North Country!

This past week my friend Anna came to visit from Germany. She will be staying for about 10 days to get a little MN fresh air. Of course last week was also the 4th of July and like all respectable America's we celebrated Independence day however it was pretty lack luster compared to holidays of the past simply because of the day of the week the holiday fell on. We didn't really do much. We went to the Afton city parade and ate freezies and then took naps because the heat and the sun kicked our ass. After we woke up we just hung out and then Anna fell asleep again. She had just gotten in early that morning since her flight from New York to Milwaukee was delayed and she missed her flight to MSP the night before. So I'm guessing the jet lag was kicking in. Kelly, Jerry and I sat in the front yard and watch the fireworks that were going off in Kingston Park. They were pretty sweet but we could only hang out for so long before the bugs discovered there was fresh meet out there to be had! Back inside and off to bed! I have to say I felt pretty old. No partying or anything like years yor! haha

We did however make up for it a little bit on the weekend. We headed up to the lake cabin and the weather was fabulous! I don't think I could have asked for better weather. High in the low 80's and lows in the low 60's, great sleeping weather. We did some boating, grilling and tubing! I love tubing! We played some battle tubes and I dominated, haha. Unfortunately the only bummer was the extreme sun I received on my back. It is itching like crazy now. I put sun screen on multiple times but I guess it just wasn't enough! It must be the partial ginger in me! haha

I think the girls had a good time up there as well and I know that Jerry did! He always does. He loves to jump of the dock and go swimming! It makes me happy to see him so happy. I wish the cabin was closer! He was pretty tuckered out though. He slept the entire 3 hour ride home on Sunday and most of the day when we go back.

Over all it has been a good start to July and I hope there is a lot more awesomeness to come! Starting August is the HS MTB season so that will be exciting and interesting and will definitely fill up my schedule for the next couple months!

Keep it real!

additional insite

Ok so I thought I would follow up on this and try to put Spirit Mountain’s potential into perspective. I have emailed a few people that may know more than me and I will get back to you about that as soon as I hear from them.

My source for this information came from www.mtbparks.com and I just picked a few parks to list out from across the nation from east to west.

Highland Bike Park, New Hampshire: 627 vertical feet

Marquette MI: 600 vertical feet

Terry Peak, Black Hills SD: 1100 vertical feet

Trestle Bike Park, Winter Park CO: 1700 vertical feet

Stevens Pass, just outside of Seattle: 900 vertical feet per mountain and they have 2

Whistler Bike Park, Whistler BC Canada: this one had 4 numbers so overall total 4400 ft, however from the main bike park lift it is only 1200 feet of vertical loss

(Number reflects the vertical loss from top to bottom used in the bike park)

As you can see these numbers very significantly from each location, however they are all success full parks.

Spirit Mountains Bike Park has a potential vertical loss of 700 feet! That would put it above Highland and Marquette.  I understand that vertical loss isn’t the only thing to be taking into consideration here. How steep are each? What type of terrain and natural features do they have to offer? I can’t speak for all of them but I know Spirit isn’t as steep as Whistler but it has a plenty steep descent to make it worth riding and the natural rock that they have there would offer some sweet riding. On top of that if they do bring in professional trail designers and builders they can add tons of sweet obstacles to make it worth your time! I’ll keep you all posted as information becomes available!

Keep it real!

MN MTB's beacon of hope

Could the Duluth area be the savior of MTB in MN and the mid west? Can it bring us out of the dark ages and back to the 21^st century?

What could I possibly be talking about? First yes, yes the Duluth area could be the savior of real MTB in MN, they have the terrain and with the Duluth Traverse they may soon have the trails.

 Well what I’m talking about, aggressive forms of MTB, dual slalom (DS), four cross (4x), Super D racing, Enduro racing and most of all Down Hill riding and racing and not just having dh runs but having shuttle and lift assist riding!

Yes that is correct! Until recently for shuttle runs you either need to go to Nordic Mountain near Steven’s Point, WI, Marquette, MI, out to the Black Hills to Terry Peak or to Copper Harbor to ride van shuttle dh which is great however a little slower but now Mont Du Lac in Superior, WI, just over the bridge is offering shuttle runs on their 2 and soon to be more DH runs as well as their 1 super d, slightly more pedally, run. However the big news is not the Tuesday and Saturday shuttle runs at Mont Du Lac, even though that is awesome and a total step in the right direction, the big news is that in the “master plan” for the Duluth Traverse there are plans to add “multiple” DH runs at Spirit Mountain. I’m not sure how many that is. I have heard rumors but no one has been able to confirm anything but I have heard from a couple people that Spirit would like to have 5 runs done this summer alone! With a goal of 15 + on the mountain!

Spirit Mountain has 780+ feet of elevation loss from the top back to the lift line! That is awesome. If you are riding at places like whistler and others out west, they are typically running their parks in about 900 feet or so of elevation loss and less out east! That means Spirit could actually be on par with some big name bike parks, if they do it right!

I was up in Duluth the other weekend and we actually rode some of the rogue DH lines around Spirit Mountain and some of the single track at Spirit Mountain and I was truly shocked when standing at the bottom of the “mountain” looking up. It was quite a long way to the top, much larger than any of the ski areas here in the metro and was quite delighted by the terrain and natural rock this place had to offer. If they do as the Traverse plan states they will and bring in professional trail builders and designers, there could be some serious runs formed here. I hope they also build some more bike park style runs with larger drops and big jumps! I’m not sure how IMBA plays into these things. I understand sustainability and all of that, however I’m not sure of IMBA’s stand on DH and bike parks as to my understanding, IMBA isn’t involved in any bike parks at this time. They are all privately owned and operated and basically do as they want. I know IMBA will most likely be involved with this project and I sure hope that they do it right and do not stifle its potential to be an actual major draw to MN and the mid west.

As it looks right now from everything I can find on the Duluth Traverse website, Spirit Mountain’s website, MORC and talking to the few locals I know up there. The new lift they are putting in this summer should be up and running this fall and they may do some “test” days, to see how many people actually want to do this kind of riding. I hope a bunch of people show up, even though this will take a few years to grow in popularity for a couple reasons. One being that there is nothing like it around so people do not have DH bike and most don’t even have DH worth bikes and the second correlates to the first a lot of people may be scared to try this out. However if the rumors are true, this lift will be capable of running year round and basically takes you to the top and at that point you could access within a few pedal strokes a plethora of runs when the park is complete.

An actual DH/Bike park will take time to grow but will be a huge success with proper marketing. They will need to have a solid set of runs, I’d say close to 10 and at that point if they are high quality with an array of difficulty. I’d say 2 green, 4 blue, 3 black and 1 double black run they would be able to start really putting it out there in magazines and such and if they could grow that to closer to 15 to 20 runs they could compete on a national level and at that point they would want to start bidding to host a national level DH race and really put the bike park on the map.

However in order to do this the runs would have to be legit, basically meaning that green could be run on a HT or 4 inch bike but from that point up you would want a full suspension bike. Blue would be ride able by a 6inch bike but more fun on a bigger bike and the runs after that you would basically need a full freeride/park bike 180mm+ or a DH sled 200mm bike. The bike park would also need to start offering rental equipment, bikes, helmets and pads so that new people can give it a try so that they don’t need to dump $2000+ into a new bike just to find out that this type of riding is too difficult or not for them.

Also once it is up and running, they may want to find an area where they can build a jump park and pump track area that they can offer as part of your general lift pass or separately for a lesser price.

The park should also consider hosting local events and series similar to other parks like Whistler. They run Thursday night Tunie races. It only cost you $2 bucks to enter, on top of your lift pass, and works like a split pot to my understanding. Spirit would get $1 buck and the other dollar would go into the pot and winner takes all. On top of a cheap race they may want to consider running Saturday night races to draw people from farther out and charge a bit more to like $20 bucks to race and offer more pay outs and possibly get a bike shop or company to sponsor the series and offer swag for the armature levels and really get the youth involved. Another thing to consider doing would be starting a high school and collegiate DH racing team. The collegiate team could race other schools like Michigan Tech and travel further out as well.

All of this is still a pipe dream of mine and they need to start with simply getting the lift up and running, committing to offering lift assisted riding and building the runs to draw the crowds! How I see it, it is like the field of dreams, if you build it they will come, but you have to have faith and commit to it full on!

If and when they do this, I feel the bike shops will see a surge in new bike purchase as the locals will need and want to buy new bikes specific to the style of riding and the economy will definitely see the effects. It might take a few summers but I feel that this will be a draw to people from all of the surrounding states and will bring people from a lot farther away. Especially if they do it right from the beginning and make the runs worth it!

I know personally that I will most like end up purchasing a bigger bike if and when this becomes a reality. I will also probably buy a season pass and make multiple day and weekend trips a summer up there to ride; which would mean that I would be pumping cash into their economy and I know that I’m not alone, there is a growing demand for this type of riding in the Metro area and Duluth may be the catalyst that the Metro ski hills need to get them in gear to start building DH trails and offering lift assist! Let us all hope!   

Keep it real!