Category Archives: Advocacy

Downtown Bicycles to support CROCT-NCS youth summer mountain biking camps

Tom Bisel, CROCT Member, CVVC Founder and President and Owner of Tom’s Downtown Bicycles, will be helping support our CROCT-NCS youth summer mountain biking camps!

Tom Bisel
Tom Bisel

Online registration for the mountain bike summer camps opens tomorrow. Scholarships are available through Melissa Bernhard (MBernhard@northfieldschools.org). Please contact CROCT Board Member Sarah Jansen (guild44@gmail.com) for any additional assistance, or if you are interested in volunteering to help with the camps. We will NOT let income be a barrier to participating in these camps.)

The three summer mountain biking camps run for one week (June 12-16, July 24-28 and July 31-August 3). Bisel, who is committed to “giving kids the tools so that they can succeed on two wheels”, will be offering mountain bikes for rent for $25 (for the entire week!). Bisel is excited to see more and more families out riding bikes together, noting that Northfield is a great community to ride your bike, whether on road, gravel or mountain bike/fat bike trails.

Downtown Bicycles will also check over summer camp participants’ bikes, in order to make sure they are safe before the classes commence. “We’re just here to help”, Tom explains, “one of my roles as a bike shop owner is to be a resource to all the cycling communities in our area”.

Bisel opened his shop eight years ago, when he noticed a lack of support for the growing active community in Northfield. Since then, Bisel has supported numerous efforts to get kids on bikes, not just volunteering his time, but also donating bikes to Northfield Public Schools.

Thanks Tom Bisel!

Those interested in the summer mountain bike camps may also be interested in local bicycling Advocate and CVVC Member Bruce Anderson’s Nature Immersion Club, at the Greenvale Park Community School. The class begins today and continues every Thursday evening (6-7:30 pm) through May 18.

Anderson describes the class as follows:

“Nature Immersion Club gives kids the opportunity to learn how to bike safely on Northfield-area streets, gravel roads, and off-road trails, and go on outings to experience and learn about the natural world. Rides will be taken to the Carleton Arboretum, St. Olaf Natural Lands, Hauberg Woods, Sechler Park, and McKnight Prairie for hikes, nature photography, and bird, tree, and wildflower identification. The emphasis will be on having fun in nature! Parents are welcome as well! Don’t have a bike? No problem — we will help you find one.”

Exciting things are happening for kids’ biking in Northfield!

Please contact Bruce Anderson (bruce@sustainablecommunitysolutions.com) and/or Community School Co-Coordinators Kathryn Lozada (klozada@northfieldschools.org) and Laura Berdahl (lberdahl@northfieldschools.org) for more information.

You can also follow Downtown Bicycles at their Facebook page or Twitter feed.

Snow Crush 2017 – Recap, Results, Pictures!

Startline (photo by Griff Wigley)
Startline (photo by Griff Wigley)

Making the most of a sparse winter, CROCT staged a successful fatbike race in January, hosting 84 hardy racers in the second annual Snow Crush.

Held on Saturday, January 14, the Snow Crush was a true community event – run by CROCT, sponsored by F-Town Brewing, supported by Milltown bike shop in Faribault, and held at River Bend Nature Center in Faribault.

This year’s Snow Crush included three distances to suit racers of any ability. Reflecting the growing popularity of fatbike racing in Minnesota, this year’s field was a third larger than in 2015, when 65 racers turned out. Gorgeous 20-degree weather helped draw a crowd, and made the tracks for the 6, 12, and 16 miles races nearly perfect.

Leaders in the 16-mile race (photo by Jim Wellbrock)
Leaders in the 16-mile race (photo by Jim Wellbrock)

Charles Wolf (St Peter) won the 16-mile race advanced race in1:22:58, taking a narrow two-second win over Mitch Brekke (Albert Lea). Nick Zawadski (Minneapolis) finished third in 1:23:33. Chelsea Strate (Minneapolis) easily won the women’s 16-mile race in 1:35:10, ahead of Robin Williams at 1:42:40.

In the men’s 12-mile intermediate race, David Chlet took the win in 1:17:00, followed by Scott Perkinson at 1:19:55 and Tony Lema at 1:20:11. Kris Brazil (Faribault) won the women’s intermediate in 1:24:26, ahead of Megan Beer in 1:28:08.

In the 6-mile beginner race, Ann Paulson and Mike Rost (Faribault) won, 1:20:20 and 58:00, respectively. Anna Perkinson took second place in the women’s beginner category (1:23:50), while Ben Lema  took second (1:00:00) andAndrew Tubesing took third (1:03:00).

Full results are posted online, as are three galleries of photos:

Following the race, everyone retired to F-Town Brewing for an after-party and awards, and Faribault radio station Power 96 posted a nice write-up on the race as well.

Registration now open for the Snow Crush Fatbike Race and Fundraiser – Saturday, January 14, 2017

For the second straight year, CROCT is teaming up with F-Town Brewing in Faribault to host the Snow Crush fatbike race and fundraiser at River Bend Nature Center on Saturday, January 14, 2017. Registration is now open! Here’s the PDF poster:

Snow Crush 2017
Snow Crush 2017

Just like last year, racers will ride a beautiful groomed trail through River Bend’s forest, prairie, and river bottoms.

Racers on Course
Racers on Course

We can’t be sure it’ll be as delightfully frosty as last year! See the 2016 results here, and on Facebook, photos of racers and of the event.

Icebeard
Icebeard

To suit a wide range of fatbike riders, we are offering three race classes:

  • advanced: four laps of the course, 16 miles total
  • intermediate: three laps, 12 miles
  • beginner: two laps, 8 miles

Register online now at the discounted rate of $25 or at River Bend on race day for $30. Note also that we’ve made plans for a back-up date in case uncooperative weather prevents us from running the race on January 14.

RBNC
RBNC

In addition to enjoying the fun at River Bend during the event, racers and spectators can head to an after party at F-Town Brewing for awards, beer, hot food, and product demos by Milltown Premium Adventure Goods, Bikestud, and others. We’re grateful to all the event sponsors: F-Town, Milltown, Tandem Bagels in Northfield, Stoke Coffee Roasters of Northfield, and 45NRTH.

The full schedule of the day’s events:
12:00PM: Registration & race setup at River Bend Nature Center (1000 Rustad Road, Faribault)
12:45PM: Racer meeting
1:00PM: Start for advanced and intermediate (16 and 12 miles)
1:05PM: Start for  beginners (8 miles)
4:00PM: After party with pizza, beer, music, & awards at F-Town Brewing Company (22 4th Street NE, Faribault)

2016 After Party
2016 After Party

CROCT presentation to the Northfield Rotary Club

Last week, president Marty Larson and I gave a presentation about CROCT’s mtb activities in the past year to the Northfield Rotary Club‘s luncheon at the Northfield United Methodist Church. It was an updated version of the Soup & Cycles presentation we made back in January.

Props to Northfield Community Planning & Development Director (and CROCT member) Chris Heineman for the introduction!

Northfield Community Planning & Development Director Chris Heineman at Northfield Rotary Club

CROCT president Marty Larson at Northfield Rotary Club

CROCT VP Griff Wigley at Northfield Rotary Club

CROCT president Marty Larson at Northfield Rotary Club

 

CROCT slide presentation to Northfield City Council – power tool usage in Sechler Park

We’re negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Northfield for our mountain bike trail and skills park in Sechler Park. We want the ability to use a variety of power tools, including chainsaws and skid steers. Marty Larson and I presented to the Northfield City Council tonight:

CROCT President Marty Larson presenting to Northfield City Council

Griff & Marty at Northfield City Council - video screengrab

Here’s our slideshow:

Update 2/17, 1 pm: here’s the City’s video archive of our presentation the meeting. 20 minutes:

Continue reading CROCT slide presentation to Northfield City Council — power tool usage in Sechler Park