Cuyuna boys stray; no longer Leb virgins

Aaron Hautala, Reed Smidt, Todd Orjala, John SchaubachCLMTB Crew president Aaron Hautala and Cuyuna legend John Schaubach drove down to the Twin Cities from Crosby yesterday to attend last night’s MORC board meeting.

John and Aaron had never ridden anywhere besides the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails so they decided to check out Lebanon Hills before the meeting. I joined them, along with MORC VP Reed Smidt and fellow Northfielder Todd Orjala.

We spent 3.5 hours riding every trail at Leb. I was glad worried when they crashed a few times but I still think they enjoyed themselves and maybe even learned a thing or two.

I also walked them through the soon-to-be-opened skills park at Leb and then took them over to see the Lexington Pump and Jump park in Eagan, as they’re scheming to add similar features to Cuyuna.

3 Comments

  1. Aaron W. Hautala said:

    Best ride in a long time. At least since the night ride in Cuyuna. Truly, a good ride, a great trail center, and the rocks and trees, and jumps are awesome. We need these up north, loved them. I finally know what my Rumblefish is capable of now! Ride hard. Eat Lebanon Dirt. Have fun!

    June 13, 2012
  2. Clay Haglund said:

    Glad you guys enjoyed your ride Aaron. Lebenon is my favorite place to ride yet, but if Cuyuna wasn’t three times as far away for me [Mankato], that may be different. Love the direction things are going up north though…THANKS FOR ALL YOU AND YOUR CLUB’S EFFORTS!

    June 13, 2012
  3. tim wegner said:

    AAron and John-glad you had a chance to ride a different trail. Lebanon is a perfect example of the evolution of trails, trail building techniques and features. I remember the first log place on the trail at Lebanon. It was about 10-12 inches in diameter and boy was I upset that I couldn’t ride it. Not with myself but with the jokers, Jan Lee and Dale Gundberg who has placed it on the trail.

    But, we quickly learned how to ride it and learned that adding features captures and keeps the interest in a trail alive. You guys have sooo much potential at Cuyuna. Many times have wished I could live up there but am glad I did not start building trails up there. They would not be nearly as intersting and fun as they are now!!

    Tim Wegner

    June 20, 2012

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