Category Archives: Group rides

CROCT group rides to MN River Bottoms set for Feb. 8 & Feb. 28

Feb. 26 Update: given the sparse snow along the MN River Bottoms and the ample snow in Rice County, we’ve decided to move the Feb. 28 group ride to the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault. Meet at the Interpretive Center parking lot at 10 am. Directions here.

MN River Bottoms group ride

I created a Doodle poll a couple of weeks ago to see which weekend days in Feb work best for the most riders for a CROCT winter group ride to MORC’s MN River Bottoms trail in Bloomington.  I promoted the poll via our CROCT Facebook page, Twitter feed, and Google Groups discussion list. The days that polled the most (13 each) are:

  • Sunday, Feb. 8, 1 pm. Meet at the Lyndale/I35w trailhead/parking lot (live Google map)
  • Saturday, Feb. 28, 10 am. Meet at the Bloomington Ferry Bridge/Hwy 169 trailhead

The trail is beginner/intermediate-level in difficulty. These will be C-Level, no-drop group rides, with several 5-10 minute rest stops.

For the Sunday, Feb. 8, 1 pm ride starting at the Lyndale/I35w trailhead, we’ll likely ride one direction for an hour and then return. For those who want to keep riding, we’ll go the other direction for an hour or more and then return.

For the Saturday, Feb. 28, 10 am starting at the Bloomington Ferry Bridge trailhead, we’ll ride to the I35W bridge, which takes about an hour. Some of the group can then return, and the rest can go on to the Cedar bridge about another hour. Some of that group can return and a fewer number will all the way past the Mendota bridge and into the town of Mendota for lunch and then return. So it’s either a 2, or 4, or 8 hour ride. This group ride will likely coincide with MORC’s Faturday Group Ride.

If you didn’t participate in the poll, you can still go. Just show up! We’ll try to do some ride coordination via discussion on Google Groups and Facebook.

If weather conditions warrant canceling a ride, we’ll try to make it up by scheduling another day that polled highly.

Also, several other days show lots of interest (10 or more) so don’t hesitate to organize a ride on your own, either by contacting those people directly if you know them or by starting a new group ride discussion topic in Google Groups.

Questions? Contact us!

Feb. 26 Update: given the sparse snow along the MN River Bottoms and the ample snow in Rice County, we’ve decided to move the Feb. 28 group ride to the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault. Meet at the Interpretive Center parking lot at 10 am. Directions here.

 

Photo album: Inaugural Sechler Park group ride and social

CROCT group ride, Sechler Park
CROCT hosted its first ever group ride in Sechler Park yesterday during the area’s first real snowfall of the season.   Nearly two dozen riders participated.

CROCT social hosted by Tom Bisel, Fit To Be Tri'd

After a couple hours of riding,  we convened for some refreshments at Fit To Be Tri’d in downtown Northfield, courtesy of proprietor Tom Bisel.  He even provided the food (salami, cheese, crackers).  I didn’t get a good photo of Tom so I’ve plugged in his face in the photo above. #noskillswithphotoshop

CROCT Board member Carl Arnold made this 1-minute video of some of the rides:

See the large slideshow of 80+ photos (many low res, captured from video) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

August board meeting ride in Faribault

Prior to last night’s CROCT board meeting, five  of us went for a ride in and around the RBNC in Faribault.

L to R: Jason Decoux, Carl Arnold, Scott Koehler, Jeremy Bokman
The veterans Jason Decoux (far left) and Jeremy Bokman (far right) gave us Northfielders (Carl Arnold, Scott Koehler, me) a fast and fun one-hour tour.  Saaaaweeet!

Aug 2014 CROCT board meeting, Faribault Aug 2014 CROCT board meeting, Faribault
And then we convened at the Washington Recreation Center, like last month. There is momentum!