Category Archives: Land managers

Why BikeNorthfield matters to CROCT

I attended the BikeNorthfieldBikeNorthfield steering committee meeting at the Northfield Public Library last night, as the agenda (PDF) included a discussion with City staff leaders (City Administrator Nick Haggenmiller, City Engineer/Director of Public Works Dave Bennett, and Engineering/GIS Technician Jasper Kruggel)  about two upcoming street improvement projects that concern bicyclists: 3rd St. & Hwy 3; and Woodley St from Division to Prairie.

There may not be an obvious connection between CROCT’s mission and the current activities of BikeNorthfield (a link to their Facebook page). But our Sechler Park MTB trail is popular in part because it’s directly connected to the City’s paved trail through Riverside Park and across the Peggy Prowe Pedestrian Bridge.  Our discussions with the PRAB could lead to the establishment of mountain bike trails and skills parks in several other City parks, in which case, extensive street and local paved trail networks are increasingly important so that off-road cyclists of all ages can ride safely to and from the dirt trails and bike parks.

Photo album:

CROCT Board members meet with Rice County Commissioner Jeff Docken

L to R: Rice County District 5 Commissioner Jeff Docken, Marty Larson, Jeremy Bokman

CROCT Board members Marty Larson, Jeremy Bokman and I had lunch yesterday at Tandem Bagels with Rice County District 5 Commissioner Jeff Docken.

It was a follow-up to the meeting that Marty, Jeremy and I had last August with Jake Rysavy, Rice County Parks & Facilities Director in which he expressed support for exploring the possibility of mountain bike trails at Caron Park and McCullough Park/Campground.

McCullough Park is in Jeff Docken’s district and he seemed intrigued about the possibility of having mountain bike trails on the large tract of park property across from the newly remodeled campground on Shields Lake.

Here are a few photos from Aug. 21 when Marty, Jeremy and I did a walk-through of McCullough. As you can see, the property has both a large sloping prairie and many ravines, making it ideal for mtb trails of all ability levels. And being adjacent to a trail head on a lake with a campground, picnic shelter, rest rooms, showers, boat access, etc, one could imagine McCullough becoming a destination mountain bike park someday.

We’ve expressed our preference for creating beginner-to-advanced mtb trails at Caron Park first. It’s situated half way between Faribault and Northfield, a more convenient (15-minute drive) for CROCT trail workers from both cities who would be investing hundreds of volunteer hours in constructing trails there. And after gaining a season’s worth of experience with trail-building at Caron, we would be in a better position to assess what we could accomplish at McCullough, a more demanding venue.

The next step will likely be for this to be an agenda item on an upcoming meeting of the Rice County Board’s Parks and Facilities committee before it goes to the full Board. The wheels of government don’t always move quickly but it’s possible that we could be authorized to dig at Caron Park this year.

Zero degrees and windy, City of Northfield officials walk the Sechler Park mountain bike trail

L to R: Dale Gehring, Marty Larson (with his dog Lexy), Dave DeLong, Griff Wigley

City of Northfield Ward 2 Councilor David DeLong and Park & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) Chair Dale Gehring walked the the Sechler Park mtb trail this afternoon, accompanied by yours truly and CROCT board chair Marty Larson.

The 1.5 hour hike of  about 3 miles (from the cul-de-sac behind Walgreen’s to the far pavilion and back) was a little challenging, as the temperature hovered around the zero degrees F mark with gusty northwest winds.

Marty and I wanted to give them a first-hand look at what CROCT volunteers have accomplished in Sechler Park since we got approval from the City to construct a mountain bike trail there last year. We’d like to add extensions and features to the trail this year, as well as install one or more trail head kiosks.  And we’re interested in discussing the possibilities of adding off-road trails and bike park features like pump tracks to other City of Northfield parks. (For example, see the CROCT blog posts about the Meadows Park community planning meetings.)

We’re not yet sure if Dave and Dale were impressed with what they saw, but given the weather conditions, it’s likely they’ll remember the experience.  😉

And on related note, Councilor Dave took a few spins around the River Bend Nature Center parking lot last Saturday on a fat bike during the RBNC Fat Bike Event. In case you missed the photos of him in the blog post/photo album:

City of Northfield Councilor David DeLong City of Northfield Councilor David DeLong

 

The fatties (and CROCT) turn out for River Bend Nature Center’s Fat Bike Event

Five above zero and windy? No problem.  River Bend Nature Center held their first Fat Bike Event on Saturday and it was a hit, even for those like me who spent most of the time in the cozy confines of the RBNC Interpretive Center.

It was a first for CROCT, too: our volunteers staffed a table, complete with our new CROCT banner and CROCT brochure (PDF):

RBNC Education Coordinator Kaytlan Moeller, CROCT Board member Carl Arnold CROCT Board member Scott Koehler, Faribault Flyers member Mark Thacher CROCT brochures

Props to CROCT board members Galen Murray and Jeremy Bokman, as well as member Michael Lehmkuhl for getting the banner and brochure created in time. And special thanks to RBNC Education Coordinator Kaytlan Moeller (pictured above/left with CROCT board member Carl Arnold) for hosting us. She posted a thank-you note on the RBNC Facebook page, along with 18 photos.

CROCT member and blogger Christopher Tassava wowed the crowd with a presentation on his recent fat bike adventures:

Christopher Tassava Christopher Tassava Christopher Tassava

And two local bike shops, FIT to be TRI’d and Milltown Cycles, were co-sponsors of the event, providing demo bikes, on-site maintenance, and group ride leadership. Travis Seeger, Tom Bisel, and their minions rocked!

Travis Seeger and Todd Trembley, Milltown Cycles River Bend Nature Center's Fat Bike Event Tom Bisel, FIT To Be TRI'd

Milltown Cycles FIT To Be TRI'dHere’s my album of 30+ photos of the event:  Continue reading The fatties (and CROCT) turn out for River Bend Nature Center’s Fat Bike Event

All three concept plans for Meadows Park could accommodate mountain biking

Meadows Park community meeting

Dave Berglund at Meadows Park community meeting Meadows Park community meeting

CROCT member Dave Berglund and I attended the second Meadows Park community planning on Wednesday night at the Northfield Middle School. (For background, see my blog post on the first meeting back in November titled Could mountain biking be part of Northfield’s new Meadows Park?

The good news: All three of the proposed concept plans presented by the consultants would accommodate a mountain bike trail around the perimeter of the park:

Meadows Park Concept Plan A: Prairie Potholes Meadows Park Concept Plan A: Meandering Streams Meadows Park Concept Plan A: Winter Wonderland

Meadows Park Concept Plans: unpaved/mountain biking trails

When the consultants asked for programming suggestions, I mentioned that a mountain bike XC trail there would provide:

  • a venue for members of the local high school/middle school mountain bike team to practice
  • another trail for us to host our Community Services Monday nights summer group rides for youth

The schedule calls for City Council approval of the park’s master plan by summer.

More photos from the meeting:

Year-end update to Northfield’s Park & Rec Advisory Board

CROCT presentation to PRAB, Dec 18, 2014

For our CROCT presentation to the City of Northfield PRAB tonight, Marty Larson and I first took them through some 2014 highlights and then followed with a Q&A.  I think it’s safe to say they were happy with what we’ve done thus far.

2014 CROCT highlights (with links to blog posts):

  • Mar 20 – presented to PRAB – permission for demo trail in Sechler Park – LINK
  • Apr 7 – formed board – LINK; & online presence (blog, Facebook, Twitter, email newsletter)
  • Apr 23 – held first trail work day in Sechler Park – LINK
  • Apr 25 – hosted visit from IMBA Regional Director Matt Andrews – LINK
  • May 5 – became a MN non-profit; EIN, PayPal, checking acct
  • May 30 – conducted Sechler Park walk-through w/ Brian Erickson & Dale Gehring
  • May 31 – held founding supporters fundraising campaign LINK; extension in August – LINK ($1200 total)
  • Jul 13held board meeting in Faribault – LINK
  • Aug 21 – met with Rice County Parks director
    Sep 18 – became an official chapter of IMBA (includes 501c3 status) – LINK
  • Sep-Nov – held trail work sessions 1-2/times week – LINK (Sep 8 example)
  • Oct 12 – purchased liability insurance
  • Nov 13 – responded to citizen environmental concerns – LINK
  • Nov 16 – held inaugural group ride at Sechler – LINK
  • Nov 21 – created trail conditions Twitter feed – LINK
  • Nov 22attended Meadows Park community mtg – LINK