Category Archives: Group rides

Group rides, Youth

August Adventure Mania: youth mountain biking camping trip to Cuyuna Lakes

Kids MTB at Cuyuna Lakes MTB Trails. Photo by Aaron W Hautala at Red House Media

As we announced back in May, in addition to our Monday night youth mtb group ride series all summer, CROCT is teaming up with Northfield Public Schools Community Services for an August 13-14 ‘Adventure Mania’ overnight camping trip for area youth to the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trail System in central MN. It’s an IMBA Bronze MTB Ride Center, one of the top mountain bike parks in the country.

See Page 16 of the Community Services summer 2015 brochure for details and then either use the form on pages 46-47 or  register online here.

Northfield Community Services summer brochure 2015 cover Northfield Community Services summer brochure 2015 page 15-16

Youth who want to attend on their own must be entering grade 5 and have participated in two of our Monday night offroad cycling group rides. Younger youth  can participate but they need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Once someone has registered, Community Services will be in touch with recommendations on what to bring.

The Portsmouth campground group camp site has been reserved for us, and tents, food, and related camping gear will be provided. The families of participating youth are welcome to drive up on their own and pitch their tents in the group site.

Some families have indicated that they’re planning to stay through the weekend.  Good choice! If you think of doing the same on your trip, make sure to equip your family properly, BikesReviewed.com is a great source. The Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area has lots more to offer than just terrific mountain biking. There’s the Cuyuna Lakes State Trail (8 miles of paved trail). The city of Crosby has an excellent skate/bmx park right in the middle of town, right on Serpent Lake and next to a playground that was just ranked one of the ten best in the state.

cuyuna-country-state

And the area has spectacular clear lakes for swimming, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, snorkeling, stand-up paddle boarding, etc. Cycle Path and Paddle in Crosby has bikes, canoes and kayaks for rent. See the Cuyuna Lakes Chamber of Commerce website for more. Along with all that the town near by is renown to manufacture the best paddle board for beginners in the world!

The Portsmouth group camp site will NOT be available for family camping over the weekend, however, so those families wanting to stay longer will need to make their own arrangements for camping on Friday night and beyond. The Portsmouth campground has 18 electric and 7 non-electric sites available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Campers need to self-register at the campground. The city of Crosby’s Memorial Park Campground does take reservations. (The DNR now has 3 yurts in the Cuyuna Lakes mtb park that can be reserved but unfortunately, they appear to be already booked that weekend.)

Transportation will be provided by EcoTrans. We’ll depart at 8 am on Thursday Aug. 13 from the Northfield Community Resource Center (NCRC) at 1651 Jefferson Pkwy (behind the Senior Center). We’ll arrive back in Northfield at 6 pm on Friday Aug. 14.

If you have questions about the details of the trip, contact Melissa Bernhard, Recreation Coordinator for Northfield Public Schools Community Services at  Melissa.Bernhard@nfld.k12.mn.us or phone 507-664-3502. If you have mountain biking-related questions, contact CROCT.

Cost: $25 for an individual youth. $80 for a family of four or more.

Once again, to register, see Page 16 of the Community Services summer 2015 brochure for details and then either use the form on pages 46-47 or  register online here.

Group rides, Youth

CROCT teams up with Northfield Public Schools Community Services for youth mountain biking adventures this summer

CROCT is partnering with the Northfield Public Schools Community Services this summer to offer area youth two opportunities for mountain biking activities. Page 16 of their summer 2015 brochure has some details:

Northfield Community Services summer brochure 2015 cover Northfield Community Services summer brochure 2015 page 15-16

For more details on both activities and to register online:

Marty Larson and I are the official ride/activity leaders but we’ll need parents and CROCT members to help us.

Group rides, Photo album

CROCT organizes a group ride at the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault

With the gorgeous and ample snow in Rice County, we moved our group ride to the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault yesterday instead of a return visit to the MN River Bottoms as planned back in January.

It turned out to be a good decision. The grooming of the two-way doubletrack trails by members of the Faribault Flyers club was perfect, making it easy to share the trails with XC skiers, one of whom joined us for much of our group ride.

Group rides, Land managers, Photo album

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 →

Group rides

CROCT organizes a group ride at the Minnesota River Bottoms trail in Bloomington

I polled our ridership last month, asking them to indicate which weekend days in Feb. would work for them to participate in a group ride along MORC’s Minnesota River Bottoms trail in Bloomington. Yesterday, ten of us showed up at 1pm at the Lyndale Ave/I35W trailhead. This group photo in the parking lot was taken by Pat Sorenson,  president of Penn Cycle who happened to be heading out on a ride with some buddies at the same time:

L to R: Griff Wigley, Curtis Ness, Michael Lehmkuhl, Joe Thorman, JC Ingebrand, Dave Wolf, Bill Nelson, Gary Duden, John Rinn, Scott Parker

L to R: Griff Wigley, Curtis Ness, Michael Lehmkuhl, Joe Thorman, JC Ingebrand, Dave Wolf, Bill Nelson, Gary Duden, John Rinn, Scott Parker.

We opted to ride 8 miles west to the Bloomington Ferry Bridge (Hwy 169) trail head since several of the group had never ridden that route.

Bike repair by Curtis Ness; photo by Michael LehmkuhlWe took our time, stopping several times for socializing and a little exploring on the railroad swing bridge.

There was one mechanical, a broken chain. But one group member had a chain tool and Curtis Ness, CROCT board secretary and manager of Milltown Cycles in Faribault, did the trail-side repairs. Whew!

There wasn’t much snow, and with temps in the low-to-mid 30s, the trail was a bit sloppy in places. The camaraderie, however, was first-rate.

We do it again on Saturday, Feb. 28. Deets here.