Tag Archives: Marty Larson

Could mountain biking be part of Northfield’s new Meadows Park?

Back in the summer of 2013, I blogged on Locally Grown Northfield about the mountain biking-related possibilities for Northfield’s new Meadows Park. So it was pretty cool to attend the City of Northfield‘s Meadows Park community planning meeting at the Northfield Middle School on Wednesday night and have mountain biking be mentioned by the consultants (Paul Miller Design and SRF Consulting) as one of the possibilities under consideration.

Meadows Park community meeting Paul Miller Design and SRF Consulting Meadows Park community meeting

Even better, there was some support for it from citizens at the small group discussions, helped along by participation from fellow CROCT members Marty Larson and Scott Klein.

Meadows Park community meeting, small group discussion Meadows Park community meeting, small group discussion Meadows Park community meeting, small group discussion

After the meeting, we had some informal discussions with Ward 2 Councilor David DeLongAt-Large Councilor Rhonda Pownell, and PRAB Chair Dale Gehring, as well as City Administrator Nick Haggenmiller, Community Planning and Development Director Chris Heineman, and Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Brian Erickson.

The CROCT Board has not taken an official position on what we’d like to see in the way of mountain biking for the park.  But in our comments, we talked about the advantages of having:

  • a beginner/intermediate-level singletrack (multi-use) trail around the perimeter of the park
  • a bike park in one corner, with features like pump tracks, dirt jumps, and a skills course, all serving a range of abilities (progression) including a tot area
  • West Trailhead, Lebanon Hills MTB Parka pavilion area with bathrooms, changing facilities, picnic tables, grills, water fountains. See the West Trailhead facilities page for Dakota County’s Lebanon Hills MTB Park for a good example.

The next Meadows Park community meeting will be on Jan. 21.

Want more information about Meadows Park? See these documents that I extracted from the Nov. 20 PRAB meeting agenda packet:

CROCT Founding Supporters exceed fundraising goal by $250

Stew Moyer Marty Larson and Carl Arnold

Stew Moyer and Marty Larson were among the 25+ people making a donation to CROCT’s Founding Supporters fundraising campaign in early May.  Board treasurer Carl Arnold collected and deposited their donations.

The goal was to raise enough money to help pay the costs for CROCT to become a MN non-profit ($70) and a chapter of IMBA ($500).  Over $825 was raised.

See the Founding Supporters page for the names of everyone who donated.

 

 

Photo album: first CROCT trail work day at Sechler Park

We had lively and hard-working crew show up at Sechler Park river bottoms for our first ever CROCT trail work last Saturday.  We clipped branches and cleared brush and leaves on a demonstration trail that we plan to show members of the Northfield Parks Board (PRAB) in the next month or so.

CROCT trail work day, Sechler Park, April 19. L to R: Jeremy Bokman, Galen Murray, Marty Larson, Lisa Neitge, Michael Lehmkuhl, Ryan Hutchinson, Kevin Herman, Josh Seifert

Back row, L to R: Jeremy Bokman, Galen Murray, Marty Larson, Lisa Neitge, Michael Lehmkuhl, Ryan Hutchinson, Kevin Herman, Josh Seifert. Front row: Marty and Lisa’s girls.  Not shown: Michael’s wife and two kids who later showed up to help, too.

Album:

First CROCT trail work day scheduled: April 19 at Sechler Park

 Marty Larson, AKA Paul Bunyan Marty Larson Marty Larson, AKA Paul Bunyan

On Wednesday afternoon, Marty Larson and I visited the Cannon Rivers bottoms in Sechler Park to scout a trail, do a little marking, and clear some downed branches.  We need some demonstration trails to show members of the Northfield Parks Board (PRAB) what singletrack looks like and where it might go.  We are NOT authorized to do any ‘creating’ at this point (eg, building berms, rollers, technical obstacles, etc).

We’d like to get a team of volunteers out Saturday morning, April 19th, to clear things out a bit more.

  • 8 am: socializing at the Goodbye Blue Monday or Tandem Bagels, whichever is quieter/has space.
  • 9 am: meeting at the pavilion / playground near the south entrance Sechler Park.

bow saw hand pruners loppers

Bring hand pruners, branch loppers, and bow saws so we can clear the trails where we’ll want PRAB members to walk. Bring rakes, too, as the ground is thick with years of composting leaves and vegetation. Eventually when most of the work is done, we will be installing the outdoor, brush cameras we got from shooting authority, they will surely capture great shots.

Park gates are NOT open till May 1.  So if you’re coming in a vehicle, it’s probably best to park in the cul-de-sac behind Walgreens, as there’s not a lot of room for parking at the far end of Sechler by the Heath Creek entrance.
It’s fine to ride in on your bikes.  The double-track from either end is solid now.  So if you’re biking from Northfield, ride the road to the first baseball field and then cut behind it. Here’s a screenshot of a map. The red X is where we’ll be working.
Sechler Pk work day april 19

Our presentation to the Northfield Park and Recreation Advisory Board: good vibes

CROCT presentation to March 20 Northfield Park and Recreation Advisory BoardMarty Larson and I made a brief presentation to the Northfield Park and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) last night. They seemed to like our plan to create river bottoms mountain bike trail in Sechler Park, and seemed open to exploring the possibility of a trail in Roosevelt Park and Roosevelt Ridge Park. They also wondered if Odd Fellows Park, site of a new dog park, might be a park that could accommodate both a trail and a bike park/pump track.

We were asked send a formal letter of request to the Parks staff requesting a formal agreement between CROCT and the City, starting with permission to work on a trail in Sechler Park this spring. Staff will take that request to their weekly staff Development Review Committee (DRC) meeting and then put it into an upcoming City Council meeting packet, hopefully with a recommendation that the Council direct the PRAB and the staff to work with CROCT on implementation.

Here are links to some of the maps and resources we used in our presentation:

Sechler Park

Roosevelt Park

Hauberg Woods

Small pump tracks and skills parks

Northfield Parks Resources

First meeting of Cannon River Offroad Cycling & Trails (CROCT)

Back row, L to R: Bruce Anderson, Michael Lehmkuhl, Curtis Ness, Scott Koehler, Carl Arnold, Todd Amunrud.  Front row, L to R: Tony Seidl, Sarah Jensen, Marty Larson, Kevin Herman, Griff Wigley
A group of Rice County residents met last night in Northfield and started to form a club called Cannon River Offroad Cycling & Trails (CROCT). Back row, L to R: Bruce Anderson, Michael Lehmkuhl, Curtis Ness, Scott Koehler, Carl Arnold, Todd Amunrud. Front row, L to R: Tony Seidl, Sarah Jensen, Marty Larson, Kevin Herman, Griff Wigley. If you’d like to be involved in helping to organize the club, contact us.