texan in search of a ride

[dennibw]

Howdy y'all! I'll be up that way for a veterinary seminar in June & was looking for a place to ride & also where I can rent a bike for the afternoon. (Kind of expensive to fly mine up with me from Dallas) I'll be staying near the Metrodome & will have Friday afternoon & evening of June 11 free & wanted to check out some trails that aren't full of red sand. I'm in my first season of racing & consider myself an intermediate rider. Climbing seems to be my weakness though. Look foreward to hearing from you guys & hope I get to meet some of you while I'm up there!

Denni

[drakh]

Howdy y'all! I'll be up that way for a veterinary seminar in June & was looking for a place to ride & also where I can rent a bike for the afternoon. (Kind of expensive to fly mine up with me from Dallas) I'll be staying near the Metrodome & will have Friday afternoon & evening of June 11 free & wanted to check out some trails that aren't full of red sand. I'm in my first season of racing & consider myself an intermediate rider. Climbing seems to be my weakness though. Look foreward to hearing from you guys & hope I get to meet some of you while I'm up there!

Denni

Howdy back. Welcome to the great frozen wastelands. I've ridden a couple of trails north of Dallas, including the Bar-H bike ranch. IMHO, the trails up here are quite a bit better. You've got Theo Wirth park not too far from downtown. It's good some good, tight single track and we'll be doing a lot of building there soon. If you get a chance, try Lebanon Hills. It's a decent drive from downtown but has some great technical stuff.
As to renting, Calhoun Cycle (http://www.calhouncycle.com/) used to rent some Specialized bikes but i haven't tried them in a few years. GravityLab (http://www.gravitylab.com/bikes/) has let me rent out a bike before but i don't know if they do that on a regular basis. Other than that, i've never tried to rent around here.
Keep an eye out for group rides around that date. We're always happy to show new riders around.

Michael

[TML]

Hello Denise,

There are a good number of trails in the area that are worth a try. Like Michael said, Wirth is your best bet within ride distance of downtown. Many other options if you have a car. Post again when the date gets closer and I'm sure something will work out.

[bradpartyka]

Penn Cycle's Bloomington location rents bikes. http://penncycle.com/site/intro.cfmIf you email them with your questions the Bloomington location (their main location will respond back very promptly. You could probably arrange to pick up the bike from the Eagan location. Which is 3 miles from Lebanon off the same road.

I have never done Wirth park, they say it is nice, but also a maze. If you have a car Lebanon is your best bet. It is about 10 minutes south of the airport or 16 miles from Minneapolis. It has some of everything that Minnesota has to offer.
Here's the link that tells about it http://www.morcmtb.org/trailreviews/metro/lebanon.shtml

The other trails are listed here.
http://www.morcmtb.org/trailreviews/metro/index.htm

[Wheels]

Hi Denise,

Make sure to click the link below, Gene and Jennifer may be able to set you up with a bike - and they're good folks (the coffee is great too!). If you're in Minneapolis, make sure to check the MOCA trails www.mocatrails.org