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Instagram post, Learning to ride, Video

Teaching The Watchman to ride switchbacks

March 14, 2016 Griff Wigley

Three posts from my @MTBikeGeezer Instagram feed this past week:

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Previous PostNew fat bike day: Advocate Cycles’ WatchmanNext PostRatcheting up and sitting down: progress on my track stands

Learning and teaching mountain biking skills

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MTB Coach & Pro Mountain Biker Ryan Leech

IMBA & PMBI Certified MTB Instructor

IMBA ICP, Level 2

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Blog Archives

  • ►2018
    • ►December
      • Give the Gift of MTB Skills to Someone Who is Eager to Learn
      • Being an mtb student makes me a better coach
      • Back to Mountain Bike Geezer; new design on the way
    • ►April
      • Developing construction skills for a skills park: a work in progress
  • ►2017
    • ►November
      • Sessioning - Part 1: Episode 5 of the MTBSN podcast on Mountain Bike Radio
      • Mountain Bike Skills Network Patreon page launched
      • Advanced quiz: 3/4 pedal stroke technique
    • ►July
      • Top 5 reasons why it's so hard to learn to bunny hop: Episode 4 of the MTBSN podcast on Mountain Bike Radio
      • Photo album: testing Welch Village's new lift-served gravity flow trails
      • Archived Facebook Live videos from my recent MTB trip
      • Putting my newbie bunny hop and manual skills to use on the trails
      • Following Michael Knoll on our Konas down the gnarly/technical and fast/flowy COGGS trails in Duluth
    • ►June
      • Photos: MTB instruction soon available at Welch Village's new bike park
      • Video: achieving beginner-level bunny hop & manual skills
      • Video: learning to ride fakie on a mountain bike
    • ►May
      • Video: graduating from a bunny flop to a bunny hop
      • Video: learning to bunny hop is helping me learn to jump
      • Learn track stands to ride tighter & steeper uphill switchbacks: Episode 3 of MTBSN podcast on Mountain Bike Radio
      • Video: Interview with Kat Sweet on how to ride drops
      • MTB Coach Kat Sweet, Guest Expert, Live Q&A video chat on May 7, 9 PM CDT
    • ►April
      • Video: doing a manual through a dip
      • Video: Rocking my front wheel around a tight uphill switchback
      • Video: big boulders = playground, made possible by track stands, backwards hopping, ratcheting, & 3/4 pedal stroke
      • Rear wheel unweighting vs real wheel lift: Episode #2 of the MTBSN podcast on Mountain Bike Radio
    • ►March
      • Learning to jump, dealing with fears: video interview with mountain bike coach Elaine Bothe
      • Mountain Bike Skills Network is a new podcast on Mountain Bike Radio
    • ►February
      • Video: riding up and down an icy corner
      • MTB coach Elaine Bothe is the first featured guest expert in the Mountain Bike Skills Network Facebook Group starting Feb. 13
      • Rebranding in process: More Mountain Bike Skills Network, less Mountain Bike Geezer
    • ►January
      • Video: Interviewed by Gene Arnold, founder of Regular Guy Mountain Biking & host of the Bike Chat show on YouTube
      • Video: demonstrating side-to-side bike/body separation for holding a line
  • ►2016
    • ►December
      • FREE until midnight on New Year's Eve: Ryan Leech's 12-Ride Flat Pedal Challenge online course.
      • Video: driveway practice session on three mtb braking drills
      • Video: dragging the rear brake with low tire pressure to ride a sheet of ice
      • Video: practicing mtb balance skills in my garage when it's -5 F outside
      • Announcing: The Mountain Bike Skills Network Community (MTBSN)
      • Video: 3 fails on a snowy logover drop
      • Video analysis: logover drop
      • Four photos of a logover drop: Can you predict if I endoed?
      • Video: hopping backwards to get lined up for a ledge
    • ►November
      • Video: driveway rocking skills practice session
      • Video: track stands, hopping, & rocking to get back down a skinny
      • Video: Difficult climbs at Theo's new Brownie Lake trail
      • Video: Two different ways up a tight switchback
      • Photo album: Brownie Lake opens at Theo
      • Video: hopping and rocking on a camelback skinny
      • Video: How often do I fail when sessioning difficult obstacles like this log skinny?
      • Video: putting my newbie hopping skills to use on the trail
      • Video: track stands on 6 bikes in my garage
    • ►September
      • Video: ratcheting & track stand skills provide more precision for cleaning this boardwalk skinny
      • Demoing the Specialized Turbo Levo FSR 6Fattie: how does this eMTB affect my technical riding?
      • Video: not pedaling is the key to generating enough unweighting to get up this boulder
      • MTB park features taking shape (ramping up?) at Sechler Pk
      • Scenes from my first mtb skills clinic for adults
      • What mountain bike chapter board members sometimes do: recruit volunteers
    • ►August
      • Sometimes mountain bike advocacy requires good working relationships with city hall
      • Video: getting more comfortable on drops and jumps
      • Video: progress on jumps
    • ►July
      • Video: riding up a dirt bank as preparation for learning table top jumps
      • Video: rocking technique
      • Video: one-handed track stands
      • Mountain biking instructor certifications: IMBA ICP Level 2 vs PMBI Level 1
    • ►June
      • Video: learning to jump from Phil Kmetz, part 1
      • Video: some progress on my rocking skills
      • Adding some instruction to a weekly youth group mtb ride
      • Admiral Rockbar gets an extension: Piedmont remains atop the heap of Minnesota's technical trails
      • I'm now a PMBI Level 1 MTB instructor
      • Video: Getting over a logpile with an uphill approach
      • Using a blog post to address citizen concerns about a mountain bike trail
      • I'm now an IMBA ICP Level 2 MTB instructor
    • ►May
      • Video: Hopping practice, brakes locked
      • A big rockover seems easier with The Watchman
      • Combining track stands with other technical maneuvers = loads of fun
    • ►April
      • Practicing drops and then discovering another use for the lunge technique
    • ►March
      • Ratcheting up and sitting down: progress on my track stands
      • Teaching The Watchman to ride switchbacks
    • ►February
      • New fat bike day: Advocate Cycles' Watchman
      • Slippery snowy off-cambers can be ridden more reliably if you know this technique
      • A narrated slide presentation of CROCT's activities, events, & accomplishments for 2015
    • ►January
      • Mountain Bike Geezer teams up with Ryan Leech, pro mountain biker & coach
  • ►2015
    • ►December
      • The Camelbak KUDO enduro hydration pack I won has served its purpose
      • What I'm doing to learn from my nasty skinny drop crash
      • With help from Penn Cycle's Michael Weiss, Trek replaces my X-Caliber frame
    • ►November
      • My summer as an MTB skills park dirt boss and heavy equipment operator
      • Five difficult local mountain bike obstacles that I've been avoiding
    • ►October
      • Photo album: Superior Cycling Association's Sawtooth Mountain Challenge mtb race
      • Advocate Cycles: Tim Krueger's excellent adventure
      • CROCT photos & video: Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, 2015
    • ►August
      • CROCT leads an overnight youth group mountain bike trip at Cuyuna Lakes
    • ►July
      • I failed Ryan Leech's 30-Day Wheelie Challenge. Join me as I try again.
    • ►June
      • Photo album: IMBA Great Lakes Regional Summit 2015
      • The Duluth Enduro Series: why I'm now hooked on mountain bike enduro racing
      • Weekly youth mountain biking group rides: a CROCT adventure
      • CROCT's first National Trails Day & membership drive: superb
    • ►May
      • MAMB's Kiwanis MTB Trail: continuous improvements include a difficult 'Stonehenge'
      • A spectacular day to visit Cuyuna
      • COGGS rocks! Photos & video of some X sections of the Piedmont trail in Duluth
      • Two dozen volunteer trail workers install two bridges and reroute a trail in a week
    • ►April
      • Wider bars and shorter stem make my XC 29'er hardtail into an all-mountain bike. Kind of.
      • DNR's 'yurt guy' Peter Hark rides CROCT's Sechler Park MTB trail, approves
    • ►March
      • Ryan Leech's online course: 30 Day Wheelie Challenge
      • El Gato returns to his Northfield roots, draws the heat
      • Learning to reduce the impact of some mountain bike crashes, Part 1: sliding out sideways
      • My last days of the winter singletrack (ridegroomed) season: not half-bad
      • Photo album: CROCT group ride on doubletrack at the River Bend Nature Center
    • ►February
      • Why infrastructure for bikes on city streets and paved trails can matter for mountain biking
      • City of Duluth's parking services: Prompt, friendly, forgiving
      • Advocating for MTB trails: CROCT Board members meet with Rice County Commissioner Jeff Docken
      • Getting City of Northfield officials to walk the Sechler Park mountain bike trail when it's zero degrees & windy
      • Slippery, snowy singletrack trails can provide the fun and skills benefits of riding mud without the damage
      • CROCT and friends team up for River Bend Nature Center's Fat Bike Event
      • Advocating for mountain biking to be part of Northfield’s new Meadows Park: Part 2
      • Organizing a CROCT group ride: my first attempt
    • ►January
      • O'er the trails she goes, laughing all the way: fat bikes do that to you
      • CROCT's presentation to BikeNorthfield's Soup & Cycles
      • Michelle Barker is IMBA Upper Midwest's new Regional Director
      • Guest post on Singletracks.com: The Jumping Dismount - 10 Drills to Make You Safer When Bailing Off High Skinnies
      • Guest post on Singletracks.com: Why Lowering Your Seatpost for Skinnies and Other Technical Terrain Reduces Your Odds of Getting Injured
      • Rear wheel unweighting and lifts: neglected mountain bike skills
  • ►2014
    • ►December
      • Embedding an MTB Project trail map
      • Video: Logover analysis
      • Straw poll: Analyze these two attempts at a logover
    • ►November
      • Advocating for mountain biking to be part of Northfield's new Meadows Park
      • Photo album: CROCT's inaugural group ride
      • The 20th Anniversary MORC Gala: speakers and auctions and beer, oh my!
      • Final ranking: Top Ten Difficult MTB technical obstacles in Twin Cities Metro area - 2014
      • Theo's new South Wirth flow trail: best in the Twin Cities Metro
      • Guest post on Singletracks.com: How To Prepare Your Eyes to Ignore Your Survival Instincts When Riding Skinnies
    • ►October
      • MORC's 20th Anniversary Gala: why it's a big deal to me & why you should be there on Nov. 9
      • Vote: Top Ten Difficult MTB technical obstacles in Twin Cities Metro area
      • One weekend, four MORC trails ridden
      • Woolly Bike Club's new Erratic Rock Trail
      • Videos: failing at difficult rock climbs
      • Video: cleaning the log skinny both ways at Leb
      • Video: getting the hang of beginner tabletops at Cottage Grove Bike Park
    • ►September
      • Video: cleaning the Browner stockade skinny at Hillside MTB Park
      • Video & photos: Building and testing the dirt jumps at Cottage Grove Bike Park
    • ►August
      • Ego rationalization: mountain biking with the young bucks keeps me younger
      • What helps me recover after a hard ride
      • Video: pump track action at Cottage Grove Bike Park
      • Failed attempts are the norm when sessioning technical sections on a mountain bike
      • Photo album: Cottage Grove Bike Park's 2nd Annual Party at the Park
      • Part 1 of 'Holding a Line' video series now available
      • Using pedal ratcheting for precise turns on a skinny
      • Video: rock skinny at Leb's skills park
    • ►July
      • The cornering foot position controversy: opinons abound
      • A request to take my 5-minute mountain bike skills survey
      • Thick Skull Mountain Bike Skills: a new venture for the Mountain Bike Geezer
      • 'Light hands, heavy feet' article available on Singletracks
    • ►June
      • Two new how-to-bunny-hop videos demonstrate similar but slightly different approaches
      • Next how-to series: Drills for learning how to ride straight
      • A GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition arrives; better video coming soon
      • Photo album: Cottage Grove Bike Park grand opening
      • How to get my new video: Light Hands, Heavy Feet - Developing the Habit
      • Gilly gets a city bike from Erik's because Rob knows how to sell
      • Two guys who help make Ray's Indoor Bike Park special: Jeff Dowhen and Eric Crouthamel
      • 6 weeks after taking a Lee Likes Bikes clinic, what have I learned?
    • ►May
      • Park Tool School at Erik's Bike Shop: basic bicycle maintenance from JJ and Brad
      • The new Energy Kick drink: just the right shot of caffeine without the other junk
      • IMBA's Level 1 Instructor Certification Program: intense, fun, valuable
      • Photo album: IMBA's Level 1 Instructor Certification Program at Lebanon Hills
      • Green-level sections alongside recreational bike trails: A better way to introduce mountain biking?
      • Photo album: 2014 IMBA Upper Midwest Regional Summit, Madison
      • Alternative to a double track flow trail: A White trail with multiple Green B-lines
      • R.I.P. Jim Oberstar, a friend to mountain biking
      • 5 ways to make mountain biking more attractive to beginners
    • ►April
      • Photo album: Lee Likes Bikes MTB skills clinic at Ray's Indoor Bike Park
      • Last minute decision: attending a one-day Lee Likes Bikes skills clinic
      • Let's win $33,000 for the Cottage Grove Bike Park
      • Feedback needed: Part 1 of a video series on how to ride a mountain bike in a straight line (skinnies!)
      • My hybrid: not quite mountain biking but close enough for early April
    • ►March
      • Why aren’t there more seniors mountain biking? Part 4: Image
      • Why aren’t there more seniors mountain biking? Part 3: Fear of injuries
      • Why aren’t there more seniors mountain biking? Part 2
      • Mankato Area Mountain Bikers (MAMB) fundraiser on tap for April 19
      • Why aren't there more seniors mountain biking?
      • Riding on frozen crusty snow piles: more than acceptable when you're desperate for spring
      • Mountain biking's sweet spot for seniors: high impact for bone density, low impact for joints
      • Photo album: 2nd Annual MORC Trail Steward and Dirt Boss Summit
      • A new club for gaining & maintaining MTB trails & bike parks in Rice County: CROCT
      • Parks & Trails Council of MN, 2014 Day on the Hill: bonding bill includes $2.5M for development of the MN River Bottoms trail
      • Photo album: MORC Board annual meeting
    • ►February
      • QBP's demo course at Frostbike: fat bikes on rollers and berms, oh my!
      • Ice, sweat and tears: Northfielder Christopher Tassava fat bikes his way to a 7th place finish at the Arrowhead Ultra 135
    • ►January
      • A series of power turns on hockey skates is like pumping a flat surface on a mountain bike
      • Video: riding some snow covered B-lines at Lebanon Hills
      • The pros and cons of MORC taking a position now about the addition of a paved trail along the MN River Bottoms
      • Video & Audio: MORC Webinar Q&A
      • Riding over snow-covered logs: a dual traction problem
      • 2014 IMBA Midwest Fat Bike Access & Grooming Workshop
  • ►2013
    • ►December
      • The benefits of near-zero tire pressure for riding in the snow
      • I want a fatty but my 29'er is still fun on the snow-packed singletrack
      • Paralyzed mountain bike trials rider Martyn Ashton: his philosophy of life is one to emulate
      • Progress on cornering: berm turns vs. flatland turns
      • BikeMN guys Dorian and Nick are now mountain bikers, thanks to Cuyuna
      • Winter Bike Expo 2013: my first MORC booth duty stint
    • ►November
      • Progress on the wheelie drops (AKA 'slow drop to flat'): surprisingly hard, fun
      • The exercises I do for mountain biking, Part I: Low back pain
      • An email from QPB's Gary Sjoquist: Trail sharing for fat bikes; upcoming Fat Bike Summits
      • Progress on pump-manualing across two bumps: a very sweet feeling indeed
      • Young guys sweep MORC's 2013 annual awards: Chance, Adam, Colin, Mike
      • Photo album: Northfield Area Bike Initiative community meeting (Soup & Cycles)
      • Red Wing's Memorial Park MTB Trails: optional gravity riding that I can't (yet) do
      • Fatties on the Bottoms: a no-drop, fat bike group ride along the MN River Bottoms
      • Video: Hitler learns his staff has hired IMBA Trail Solutions
      • It's Give to the Max day: If you ride a mountain bike in the Twin Cities metro area, MORC deserves your support
      • Doug Janni makes a logo for Mountain Bike Geezer
      • November MORC Board meeting: Matt doesn't suck
      • 9 Mile Creek skinny has been 'claimed' by Heath Weisbrod and it now has a name: Sqrl Log
      • Matt Andrews gets taken to school: MN River Bottoms advocacy school
      • Video: Practicing dismounts off a skinny
      • Critiquing Gene Hamilton's critique of IMBA
      • The height of a skinny: managing the danger is part of the fun
    • ►October
      • Nita Woelbel, queen of Leb's annual Halloween party
      • Duluth's XC MTB trails just keep getting better. Here's partly why.
      • A taste of Spirit Mountain's new downhill trails
      • Clay and Justin, rippin' at Theo's new flow trail
      • Battle Creek's Wall of Death competition: Heath Weisbrod puts on a show
      • Climbing and sessioning with the Tims of Battle Creek
      • Theo's new flow trail: rollers and tables and berms, oh my
      • PedalMN Bicycle Summit: Minnesota is a state that works for mountain bikers
    • ►September
      • Mill Towns Trail update from the DNR: Northfield citizens have a problem to solve
      • Getting up the rock ledge at Leb's Tedman's Curve: the importance of not pedaling
      • Dirt bosses toughen up a XX log step ladder at Leb
      • The inner railing on the 2nd St. Bridge in Northfield: my first urban skinny attempt goes awry
      • Using a pedal wheelie to get over the bridge rock at Lebanon Hills
      • The big cottonwood tree over 9 Mile Creek is now ready for your skinny riding pleasure
    • ►August
      • A wheelchair user's view of putting a paved trail through the MN River Bottoms
      • Photos: MORC Gravity Advocates doing another build day at Cottage Grove Bike Park
      • Parks & Trails Council's support for a new MN River Bottoms trail: my meeting with Executive Director Brett Feldman
      • Salsa's long distance/adventure biker Tim Ek is learning to fly. Me, too.
      • The DNR's bonding request for a new MN River Bottoms trail: my meeting with field ops manager Peter Hark
      • MN River Bottoms: after the July flooding, it's different but still heaven
      • Rock garden alternative lines: six sections set at Leb
      • Cottage Grove Bike Park update: the 4x track is nearly complete. Fundraiser party on Sept. 14
      • A technical scheme: Mark up sections (alternative lines) through rock gardens
      • Pumping flat ground part 2: I suck less
      • MTB skills I thus far still suck at: pumping a flat surface
      • Can we get 3RPD Commissioner John Gunyou to become a mountain biker?
      • Sessioning: my favorite way to practice mountain bike skills and more fun in a group
      • What I learned from Chance and Jed at the MORC mountain bike skills clinic
    • ►July
      • MORC hosts the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew: sustainable trail building practices taught by Lori and Jesse
      • Photo album: MORC mountain bike skills clinic
      • Photo album: 2013 Rhino Rally. Because cancer sucks.
      • Carver Lakers scheming, on a such a summer's day; MORC dirt bosses gear up for a big technical feature
      • If Northfield builds a bike park, it could save the city $280,000. Huh?
      • An unofficial strategy meeting on the proposed trail through the MN River Bottoms which, conveniently enough, just flooded
      • Video update: do the big rocks at Lebanon Hills require a full bunny hop?
      • How much are we at risk of losing the natural surface mountain bike trails in the Minnesota River Bottoms?
      • City of Woodbury video on mountain bike trail maintenance at Carver Lake Park
    • ►June
      • Video: how to get up and over the bridge rock at Lebanon Hills
      • Anatomy of a MORC MTB trail work crew: reshaping corners at Carver Lake Park
      • Jed and Chance can ride but they can also coach: attend their MORC skills clinic next week
      • IMBA Upper Midwest Regional Summit 2013 in Cable, WI: good meeting, great riding
      • Photo album: REI and MORC team up for National Trails Day Service Project at Salem Hills
      • Blog delivery via email now back
      • Copper Harbor: one of the few places where you can watch the sun rise and the sun set over Lake Superior
      • Scheming about IMBA's Upper Midwest region
      • Copper Harbor Trail System: the bar has been set high for Upper Midwest mountain biking
    • ►May
      • Ride the Keweenaw: When the mountain biking is done, the fun fundraising begins
      • Of the three ways to get to the top of the Copper Harbor trails, Sam's is best. Duh.
      • Keweenaw Peninsula mountain biking: more than just Copper Harbor
      • Karl Erbach saves the day for Dave and son Colin with a cool trail-side tire repair
      • First stop for the 'Ride the Keweenaw' weekend: The Bike Shop in Houghton, MI
      • 'Cuyuna Gold' is golden for a mountain bike trail surface
      • A Bikeable Community Workshop in Faribault indicates what Northfield should be doing
      • The transformation of the Eagan Bike Park: build day, spring 2013
      • Lebanon Hills trail work night
      • Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota‘s annual meeting makes it clear: the time is right for Northfield to get its bike act together
    • ►April
      • Video: riding the skinnies at the MN River Bottoms
      • How a last-minute get-out-the-vote idea that died got revived by one determined mountain biker
      • First ride of a miserable spring for mountain biking: Bob saves my psyche
      • April 12 deadline: vote Midwest in the Bell Built mountain bike trail building grants competition
    • ►March
      • My first trip to Over The Top's indoor BMX park: humbling, rewarding
      • Parks and Trails Council's 'Day on the Hill' includes some good news: veteran lobbyist Judy Erickson takes on Cuyuna as a client
      • Cottage Grove considers a bike park
      • Cuyuna's Timber Shaft trail: just as fun in winter on a fat bike
      • Photo album: 2013 Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout
      • Distributing a little dirt in Cuyuna's Yawkey unit
      • Warming up for the Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout: the Yawkey Unit is perfect
    • ►February
      • Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout 2013, here I come
      • BikeMN's Minnesota Bicycle Summit: how bike advocacy works
      • Variations in how to ride the hamster wheel at Ray's Indoor Bike Park in Milwaukee
    • ►January
      • Technical sections at Ray's Indoor Bike Park: ingeniously challenging
      • 30 seconds of coaching from Jed Olson and I learn to jump a table top
      • Photo album: Hansi Johnson's IMBA weekend at Ray's Indoor Bike Park in Milwaukee
      • Ray's Indoor Bike Parks are having a 2-for1 weekend IMBA membership drive Jan. 19-20
      • A tale of two units: How Sagamore and Yawkey were opened for fat biking in winter
      • A tale of two units: How Sagamore and Yawkey were opened for fat biking in winter at Cuyuna Lakes
  • ►2012
    • ►December
      • Winter Bike Expo 2012: fat bikes rule
    • ►November
      • Photo album: MN High School Cycling League 2012 season awards party
    • ►October
      • Want to be able to ride fat bikes in national parks in the winter? Attend the 2nd Annual Fat Bike Winter Summit and Festival
      • Photo album: MN High School mountain bike race at Buck Hill
      • Mammoth Trail technical obstacles: small victories, one large defeat
      • Upper body armor means I can crash more with confidence
      • Learning to pump and hop so you can learn to jump
      • Photo album: Lebanon Hills West Trailhead grand opening
      • QBP hosts a bike tour of Minneapolis for Utah delegation
      • Lebanon Hills West Trailhead grand opening is Saturday
      • John Burke's BHAG: 5% of trips by bike by 2025. What about mountain biking?
    • ►September
      • Another memorable trip to Cuyuna: good for the body and spirit
      • How not to crash on your shoulder
      • This mountain bike geezer plans to vote no on the marriage amendment
    • ►August
      • When I learned about rotational violence to the brain, I bought a full-face MIPS helmet
      • Gary Sjoquist remembers Leslie Bohm
      • Lebanon Hills skills park grand opening on Oct. 6 with food from BDP
      • Salsa Cycles demo gets me thinking about my next three bikes
      • 'Reveal Your Path' video contest by Salsa Cycles: Fellow geezers, I entered with a message for you
      • Preview photos and video of the Lebanon Hills skills park, opening Friday, Aug. 10, 3 pm
    • ►July
      • Learn to pump at a pump park. Singletrack flow trails will never be the same
      • Mountain biking at Theodore Wirth Park: a fun and very tricky skinny gets my attention
    • ►June
      • Vote for Gary Sjoquist, nominee for this year's Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. But hurry.
      • Rudy O'Brien's North Shore Enduro Tour: it rocked, we rolled
      • Cuyuna boys stray; no longer Leb virgins
      • Cuyuna Lakes MTB Fest BMX stunt show, airbag free-fall
      • Is Cuyuna having a positive economic impact? Ya Betcha!
      • Cuyuna über volunteer John Schaubach wins the raffle for the Trek X-Caliber 29er
      • Ryan Anderson, Cuyuna's bike mechanic
      • The Griffins shred the red & haul home some Cuyuna MTB Fest time trial and hillclimb hardware
      • CLMTB Crew president Aaron Hautala does the US Airbag jump
      • Some of the faces of the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew
      • Photo album: IMBA's Great Lakes (Upper Midwest) Summit 2012
      • They haven't changed but the trails at Cuyuna are more fun this year
      • Get your butt and your bike to this weekend's Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Fest. It could change your life.
      • The sulphur shelf mushroom: chicken of the woods
      • 'Reveal the Path' world premiere: adventure by bike
    • ►May
      • The Freewheel Frolic at Afton Alps: my first MN Mountain Bike Series race
      • Riding the skinnies at Dan Funke's back yard MTB playground
      • And now I can say I'm a mountain bike racer
      • Photo album: Penn Cycle Thursday night MTB race at Buck Hill
      • Shredding and shedding the red in the Yawkey Unit at Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trail System
      • Anatomy of a MORC MTB trail work crew: adding options to the XX rock gardens at Lebanon Hills
      • Hillside Park in Elk River: technical heaven among the switchbacks
      • Elm Creek Park: a rolling and flowing beauty
    • ►April
      • MN High School Mountain Bike League Leaders' Summit: instruction at its best
      • A revamped pump and jump park opens in Eagan
      • River Bend Nature Center and mountain biking: exciting possibilities
      • Mountain biking at River Bend Nature Center: opinions & ideas sought for information meeting next week
      • Bill Metz and bicycle friends raise $3K for S.A.V.E.
      • Lebanon Hills is not the Continental Divide. However…
      • Riding the MN River Bottoms trails with Chris Chavie, MN Bike Trail Navigator
      • StarTribune article on formation of high school mountain bike racing league
    • ►March
      • Progress on the skinnies, Part 2
      • Opening day at Lebanon Hills: perfecto
      • Brushing out a log section at the MN River Bottoms
      • Big Ring 2nd Gear Art Auction is this week at the Angry Catfish
      • Wed. night at the MN River Bottoms
      • My first ride at Salem Hills: ideal beginner-intermediate trails
      • Minnesota High School Cycling League's kick-off open house
      • Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout, Day 2; photo album slideshow
      • Cuyuna Lakes Yeti captured, assaulted, released, revealed
      • Pioneer Press outdoors editor Dave Orrick: fat biking in the snow
      • Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout, Day 1
      • Cannon Valley Velo Club adds support for gravel rides and mountain biking
    • ►February
      • Riding in fresh snow: challenging, fun, puzzling
      • FIT to be TRI'd: My local mountain bike clothing store
      • I'm going and I'm racing: the Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout, March 2-3
      • Teeters and totters and logs, oh my! (on the west end of the MN River Bottoms trail)
      • Beaver training facility discovered along the Minnesota River bottoms
      • MORC Board meets at QBP HQ
      • More technical riding on the MN River Bottoms' river side trail
    • ►January
      • The sandy trail at the MN River Bottoms: a reliably good ride when mud and ice shut down everything else
      • MN River Bottoms: adding to the technical heaven
      • The mountain bike trails at the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault
  • ►2011
    • ►December
      • The sandy trail at the MN River Bottoms
      • Battle Creek Park Reserve mountain bike trails
      • Minnesota River Bottoms mountain bike trail system
    • ►November
      • Cuyuna: Minnesota's Gift to Mountain Bikers (article in Dec. 2011 Mountain Bike Action magazine)
      • Tim Wegner's contributions to mountain biking profiled in Minnesota Trails magazine
      • Learning to bunny hop: lifting the rear wheel with a rear foot 'scoop' motion
      • Progress on the skinnies
      • A spectacular ride on the McKenzie River Trail. However…
    • ►October
      • Photo album: scenes from a bottom bracket tune-up
    • ►August
      • Other benefits to mountain biking: wildlife
      • Photo album: Technical areas on the trails at Lebanon Hills
      • Cuyuna confusion on the web
      • Cornering: it's about leaning the bike, not turning the handlebars
      • Northfielder Ben Oney and the world's toughest mountain bike race
      • I'm having more fun with flat pedals
      • My first MORC board meeting
      • Learning to manual: a wheelie with no pedaling
      • Steep climbs with steps
      • New trail at Lebanon Hills: Beginners and intermediates? Yes. Fun for experts? You bet.
      • Biking the gravel to Murphy-Hanrehan and back
    • ►July
      • Squirrel Fest Mountain Bike Festival at Cuyuna
      • Gary Sjoquist, a man on a bicycle mission, with a company where you'd like to work
    • ►June
      • My first ride at Lebanon Hills
      • Why I didn't buy my mountain bike from Milltown Cycles
      • Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Festival grand opening: John Gaddo and Hans "No way" Rey dazzle the crowd

Miscellaneous

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Recent blog posts

  • Give the Gift of MTB Skills to Someone Who is Eager to Learn December 20, 2018
  • Being an mtb student makes me a better coach December 19, 2018
  • Back to Mountain Bike Geezer; new design on the way December 13, 2018
  • Developing construction skills for a skills park: a work in progress April 15, 2018
  • Sessioning – Part 1: Episode 5 of the MTBSN podcast on Mountain Bike Radio November 23, 2017
  • Mountain Bike Skills Network Patreon page launched November 13, 2017
  • Advanced quiz: 3/4 pedal stroke technique November 10, 2017
  • Top 5 reasons why it’s so hard to learn to bunny hop: Episode 4 of the MTBSN podcast on Mountain Bike Radio July 14, 2017
  • Photo album: testing Welch Village’s new lift-served gravity flow trails July 8, 2017
  • Archived Facebook Live videos from my recent MTB trip July 2, 2017
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