn.
  • Online instruction should emphasize how you can learn more directly from your experience, guiding your attention to what happens when you do different things so that you become more confident in your ability to learn.

His first two online courses (30-Day Wheelie Challenge; and Baseline Balance Skills) live up to his site’s tagline: “Creating the highest quality, most comprehensive and effective online technical skill training programs for mountain bikers.”  The depth of the instruction (yes, LOTS of drills and exercises) and the superb production quality are impressive.

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I finally got together with Advocate Cycles founder Tim Krueger last week at the company’s headquarters in south Minneapolis (photo by Advocate’s general manager Adam Blake).

I first heard about Tim last year in a MORC Board meeting when there was a discussion about him taking over the MN Rusty Ride, given his history running the Chequamegon 100 for several years with 100% of the registration fees donated to CAMBA.  At a subsequent board meeting, I think there was some mention about him starting a new company called Advocate Cycling Productions and adding more races but that was about it.

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Sam Raymond and Hansi Johnson Keweenaw Adventure Company Keweenaw Adventure Company Jerry Smith, Jeff Squires, Sam Raymond - Keweenaw Adventure Company
Sam Raymond owns the Keweenaw Adventure Company in Copper Harbor. He offers a shuttle service to mountain bikers who come to ride the Copper Harbor Trails system. Why?

Because there is no ski area with a chairlift in Copper Harbor, the KAC shuttle is the next best way to get you and your mountain bike to the top of the mountain without having to pedal! An activity that is most commonly associated with ski resorts out west, mountain bikers enjoy bombing down Copper Harbor’s sustained vertical descents along the miles of sweet singletrack that connect the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, Brockway Mountain and the village, nearly 600′ vertical and up to 3 miles below.

mountain bike shuttle service, Keweenaw Adventure Company mountain bike shuttle service, Keweenaw Adventure Company Jeff Squires, Keweenaw Adventure Company
On the Sunday of the Ride the Keweenaw weekend, the shuttle was busy. They put up chains in front of the shop to provide some first-come, first-served structure to the riders waiting to get taken to the top. Once everyone piles inside the 14-passenger van, the driver (either Sam or one of his two trusty bike mechanics Jeff Squires or Jerry Smith) yells out “Where to?”

Keweenaw Mountain Lodge mountain bike shuttle service, Keweenaw Adventure Company Sam Raymond, Keweenaw Adventure Company
A consensus quickly emerges as the choice is simple: either the parking lot at Keweenaw Mountain Lodge or the top of Brockway Mountain, both about a mile from town.  If you miss the shuttle, it’s no biggie. It can make a round trip in 15-20 minutes.  And Sam’s getting another 14-passenger this summer to speed things up even further.

Hansi Johnson, top of Brockway Mountain Griff Wigley, top of Brockway Mountain Stairway to Heaven trail, Copper Harbor
The shuttle currently runs noon-5:00pm on weekends and 5:30-9:30pm on Tuesdays. If you want to ride the trails at other times, team up with someone else for a DIY shuttle service with two vehicles like I did with IMBA’s Midwest Regional Director Hansi Johnson and his snazzy Subaru Outback.  Of course, you can also pedal to the top.  Hansi said that riding up the Stairway to Heaven trail (that’s a link to a recent YouTube video) is the easiest route to the top.  Nearly all trails at Copper are two-way, and riders going up have priority over riders going down, although I mainly experienced the opposite.

Businesses Trails

Lori Hauswirth, Caleb Wendel, Hansi JohnsonI arrived in Houghton yesterday afternoon, all psyched for this weekend’s Ride the Keweenaw.

First stop: The Bike Shop in downtown Houghton where IMBA’s Midwest Regional Director Hansi Johnson, Lori Hauswirth, Executive Director of the Copper Harbor Trails Club and I paid our respects to co-owner Caleb Wendel. (I first met Caleb at Ray’s Indoor Bike Park in Milwaukee back in Feb. when he took a video of me riding the hamster wheel.)

The Bike Shop, Houghton, MI The Bike Shop, Houghton, MI The Bike Shop, Houghton, MI
The Bike Shop (and companion boardshop Rhythm) has expanded this year from the basement to the entire first floor and mezzanine. It’s huge and classy. I’m likely to spend some money there today.

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I spent a few days with some buddies at a cabin near Lutsen over the weekend. We hiked the state park trails at Temperance and Cascade but I brought my 29’er in case any of the COGGS mountain bike trails around Duluth opened up/dried out in time for my drive back home to Northfield. Alas, no such luck. The trails were all too soft yet because of the late-season heavy snowfall and cold temps.

Northfielders Todd Orjala, Ken Drivdahl, Steve Schmidt at CuyunaI was going to head back home to ride the metro-area MORC trails but torrential rains there closed all the trails that had just opened up a week ago.  So I sent a text to CLMTB Crew president Aaron Hautala in hopes that Cuyuna Lakes would be open. YES!  They had heavy rain overnight but the trails dried out quickly and were tacky fast.

I got there by 3:30 on Saturday and promptly ran into fellow Northfielders Todd Orjala, Ken Drivdahl, and Steve Schmidt.  After riding all the trails in the Mahnomen Unit (see inset B on the DNR map), I pooped out by dark and was planning to make the drive home but got rescued by CLMTB Crew member John Schaubach who offered me dinner at his cabin and a place to pitch my sleeping bag for the night. YES!

John Schaubach with a section of Cuyuna Gold Cuyuna Gold placed on top of clay clay trail
John and I went for an early Sunday morning ride in the Yawkey Unit. He showed me how the CLMTB Crew had painstakingly spread a layer of Cuyuna’s red dirt/gravel mix on top of many sections of the trails that were primarily clay.  John said that they refer to this mixture as ‘Cuyuna Gold’ because of its ability to harden the surface of a trail while still providing good traction. It’s amazing the amount of work that’s gone into doing this and what a difference it makes, especially after it’s rained. Props to Cuyuna Dirt Boss Nick Statz, Yawkey Unit  Dirt  Boss Dave Taylor, and their team of CLMTB Crew volunteers for working with the DNR to make this happen.

Heartland Kitchen and Cafe, Crosby MN Jim and Maureen Christopher, Heartland Kitchen & Cafe, Crosby, MN Sunday buffet, Heartland Kitchen & Cafe, Crosby, MNg Sunday buffet, Heartland Kitchen & Cafe, Crosby, MNg

Sunday buffet, Heartland Kitchen & Cafe, Crosby, MNg Sunday buffet, Heartland Kitchen & Cafe, Crosby, MNg Sunday buffet, Heartland Kitchen & Cafe, Crosby, MNg Maureen Christopher and John Schaubach, Crosby, MN
The rain ended our ride at 9 am so we promptly headed to the Heartland Kitchen & Café in Crosby for their stunning Sunday buffet.  I’d blogged photos of proprietor Maureen Christopher before but this was the first time I’d met her sweetie, Jim Christopher, who was the beauty on duty for the buffet. After two hours of gorging ourselves, John and I staggered out and I departed for home, sated and grateful for yet another Cuyuna weekend.

Businesses Trails

Meranda Mosher, Deb Bieganski, Jamie Lynn Drewlow Ya Betcha Bar & Grill in Crosby, MN
The Ya Betcha Bar & Grill in Crosby, MN has become one of the local eating and drinking establishments to attract significant numbers of mountain bikers who come to ride the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails.

On Friday night before this weekend’s Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Festival, the IMBA Summit attendees headed there for drinks and dinner after the group ride (photo of the building is from March).

I met the family who owns and runs Ya Betcha, Deb Bieganski, and her two daughters, Jamie Lynn Drewlow and Meranda Mosher.  Like Maureen and Jim Christopher at the Heartland Kitchen Café, they’re quite pleased with the increase in business since the park opened last summer.  It’s pretty clear to me that their outgoing personalities have something to do with that. I will be back.

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