Mecca of the Midwest

A few weeks ago a crew of friends went up to the mountain bike trails at Cuyuna State Recreation Area.  This lies just outside Crosby, Minnesota.  Up on the iron range, the first recommendation I can give people is to make sure to bring water (or be prepared to purchase).  Iron range equals iron water.  Not tasty.  We filled a cooler with visually clear tap water and by the next morning it had turned quite red.  Gatorade red.  Like I said, tasty.

The Heartland Staff

Second recommendation is to eat at the Heartland Kitchen & Cafe.  I really cannot explain how marvelous this business is.  The food is solidly delicious.  Not "I will call everyone I know and tell them about this meal" delicious, but really, really good.  What sets this place apart is how wonderful the staff is.  Immediately upon entering the restaurant they were making space for us.  Even with our dirty, sweaty group, they welcomed us like we were family.  I have never experienced that level of service when dining out.  We made sure to make it back for Sunday brunch.  Again, beyond worth it.  

Third recommendation is if you enjoy riding off road, make a trip to Cuyuna.  Every local we spoke with made comments about how much they enjoy having mountain bikers come to town.  Every rider I have talked to has raved about the trails.  This isn't the mecca destination of Moab, but for the midwest, it doesn't get much better.  It would be great to keep the hype going for as long as possible.  There are plans to continue to develop trails in the area, and the more people that ride responsibly, the better the chances to enhance our midwest mecca.

Cuyuna Weekend

Obby trying an obstacle

This weekend a group of friends of mine headed up to the trails in the Cuyuna State Recreational Area.  This trail system opened earlier this year and I have heard really great things, from a number of different sources.  Everything surpassed my expectations.

The riding:  I cannot say enough good things about this system of trails.  We drove up late on Friday night, camping at Portsmouth Campground.  This worked out great for our crew (8 people) as they have a group campsite that is off from the rest of the campground so we could be louder later and not feel too bad about it.  It also is feet from the trail.  From our camp we climbed a tiny little riser and it didn't feel like I had to pedal for the next mile.  There are a boat load of pump sections that carry your momentum like mad.  

We started off on the northern-most section (Yawkey Unit) and were a little disoriented with the maps and trail markers, but everything consists of various loops that bring you back to intersections and more maps so you can't get lost.  It's just becoming comfortable with distances and where markers are set.  Once familiar, navigation of the trails is super easy.  Besides a few, and I mean just a few, of the corners being sandy loose dirt, the dirt is hard packed and smooooooth.  We rode a couple of trails and then ran into some more friends who drove up for the day of riding.  After shooting a couple of fast runs and taking our turn at some SERIOUS obstacles, we broke for lunch.  Yet another great thing about this system is that it is quite close to Crosby which has a number of nice eateries.

After lunch we went further south to the Mahnomen Unit.  This section has longer sections of trail and there is a little more elevation change.  There are some fantastic downhills and I was really digging on the longer climbs.  We did a number of loops, trying to make sure that we didn't ride the same trail more than once, and I think we did a good job of it.  There are also some killer overlooks that show what reclamation can do to an area.  I can't think of a better use of land.

Ken flying

We had a couple of our group that were heading back to the cities Saturday night so we headed back to camp, cleaned up a little, and rode into town for dinner.  It's beginning to darken early around here so after we were back in camp, a few of us broke out our lighting systems and did some night riding.  We went back north as we were a little more familiar with what the trails did.  That didn't keep us from riding a couple sections we hadn't in the daylight. No big whoop.


Sunday morning brought another round of morning riding.  We hit the trails fairly early as we wanted to get some runs in before breakfast.  A couple runs down the Bobsled, Tugger and the Man Cage before back into Crosby.  More on eating later.  Some of our crew had ridden (and eaten) a little more than normal so it was just Ken and I that went back out for the afternoon run.  We didn't have a lot of time before we had to head back home so we chose some of the easier trails of the Mahnomen Unit.  Easier does not mean easy.  There are still some good climbs and it's nice that they have thrown in some optional obstacles for people of differing skill levels.  We made a loop all the way around the outside of the section and with time working against us we made our way out.

*** Eating and whatnot coverage to come ***

Out of Sight

Destroyed pads after 1 ride!

I keep debating about disc brakes. Obviously there is not much of a question when talking mountain bikes as it is and ever-shrinking pool of quality product for rim brakes. No, what I debate, is if new randoneurring or commuters should have discs.

I have a grand goal of building a lightweight randoneur that triples as a gravel grinder and commuter. I have a few of these bikes now, but each of them is not quite right. I know geometry, single/geared options, even most of the components. But I get stuck on the brakes. The photo shown is a customer's pads after 1 ride. 1 RIDE! One side of the pad set is completely gone.  The other nearly worn to the metal at the top.  The spring between the pads is worn through on one side completely.  Mud and gunk can destroy pads so fast, how is this a good idea to put on a bike? I ride cantilevers on most of my bikes and replace pads every few years (the bonus of spreading the riding over many bikes and only weighing 135#). I do have to replace pads on my winter commuter every year, but that is the exception. I love the idea of being able to run a bunch of tyre widths with no adjustment, but does it offset the wear issue?

I have been using disc brakes on my single speed mountain bike for a couple years now, but I don't ride that very often.  And as I don't race, I don't ride that bike in very adverse conditions.  Using discs on a bike I would ride in all sorts of nasty conditions certainly would change the pad wear.  Now with the UCI allowing discs in cyclocross, I am expecting higher quality road brake setups.  Hopefully my custom bike will take long enough that there will be better options for road discs.  Or it will just make my choice that much harder.

Racing Weekend

Well, I didn't actually do any racing, but this past weekend was the Dakota 50 in Spearfish, SD.  I grew up in the area and started my adult riding career getting lost in the Black Hills on my 1991 Schwinn Impact.  It was tons of fun to wander around the area and do some riding again.  I think the last time I rode a bike out there was 1999.  Crazy different, and crazy fun.

My friend Matt and I left Friday afternoon and cruised all the way out to Spearfish.  Camp for me was super easy to set up as I decided since it was so nice of weather to sleep sans tent.  This would continue for the next 2 nights, as well.  Our friends Dan and Jessica and their friends Nate and Annie were already there.  We had a couple of beers and turned in quite early.  There was riding to do.

Monk, our great riding companion

Saturday morning we leisurely awoke and headed out to do some pre-riding of some sections of the course.  I had chosen to ride my Surly 1X1 as I am not the biggest fan of the multi-speed mountain bikes I own.  We left the parking lot and coasted downhill for the first 10 minutes.  As we rolled into what would be the 4th rest stop on Sunday, the trail went almost straight up.  I was actually very surprised how much of the trail I could ride.  There were only a couple of times when I decided to walk.  Most of the time was absolutely incredible.  It has been a very long time since I have ridden point to point trails like that.  The views were gorgeous and riding such a variety of terrain rejuvenated my interest in mountain biking.  

We ended up the morning ride with a super fast fire road downhill and small gravel road ride back to the car.  It was definitely time for lunch.  We cruised back to Spearfish to eat at a small BBQ place that ended up being closed.  So instead went around the corner and had a couple beers, some great food, and charged my phone at the Chophouse.  I would recommend this place to anyone in the Spearfish area.  

Matt and I were not quite done riding for the day, so we headed back up to the Big Hill trail system.  It turns out we rode another small section of the race course and then veered off for some of the fastest riding of the day.  The uphills were not nearly as steep, and it was a nice way to finish off the day.  Being from the area, I biked over to a friend's house for dinner.  Home cooking is very nice when camping.  I was expecting people to go to bed early that night, but was very surprised that there was absolutely no motion when I returned to camp at 10 PM.

Matt, hanging loose

Sunday morning came very early with a 7:15 start.  Jessica and I traveled around to the different rest stops throughout the day.  Nobody had the times they were hoping for, but it seemed that everyone had a good time.  It was definitely a great event and the racing thing is certainly infectious.  I don't know that I will actually ever sign up for it, but it would be top on the list if I do any sort of ATB race.  We hung out for a long time after, but only one of our group won anything.  Sunday night was a great time of hanging out and recounting riding.  People were a little tired for some reason and we did have a long day of travel in store for Monday, so bedtime was around 9 PM.  Earlier than I can remember in a long time.

Dan finishing amongst fans

Monday was mostly uneventful.  Matt and I had breakfast with my parents and took the back roads home.  It added a little time to the drive, but certainly was more interesting than interstate.  The trouble with driving that distance with a couple bike junkies in the car is that various plans were made and dreamed about involving mountain biking, touring and all sorts of travel with bikes. 

It appears I need a little more vacation time...and a pay raise.

Century's

I have been lucky to have had a couple of great rides over the past couple weeks. After a full week of work on the road for the MS TRAM, I snuck down to Iowa to take part in the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. This is a 100 mile gravel ride leaving from south of Waterloo and making a BAL out of some of the best roads I have ridden. There was a little heat, but nothing too unmanageable. My biggest mistake was missing a small patch of shoulder with the sunscreen. I felt really good all day, managed my food intake, kept my water at an appropriate level and had an absolute blast. This was definitely one of the best century rides I have done.



Then this past weekend was the 8th annual Tour de Loren, an urban century around the twin cities here in MN. One of my customers hosts this ride and we had a good crew that started out at 21 riders. I alternate how I ride this one and this happened to be a racing year. I went all out, brandishing our team jersey and even shaving my legs. I bribed another rider with bacon at the start so I didn't have to ride the entire day without some help. Again, I felt good the entire day with the exception of our 3rd stage after lunch. And even though I wasn't the strongest rider in the group, I had a great ride. I pushed myself hard and enjoyed my road bike. Something I don't do often enough.



This weekend I am opting out of riding. I still have some house to paint, so that will occupy my weekend. Hopefully I can finish it up and be back in the saddle next weekend.

Pleasant afternoon

I really enjoy having a weekday off from work. It is a great time to run errands and do those things that are virtually impossible working 10 hour days. I sent off my dad's day gift this morning, a little late, but the card will get there in time. I stopped at the big red circle to pick up a few essentials and decided that I have no idea what I am going to make for dinner. It is a great day here in the twin cities. Just warm enough to perspire when you stop riding. Not hot enough to boil your blood whilst riding.

After lunch, I decided to spend some quality time in the garden. We have let a few of the flower beds grow out of hand so I reigned in the weeds and laid down the rest of the mulch we had on hand. With our rose bush starting to bloom, the back yard shaped up quite nicely. There is still a bunch of work to do in the vegetable garden, but I don't trust my eyes to pull the right plants. That can wait till tomorrow.

Now it is wait for the rain to come in. The Nature Valley bike race is in town this weekend and I was thinking of heading down to the Minneapolis criterium, but with the threat of rain, I think I may skip it and work on bikes instead. After coming home from the MS 150 last weekend, I just threw everything into the basement and it is still a fright. Time to clean and clear out some inventory. We need some more space in the garage. I hauled a bunch of waste from it earlier this year and there is promise of being able to use it more effectively. Just like in the garden, I have to think of it in small steps or it is way too overwhelming.

Overdue Bike Work

I am pretty easy on my bikes and am fortunate to not have to do that much work on them. I also try to do a little at a time to keep the big projects at a minimum. That is tricky when riding through winter in Minnesota, or attempting something like Trans Iowa. One, not so big. The other, quite large.

I developed a Rice Krispies effect when I switched my winter/spring commuter to a fixed cog after the ice pack melted. It has quieted some, but has been very persistent. I decided to make use of our fancy parts washer at work and clean up some parts and replace some others. At least make sure most of the salt was off the most important of parts.

WOW! I have done it before, but I failed to remember just how nice a new drive-train can feel. Replacing the chain that was stretched off the chart and fancy new cog was just what that bike needed. If I hadn't had to replace a busted shut off valve in my basement, I would have just kept riding. One project checked off the list.

That brings me to my Cross Check which has been sitting untouched since my failure in Iowa. I have been a bit busy at work and every day off has been filled with personal situations that have left me no time to take care of it. Well today finally allowed me a window for cleaning. Mother Nature decided to help out by raining while I was washing. Just that much less water I had to purchase to clean away the mud and debris. I think I have some pictures here from last year as well, and I bet in a few years I won't be able to tell the difference. I have the same setup and my bike came back looking almost the same. A little less cornstalk jammed in the brakes this year.

The first part of the cleaning process is finished. Knocking all the mud off is the easy part. Now I have to set aside some serious time to overhaul her. Or maybe I should just start using her for commuting without doing all that work. A little lube here and there should keep the noises down, and anything else that may be wrong should be righted by riding. Ride more is a hard philosophy to argue with.


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