Questions on comparing Murphy?

[bikeoutback]

As far as trails in the twin cities I've only ridden Leb and Salem. Salem cause it's easy and Leb cause it's really close to home however I'd like to branch out a bit and check out some other trails. I was in the area of Murphy yesterday so stopped just to check out the trailhead and get a good idea of location and had a couple questions from reading on here.

Leb has following stats:
Length: ~8.3 miles Lap: 35-50 min Singlespeed Gear: 32x18 Toilet: yes Water: no Physically: moderate Technically: moderate to very challenging Winter Riding: yes

and Murphy:
Length: ~10 miles Lap: 45 - 90 min Singlespeed Gear: 34x18 Toilet: yes Water: no Physically - easy to demanding Technically -easy to challenging

I read the trail reviews and as far as I can tell Murphy is a bit longer all loops involved in both miles and time. The time though is alot higher for only 1.7 miles longer it seems, is there more climbing on Murphy? Also reading the review and forums it seems Murphy has a challenging advanced loop but many of the obstacles aren't in at this point in time yet leading me to believe that although there are some advanced features and trail it may still be rideable. I know people don't like to compare trails, my main question is if I can do everything but XX loop at Leb just fine can I do the advanced loop at Murphy? Leb is also physically moderate, Murphy is easy to demanding, does this mean the loops get more physically demanding up to the advanced and how demanding compared to Leb? Leb also shows as more technically challenging, this true and is this due to the XX loop? Overall question if I go by wording are they worded correctly to compare apples to apples? If so here is what I would assume by these trail reviews:
Murphy is more physically demanding than leb thus more climbing but Leb has more technical features and if I can handle the technical aspects through X loop at Leb I can handle Murphy?

sorry got long

[trompete]

Chris,

Check out the terrain maps for an idea of the climbing. I ride the X loop at lebanon, and I can handle the technical features of Murphy. The only thing that might be tiring at murphy are the sustained climbs. There are at least two climbs at Murphy equivalent to the long climb from the Joey trail to the X/XX/intermediate meet-up point. BUT, if you were to ride leb twice (5.5 miles INT-X-INT x 2), you would probably be more tired than at Murphy.

[RiverRat]

I would say you are on the right track with what you are thinking. The physical part being easy to demanding comes in with both length, and a few more hills than what Leb has (nothing drastic though). Any obstacles in Murphy now have ride arounds, so you don't need to worry about being able to clear them or not. I would say if you can handle two laps of Leb (excluding the XX loop), you should be able to easily do a full loop at Murphy. You can always just do the beginner loop, or the beginner and intermediate loops if you want to shorten the length.

Go for it. Murphy is a fun trail. Also try out the river bottoms. It should be fairly close to home for you as well, and is also a great trail. Try the east side if you want hills, or the west side if you want fast and flowing singletrack. Go for both if you want a longer ride.

[gopherhockey]

http://www.morcmtb.org/photopost/data/500/MurphyLebElevation.jpg

The Leb graph doesn't show the new XX section.

This graph wasn't done to show that one trail is better than the other but just to show the difference. Both trails are excellent rides - you would do yourself a favor by trying them both as many times as possible ;)

http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=21323

We'll take a look at the trail reviews to try get some consistency if its missing. Also remember that our trail labels are based on grade of trail, not necessarily obstacles... so it can be a bit misleading.

I wish I had done more trails but these were the only two I rode around that timeframe... hopefully we'll get elevations for all trails eventually.

BTW: As fall approaches people are going to want to take note of the views you will get at Murphy... lots of good views will start to show up that you might not see clearly right now. Fall is going to be really fun at Murphy - can't wait!

[Crash]

BTW: As fall approaches people are going to want to take note of the views you will get at Murphy... lots of good views will start to show up that you might not see clearly right now. Fall is going to be really fun at Murphy - can't wait!

It would be cool to also partake in those views at night! :D

[dave t]

Yea Chris, Leb's intermediate loop has stuff way trickier than anything you have to do anywhere at Murphy. As for the climbing, the charts make Murphy look like more than than it seems when you ride it. Everything is pretty gradual and there is a rollercoaster effect out there that tricks you into gaining altitude.

Murphy is really fun. I can get my fill of obstacles easy enough at Leb.

Group ride is tonight @6:15. I made it last week leaving home @6:00.
It usually seems to split in two with a fun and a hammer group.

[Sevadari]

Both trails are excellent rides - you would do yourself a favor by trying them both as many times as possible ;)


BTW: As fall approaches people are going to want to take note of the views you will get at Murphy... lots of good views will start to show up that you might not see clearly right now. Fall is going to be really fun at Murphy - can't wait!


John, that's a real cool graph!

And I can't wait to see the views of Murphy in the fall since I think certain portions of it are already some of the most picturesque that the "Metro" are has to offer! (I was just there on Thursday night just before and during sunset and caught some sweet orangish/glowy views of the fields and the lake next to the trail and the sun filtering in through the trees and leaves!).

Overall, I would agree with John, each one should be ridden as much as possible. Personally, although I love Leb, I really like the flowi-ness of Murphy and the type of features there.

Certainly, if you're doing the X Loop at Leb you shouldn't really have any problems with Murphy-especially from a technical perspective-but also from a distance perspective (just pace yourself a bit and you'll have no problem)...don't want to bruise any egos or anything, but my 65 year old father in law just did Murphy with a group of us last week after he'd done a 32 mile road ride earlier that day and he did fine just doing a nice moderate pace.

To be totally honest though, I have to chuckle whenever I see the words "sustained climb" included in any metro area trail review. Coming from UT, CO, ID, and CA riding, calling a maaaaaybe one to two minute climb a "sustained climb" just sounds kinda funny. I guess it's all relative though.

Don't get me wrong, I love the riding that we're fortunate enough to have here...even if there's not that much "mountain" involved in our MTBing here.

[bikeoutback]

Group ride is tonight @6:15. I made it last week leaving home @6:00.
It usually seems to split in two with a fun and a hammer group.

Have work in Edina till 6:00pm and have not switched out the cargo basket back to the bike rack since early July thus haven't biked in awhile, lots of camping but no biking. Thanks for all the information, thinking tomorrow night I'll head to Murphy, pack little more water than I'd take to Leb and give it a go even if it takes awhile longer, what better way than to spend some time than riding through the woods right?