Over three dozen trail workers (including 15+ kids) showed up at Rice County’s Caron Park on Saturday (National Trails Day) to work on the first segment of a CROCT mountain bike trail there. The weather was gorgeous and the bugs were non-existent. Under the direction of trail steward and CROCT board prez Marty Larson, the crew worked from 9 am to noon.
The results? Amazing!
We don’t yet know the mileage on the new intermediate-level segment that we’re currently calling Loop 1, but it’s significant and it’s going to be a blast to ride. (If you stay connected via the CROCT Facebook page, Twitter feed, email newsletter, or Google Group discussion list we’ll alert you when the trail officially is open to ride.)
We broke for lunch and beverages at noon. Milltown Cycles in Faribault donated and served the hot dogs, brats and pop. Bauers Southside Liquor in Faribault donated and served a great selection of beer:
After lunch, we raffled off some swag donated by Milltown Cycles to CROCT members in attendance. John Ebling and Kevin Keane won helmets and Jeff Kreis won a jersey. Four others got 3-packs of cycling socks:
As part of our spring membership drive, all 65+ CROCT members were eligible for the six $75 gift certificates from the three Rice County bike shops: FIT To Be TRI’d, Mike’s Bikes, and Milltown Cycles.
The winners:
- Jeffery Gunn, Karl Frischkorn ($75 gift certificates from Mike’s Bikes)
- David Wolf, Sue Benson ($75 gift certificates from Fit To Be Tri’d)
- Bill Nelson, Jerry Bilek ($75 gift certificates from Milltown Cycles)
It was especially fitting that Sue Benson was a winner and present with her granddaughter. Her family on her father’s side owned the land that became Caron Park.
The album of 40+ photos:
Oh my god. You guys are all incredible! I hope the Trail Boss got to make first tracks!
He was not, Christopher. I think that honor went to Tony Seidl and his son, Jack. Maybe Marty will get first tracks when we do Loop 2!