Category: <span>Trails</span>

Chance Glasford Cottage Grove Bike Park

I blogged twice last year about the development of the Cottage Grove Bike Park.  I’ve been following it closely since A) it’s relatively close to my house (45 minutes); B) it’s huge; and C) it’s been the passion of Chance Glasford, fellow MORC Board member and the guy who taught me how to pump.

2014BellBuilt_FinalistPoster_CentralFinalists 2014_BellBuilt_Facebook_WallPost_CottageGrove

The park is a finalist in the Midwest region, competing for a third of the $100,000 grant offered by Bell Helmets in conjunction with IMBA. The winner is determined by popular vote going on now through May 4. 

Advocacy Trails

Trails

I last blogged about my experience of riding my skinny-tired 29’er in the snow back in late February of 2012. It was a very poor winter for snow lovers here in southern Minnesota and that day at Murphy-Hanrehan was one of the only times I got to ride my bike on snowy area singletrack trails.

Maxxis Ardent 2.4" knobby tires Maxxis Ardent 2.4" knobby tires winter night riding at Lebanon Hills

Last winter was much snowier and once I purchased a set of Maxxis Ardent 2.4″ knobby tires, I got out a several times at Leb, mostly at night. 

Trails

Matthew Iatonna,  Clay HaglundI finally made it over to the Memorial Park Mountain Bike Trails in Red Wing two weeks ago, only the second time I’ve ridden there (May, 2012 was the first).  The Red Wing Area Mountain Bike Organization (RAMBO) has done quite a bit of work on their downhill runs lately and last fall’s Upper Midwest Gravity Summit 2012 brought more attention to the gravity riding that the park offers, including this video from the that weekend:

Trails

Sqrl Log at 9 Mile CreekNo, I’m not referring to the big cottonwood that crosses 9 Mile Creek in the MN River Bottoms that I wrote about back in September.

Rather, there’s a downed tree just a few feet from it on the east bank that makes for a much more difficult skinny.  Wall of Death competition winner Heath Weisbrod alerted me to it last week saying that he’d cleaned it, so I tried it on Sunday morning.

As you’ll see in the video below, my first attempts went nowhere. So I thought the problem might be that the bark on top was crumbling so I pulled it off. Look closely at the photo of the log.  Unfortunately, I made problem worse (again), as it exposed some moist spots that were underneath the bark. I tried it anyway and landed flat on my back.  I told Heath about my misadventure and said that John Gaddo’s rule is that you have to clean an obstacle three times before you can ‘claim’ it and optionally name it. He wrote:

RedSquirrel Heath WeisbrodI cleared it 3 times totally clean. Once at night Thursday and twice more on Sunday. 3 and done! "Sqrl Log." I have witnesses both days. I was there until just before 11:00am Sunday.

I even got it one more time Thursday night (my first attempt) but reached out to the tree for stall then finished. So I’m not counting it.

Why ‘Sqrl Log’ for the name? Heath’s username in the MORC forum is RedSquirrel.

Here’s my 19 seconds of fail:

httpv://vimeo.com/79122204

Trails Video

Hansi Johnson on Piedmont MTB trail Hansi Johnson observing the reconstruction of Haines Road Hansi Johnson's salute to the 'side effects' of the reconstruction of Haines Road

The day after my solo stint at Spirit, I met up with IMBA Midwest Regional Director Hansi Johnson for a ride on the COGGS Piedmont trail over to the new Brewer Park trail under construction. On way, we encountered MNDOT’s reconstruction of Haines Road which was wiped out by last year’s flood. For some reason, MNDOT has take down a huge chunk of the hill/cliff overlooking a section of the road and with it, a large section of the Piedmont trail. If you look closely at the photo of Hansi on the right, you can see how he feels about this.

Hansi Johnson, Adam Harju Hansi Johnson, Larry Sampson Brad Miller, Hansi Johnson

After making our way around the, um, destruction, we came upon a COGGS trail building crew working on the new Brewer Park trail, led by Adam Harju and Brad Miller, with assistance from Larry Sampson, Duluth Maintenance Supervisor for the Superior Hiking Trail Association. Here’s some background from a COGGS blog post:

Along with the work funded by the Legacy grant, COGGS also has it’s own mechanized trail building crew. Thanks to a $10,000 grant from Specialized Bicycles, COGGS was able to purchase a Bobcat 418 mini-excavator and a CanyCom mechanized wheel barrow. To operate this equipment we hired Adam Harju, Brad Miller and Pete Leutgeb.

Their first project was building two reroutes of the existing singletrack on the east side of Amity Creek and have since turned their efforts towards building a portion of the Duluth Traverse Trail through Brewer Park. This section of land is immediately across Haines Rd west of Piedmont and has perfect terrain for mountain bike trails. This section of the DT will connect Piedmont to the State Trail and DWP, which are both off-road, multi-use trails that a rider can take all the way to Beck’s Rd in West Duluth.

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Members of the College of Saint Scholastica track team were volunteering, hauling many wheelbarrow loads of dirt to the Brewer Park MTB trail construction site a couple blocks away. Jeesh.

20131002_144231 20131002_144415 20131002_144421

“Thanks to a $10,000 grant from Specialized Bicycles, COGGS was able to purchase a Bobcat 418 mini-excavator and a CanyCom mechanized wheel barrow.”

People Trail work Trails

After attending the PedalMN Bicycle Summit a month ago (blogged here), I took a detour to Duluth before heading back home, as I’d not ridden any of the new downhill mtb trails at Spirit Mountain.  I knew the chair lift wouldn’t be running (it was a Tuesday) and I’d only have a couple hours to ride before dark. But the likelihood was high that I’d not be able to get back to Duluth before winter so I was determined to get a taste of Spirit.

Grand Avenue Chalet, Spirit Mountain Grand Avenue Chalet, Spirit Mountain Grand Avenue Chalet, Spirit Mountain Grand Avenue Chalet, Spirit Mountain Riverside Bar & Grill, Grand Avenue Chalet, Spirit Mountain

I’d not seen the new Grand Avenue Chalet at the base of Spirit Mountain before, with its Riverside Bar & Grill. Pretty impressive on its own but sort of amazing to have this type of amenity only a few steps from a new downhill mountain biking mecca.

20131001_162928 20131001_162928 copy 20131001_162943 copy 2 20131001_162943 copy3 20131001_162928 copy2

The DH mtb trailhead sign is gigantic, informative, and hits you over the head with warnings.  My favorite (comma added for clarity):

All dirt features are different sizes, and shapes and lengths may change daily. It is strongly recommended that you roll everything the first time through.

Since the chair lift was closed, the route to the top was via the new Happy Camper trail:

Happy Camper is an easier downhill trail with features including small jumps, berms, and rollers.  This trail is perfect for beginners who are just learning downhill skills, but is also a fun trip for an expert rider.

“Happy Camper” is a directional trail, which means that when the chairlift is running, it is signed as a DOWNHILL ONLY trail.  When the chairlift is not running, it is used as an UPHILL ONLY climbing trail.  By offering this uphill climbing option, you now have access to our awesome trails all the time!  When the chairlift isn’t running, you just have to work a little harder for it.

20131001_172912It probably took me a half hour of riding and pushing to get to the top of Happy Camper. Not for the faint of heart. The view of the St. Louis River and Lake Superior from the top, of course, is stunning.

I really wanted to ride down Happy Camper, given that I’m a DH newbie and there was no one else out there riding that I could see. But rules are rules and with daylight running out, I decided to ride Blaster and Smorgasbord.

Blaster is a more difficult downhill single-track trail with features including lots of rocks, roots, and very little dirt.  This trail gets very steep in areas and is a true test of your downhill riding abilities.  Experienced riders only!

Blaster mtb trail, Spirit Mountain Blaster mtb trail, Spirit Mountain

Blaster is gnarly indeed and with a 29’er hardtail out there by myself (“Please note that we do not have Bike Patrol on duty when the chairlift isn’t running so please use extra caution and be careful on the trails.”) I wasn’t about to go blasting down it. Slow and trials-like was my modus operandi, and will continue to be until I’m able to afford full squish.

I knew that Candyland trail would be more my speed:

Candyland is a 1.5 mile beginner/ intermediate level downhill flow trail featuring large berms, medium and small sized table tops, and hip jumps. All features on Candyland are roll-able, making it an ideal trail to learn on, and perfect for gravity-based mountain biking skills.

and that the Smorgasbord trail would be over my head. But I wanted to see how much over my head and figured I could walk what I couldn’t roll or ride:

Smorgasbord is a 1 mile intermediate level freeride/ downhill mountain bike trail featuring large berms, medium size jumps, a drop, and rock gardens. Several features on Smorgasbord are mandatory, including small 3-4 foot gaps, and a 5-foot drop.

Bridge berm, bottom of Smorgasbord mtb trail, Spirit Mountain Bridge berm, Smorgasboard MTB trail, Spirit Mountain Rollers, bottom of Smorgasbord mtb trail, Spirit Mountain Rollers, bottom of Smorgasboard MTB trail, Spirit Mountain

I was able to roll (very pokey) some of those mandatory features but the berms and rollers (photos and screengrabs of video above) at the bottom were more my speed. Here’s a 10-second video clip of me riding those:

httpv://vimeo.com/77962505

When I go back next spring, I’ll concentrate on Candyland and Happy Camper. When I’m able to afford a full-suspension bike and learn the skills to go with it, then I’ll tackle Smorgasbord.

I’m glad I got a taste of Spirit. It’ll motivate me this winter.

Trails

Clay Haglund and Justin Wiersgalla Clay Haglund Justin Wiersgalla

Clay Haglund of Mankato Area Mountain Bikers (MAMB) and his stepson Justin Wiersgalla met me at the Theodore Wirth Off-Road Cycling Trail this morning. We spent most of our time riding the new Glenwood flow trail (see my Oct. 11 blog post about it) but did manage to ride all of Theo’s fun and flowy  XC trails, plus ‘session’ a bit on the skinnies and rock garden in its XX section.

These aren’t photos, just some screengrabs of the video I took (below).

Clay Haglund Clay Haglund Clay Haglund

Justin Wiersgalla Justin Wiersgalla Justin Wiersgalla

httpv://youtu.be/fiG_qdYgaiE

People Trails

After a few practice runs yesterday at Battle Creek Regional Park‘s ‘Wall of Death’ section in preparation for today’s informal hill climb / go-slow competition, I ran into Tim Larson and Tim Brinkmann, two mountain bikers who I first met at Battle Creek back in December of 2011.

We only had an hour or so to ride but we tackled several of the area’s tougher hill climbs. And if we didn’t make a climb the first time, we kept at it till we did. As I blogged a couple months ago, I love sessioning, so it’s cool to find two more guys who do, too.

Tim Larson and Tim Brinkmann at Battle Creek Tim Larson and Tim Brinkmann at Battle Creek Tim Larson and Tim Brinkmann at Battle Creek

Tim Larson took several runs at this long, narrow, dusty climb and finally made it. I think he was happy.

Trails

Tyler Pederson at the opening of Theo's flow trail Tyler Pederson at the opening of Theo's flow trail Tyler Pederson at the opening of Theo's flow trail MORC tent at the opening of Theo's flow trail

There was a great turnout for the soft opening of the new trail at the Theodore Wirth Off-Road Cycling Trail on Wednesday night. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), Minneapolis Off-Road Cyclists Association (MOCA), and MORC put on the event. Tyler Pederson, who works at the MPRB and blogs at Bicycle Kismet, made some opening remarks and was the entrance gatekeeper so that things didn’t get jammed up at the start.

20131009_170240The one-way flow trail segment (less than a mile) is multi-use (open to walkers, runners and snowshoers) , is hugely fun—lots of rollers and berms and table tops in a very compact area.

Tim Wegner at Trail Source LLC was the primary builder and I’m guessing he had more than a little help from the MOCA/MORC dirt bosses.

Dick "Carp" Carpenter on Theo's new flow trail The view from the top of Theo's new flow trail The view from the top of Theo's new flow trail

The view from the top of Theo's new flow trail The view from the top of Theo's new flow trail

As you can see from the photos above, the trail loops up and around a big hill, so you’re pretty much either climbing or ripping. The view from up top is stunning, with a great view of Wirth Lake and the downtown Minneapolis skyline. There’s a picnic table up there, too, a perfect spot to catch your breath after the first big climb.

I didn’t take photos of any of the rollers, berms, jumps and table tops but to me, they seemed perfect. An intermediate rider can roll them all slowly and advanced riders can get plenty of air.  I’m far from advanced on this type of trail but there were a couple areas where I could manual over two small rollers and a couple of table tops that I could almost clear. I can’t wait to go back.

My proposed shortcut at the top of Theo's new flow trailI followed a group of young riders who were doing a shorter loop so that they could repeatedly ride the first big downhill segment without descending back to the start and having to do the big initial climb. They would push their bikes straight up one of the construction trails and then take a short cut on top (right photo) which connects to the start of the downhill segment near the picnic table. It seems like a logical option to add, much like the shortcut loops at Leb that the dirt bosses there have added in several places.

Events Trails

Time magazine cover Governor-Wendell-Anderson 2013 PedalMN Bike Summit

Many of you reading this blog were not even a gleam in your father’s eye in 1973 when Time magazine featured Governor Wendell Anderson on its cover for a story titled Minnesota: A State That Works. (Anderson just celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year.)

2013 PedalMN Bike Summit planning partners

But I thought of that cover story after attending the 2013 PedalMN Bike Summit this week, a two-day Minnesota state government-hosted conference involving four state agencies, several non-profits, and representatives from more than a few bicycle-related businesses. 

CLMTBC_IMBA_Web_LogoWhen it comes to bicycling, Minnesota seems to be a state that works.  And for state’s mountain bikers, the success of the two-year old Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trail system (CLMTBT) is the epitome of government, non-profit, and industry leaders effectively collaborating to get something done that’s been huge for our sport in the state. In short, Cuyuna rocks. (In MN mountain biking circles, the word ‘Cuyuna’ is the most commonly used short-hand for the mtb trail system in the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area – CCSRA.)

Read the timeline of the creation of Cuyuna. You’ll see the names of these people, most of them more than once: Gary Sjoquist, Dan Cruser, Courtland Nelson, Mike Van Abel, and Hansi Johnson. All of them were there this week, as were others from their organizations (MORC, IMBA, DNR, QBP).

Huntington Mine Lake, Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails Alstead Mine Lake, Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails Alstead Mine Lake, Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails Map: Cuyuna's Screamer

I got up to Cuyuna early on Monday morning, as it was a gorgeous autumn day and I wanted to ride every single trail in the Huntington east and west units (AKA as the Mahnomen Unit on the DNR’s map of Cuyuna). I rode some more than once, including the steep and short Screamer which I rode five times, trying to get better/faster at it with marginal success. But what fun.

Experiential session groups, 2013 PedalMN Bike Summit Experiential session groups, 2013 PedalMN Bike Summit Experiential session groups, 2013 PedalMN Bike Summit

For most participants, the day’s activities started shortly after lunch with “experiential workshops on bicycles in the field.”  Groups gathered in the Croft Mine parking lot in Cuyuna’s Yawkey Unit.  The blurb for those doing the experiential mountain bike ride:

Experience firsthand what makes the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails an IMBA-certified Ride Center. Learn about purpose-built trail design and weekly trail maintenance. See why cycling is now-year round in the Cuyuna Lakes area.

Find out how state, county and city governments have partnered with residents and the cycling industry to achieve the shared goal of becoming an international mountain biking destination. Members of the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew will lead ride participants through an interactive tour within the Yawkey Unit of the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area.

This bike tour is purposefully designed for cyclists of all skill levels to enjoy their time on the red dirt. Riders will be separated into advanced, intermediate and beginner categories.

Hansi Johnson, IMBA Dan Cruser, CLMTBT Nick Statz, CLMTBT

Darrell, local EMS guy Peter Hark, DNR Field Operations Mgr & stand-in photographer Katie Johnson (reflective vest), CLMTBT, experiential group ride leader

Organizers set up six guided ride stops out on the trails, each staffed with someone explaining:

  1. Mountain bike experiential session routePurpose Built Trails and Riding
  2. Trail Maintenance
  3. Community Connections for Economic Development
  4. High School Mountain Bike League
  5. Year Round Recreation
  6. Safety and Grassroots Support

I followed the advanced group around and IMHO, it was a very cool way to show/teach a large number of people in a short period of time the important aspects of a modern mountain bike trail system and its wider impact.  After the guided stops, ride leaders took their groups back out on the loop trails for more riding until everyone convened back at the parking lot for topical Q&A at various tables.

Karl Erbach (Trek), John Schaubach (CLMTBC), Seth Nesselhuf (QBP) Steve Weber (DNR), Gary Sjoquist (QBP) John Gaddo (QBP), Reed Smidt (MORC)

There were more than a few mtb muckety mucks on hand to help.

Left: Karl Erbach (Trek), John Schaubach (CLMTBC), Seth Nesselhuf (QBP)
Center: Steve Weber (DNR), Gary Sjoquist (QBP)
Right: John Gaddo (QBP), Reed Smidt (MORC)

deck at Cragun's Resort dining room, Cragun's Resort DNR's Courtland Nelson; IMBA's Mike Van Abel IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel

We then gathered for socializing and dinner at Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd, where DNR Parks and Trails Director Courtland Nelson introduced the evening speaker, IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel. Mike and IMBA have a long history with Cuyuna (Hansi’s got a good summary in his June 2011 blog post, shortly after the park opened) so it was fun to hear some of Mike’s stories of that history. His message to the audience of 200+ participants was clear: the pursuit of IMBA’s mission (“to create, enhance and preserve great mountain biking experiences”) goes far beyond the sport and IMBA’s members.  Communities and regions all over the continent are seeing that the environmental, economic, and public heath benefits of mountain biking are significant and growing.

IMBA'sMike Van Abel, moderating MTB panel at PedalMN Bike Summit IMBA's Hansi Johnson, MTB panelist at PedalMN Bike Summit MORC Board Chair Reed Smidt, MTB panelist at PedalMN Bike Summit CLMBTC President Aaron Hautala, MTB panelist at PedalMN Bike Summit Mike Van Abel, Aaron Hautala, Hansi Johnson

One of Tuesday morning’s breakout sessions was dedicated to mountain biking. Mike moderated a panel consisting of IMBA’s Hansi Johnson, MORC’s Reed Smidt, and CLMBT’s Aaron Hautala.

One thing that stood out for me was Reed’s comment about MORC’s role in the state.  Despite the word ‘Minnesota’ in its name, MORC has recently become more focused on mountain biking in the Twin Cities metro area, as the IMBA Chapter Program has produced many chapters throughout the state. But with 3 million residents and thousands of mountain bikers in the metro area, MORC plays an important role in producing and supplying a significant number of mountain bikers who like to travel to the mtb trail systems throughout the state and midwest region.

So my take-away from the Bike Summit: I’m damn lucky to be a resident of Minnesota, a state that works for mountain biking. And the work that others have done to get us to this point inspires me to help keep it going and do what I can to get others to join the effort.

I’m in a Duluth coffee shop as I write this. I’m going riding.

Advocacy Events Trails