New to Southern Minnesota

[salsasurly]

Hey,

I'm mountain biker from Des Moines, Iowa. For the next four years I will be going to school in Northfield, at Carleton College. I'm looking for some advice on places to ride in the vicinity. I won't have a car, so I'll either be taking long rides to get places, or seeing if I can do organized trips with the cycling team there and borrowing one of the college's vans. There is also a bus I can take to the Twin Cites, but I don't know if I can bring my bike on it.

So, where will the easiest place be for me to get to from Northfield?
I talked to a MORC member at the Kansas City Summit who recommended going to the Memorial Trail in Redwing, so i've been looking at the Trail condition information on your site.

Will any of you be at the May 8th Race in Burnsville? I hope to do that, so maybe I can meet some people up there.

Thanks,

Sean Noonan

[JBergland]

Sean,

Being located in Northfield and not having any ‘transportation’ (ie a car) might be a challenge. There are a couple riding areas around Carleton and Olaf, but they are short and won’t take more than just a couple rides ‘know’ toooo well. There is a good amount of cyclists that live in Northfield (check out the coffee shop on a Saturday mid morning), unfortunately, it’s mostly road stuff.



All that being said, there are many GREAT riding areas located in the southern part of the cities. I personally like Lebanon Hills. There is also the River Bottoms, Terrace Oaks and Buck Hill. All of these riding areas are located fairly close to each other… some within riding distance.



Take Care!!



JBergland

[ostertoaster85]

I'm planning on being at the Buck Hill race on May 8. If you see me say hi. I'm eighteen, sport class and ride a weyless sp. (I'm pretty sure that I'm the only guy in the twin cities riding a weyless so you can't make a mistake looking for me.)

[TML]

Hey,

I talked to a MORC member at the Kansas City Summit who recommended going to the Memorial Trail in Redwing, so i've been looking at the Trail condition information on your site.


Hello Sean! Welcome to the boards. I remember talking to you in KC. There's a good chance that I'll be at the race at buck. Keep your eye out for me and give a holler. I'll be in the big Blue dodge pickup or riding a b/w rocky mountain blizzard.

--Troy

[JHM]

Hi Sean,

Good luck finding places to ride in NField. The best bet is to ride around near river access points and look for single track. There is a county park a few miles south of town (past the KMart) on the east side of Hwy 3. I haven't riden there yet, but it looks to have potential.

I live in Faribault, (Northfiled's more sophisticated neighbor). We have a great park called River Bend Nature Center. The unpaved ski trails are open to riding, and if you search around there are a few interesting short single track sections mostly across the Straight River.

Check out a map and ride to Faribault through Cannon City, HWY 246 south out of town to CTY 22 then CTY 20; or CTY 20 (Cannon City Blvd) off HWY 3 just south of Target. A couple miles south on CTY RD 22 there looks to be a horse trail that I think hooks up with the County Park I mentioned earlier.

The RBNC is worth a trip even if you have to peddle all the way from Northfield. Give it a try, let me know if you have questions.

[TML]

Nice avatar John. Coming soon!

[salsasurly]

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to that Buck Hill race.

I will for sure be at Redwing this weekend though. A friend and I are probably gonna ride the trails on saturday and then race on sunday.

Thanks for all the advice on trails (or lack thereog in Northfield). I think I'll be able to find occasional transportation. But, yeah, it will be a lot of that roadie crap for most of my riding. Unfortunately, it's good training.

peace
sean

[minnesota_freerider]

Hey, i've been riding in Northfield for the past couple of years now and it is really quite boring except for some of the urban rideing, although it sounds like you guys are xc riders. If anyone wants to ride sometime, give a shout. I can ride just about any day after school (3:00). 507.301.8225