rgreen89
08-10-2006, 01:18 AM
The Grass Lake area (by the Shoreview TV towers, N. side of I-694) has always been within a 1/2 hr. ride of every place I've lived since the late 80's. Trails are nothing extensive like the big "destination" metro riding areas but it has a few modest hills and nice short pieces of single-track. Anyway, the ride to and back from my place and few loops around it was something I used to fit into frequent 1.5 - 2 hr. rides any evening of the week. That and a some disconnected trails through Ramsey County open spaces enroute made for rides that were probably 50-70% off-road from my front door.
So anyway, I got away from mt. biking :zzz: for a few years (got a touch of new homeowners disease). I'm rediscovered the road bike by commuting to work and almost have the MTB back together. I was hoping to return to my old stomping grounds at Grass Lake since it's still a very short ride for me. But I was dismayed :cryin: to have someone tell me at the shop that cycling in that park is now restricted to "designated trials" which means the paved recreation paths that were built in the late '90s. Which leads me to my main question of: does anyone have recent experience riding this area and confirm what the real deal there is?
I don't want to cause problems and ride were it's going to create problems but the thought of giving up an area that I've ridden for more then a decade is going to be real tough for me accept. I've admittly been spoiled by having off-road trails within a short ride of my house. On the plus side, I guess having marginally adequate trails close by kept me from making trips to the big "destination" trails very often. So maybe this will force me to do that more...
So anyway, I got away from mt. biking :zzz: for a few years (got a touch of new homeowners disease). I'm rediscovered the road bike by commuting to work and almost have the MTB back together. I was hoping to return to my old stomping grounds at Grass Lake since it's still a very short ride for me. But I was dismayed :cryin: to have someone tell me at the shop that cycling in that park is now restricted to "designated trials" which means the paved recreation paths that were built in the late '90s. Which leads me to my main question of: does anyone have recent experience riding this area and confirm what the real deal there is?
I don't want to cause problems and ride were it's going to create problems but the thought of giving up an area that I've ridden for more then a decade is going to be real tough for me accept. I've admittly been spoiled by having off-road trails within a short ride of my house. On the plus side, I guess having marginally adequate trails close by kept me from making trips to the big "destination" trails very often. So maybe this will force me to do that more...