Cuyuna Opening Date

[Snowboy]

At our meeting tonight Hansi Johnson, IMBA rep, gave a presentation on what is going on currently with Cuyuna and some of the long term plans for Cuyuna. We have the good news and some bad news.

First, the good news: With help from Trek Bicycles and MORC we will be having a true dedicated downhill area with various features. Not a XC trail that happens to go down a hill, but a "out-west" style downhill run. It will be built on a section of the hill known as "The Bobsled Run". That means that Cuyuna should have something for everyone. Light XC, hard-core XC, as close to all mountain as you will get in the midwest, and now a dedicated downhill section.

Also, the IMBA trail crew have been doing some test runs on the trails and according to Hansi, he believes the trails may be the best in the midwest. That is good to hear.

Now the bad news: (Deep breaths...) The official opening of the Cuyuna trail will occur next spring, that is Spring of 2011, not this year. The trail will remain closed and not for public consumption till further notice.

There are at least two reasons for this. One, the trail builders (general contractor, DNR, and IMBA) feel that a winter frost-thaw cycle will help firm up many of the berms. Having still soft trail ridden by thousands of people will wreck them fast. Two, arrangements for emergency services and mountain bike patrol will not be finalized in time for a fall opening. These trails are not long one long trail with one or two branches, but loop around and back on themselves many times. So figuring out how to get you out when you fall over and roll down an 75% slope is sort of a big deal.

So, it was felt it would be better to do it right and wait a bit. I know this might be disappointing, but just a bit more patience and then you can bust out on the best trails in the midwest.

Let me repeat: THE TRAILS IN CUYUNA WILL REMAIN CLOSED TILL THE SPRING OF 2011. PERIOD.

[kleinrider]

Thanks for the update. It's very exciting to hear that the IMBA rep feels these might be the best in the Midwest! What a great opportunity.

While I'm sure many will be disappointed in not being able to experience the Cuyuna trails for another few months, letting the trails "settle" for a few months is the best way to go for the trails' long-term success. I'd rather wait a few months and have long-term quality trails than ride a few times sooner and have wrecked trails.

Thanks again to all that have been involved with this effort (especially Tim Wegner) to bring a world-class mountain biking destination to Minnesota.

[TML]

Thanks for the update Josh. Sounds like a solid and well thought out plan. Well worth the wait to ensure that the trails have a good solid base that has endured one full seasonal cycle. I agree with the thoughts on letting them winter over. Any possibility of getting another machine packing of the tread right after the frost comes out in the spring? I would think that would really set things in nicely.

[stoneage]

Be patient Billy, be patient. Sounds like this is the best way to proceed, so even though I'm disappointed about the delay, I will anxiously wait for next spring. Thanks Tim and Doug and crew.

[specialk]

It was a very good meeting with lots of good ideas. I believe waiting till spring is in the best interest of all parties involved. Thanks Hansi for a great presentation!http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Shagen]

Such torture! But if it means having a more solid trail, I guess I'd rather wait. Glad you guys are thinking long term and not just rushing it.

[TEA]

Glad to see this thread! I was jockeying some vacation/work travel plans this fall for a trip to Crosby. Now I know just to wait. Any thoughts on any trail opening events next spring?

[TrailPatrol]

Two, arrangements for emergency services and mountain bike patrol will not be finalized in time for a fall opening.

Uh, about that... Was anybody going to talk with us, the NMBP patrols, Alden Patton the IMBA/NMBP Regional Rep, or was this all going to be handled from afar and on high?

Sorry to sound so tacky, but the MORC/Backcountry patrols are amoung the oldest, most established, most experienced NMBP units in the country. (This will be our 15th year at Chequamegon.) Maybe you've already talked to Alden, but this is something we would really like to be a part of.

Ride safe,
Hans Erdman, WEMT
Executive Director-IMBA/NMBP Instructor
Backcountry Trail Patrol Association, Inc.
Isanti, MN

[PeterG]

You answered your own ? There are more things that need to be done in one day, than there is hours. We have had discussion on who to contact and who is going to be able to patrol. It is very high on our priority list, as we are thinkin LONG term. These trails, this area has SO SO SO much to offer. We do not wish to chance losing it ALL, for anyone! Thank you for your concern. Many phone calls, and meetings are going to happen in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!


Its just about a bike ride!

[TrailPatrol]

arrangements for emergency services and mountain bike patrol will not be finalized

I was just pointing out that, to my knowlege, nobody has been in contact with us at all, so far.

A few years back, when I was the Regional NMBP Rep, there was an NMBP patrol based in the Brainerd area, made up of ski patrollers from Ski Gull. They have not been active for a while, but some of them might still be interested. Backcountry Patrol has a couple of members in the Grand Rapids area, but they are mostly geared to working with the US Forest Service on the Chippewa, at Suomi Hills and Simpson Creek.

If you want to have a patrol ready for a spring opening at Cuyuna, recruiting should be held this fall, so that they can be trained and ready when the trails do open. Personally, I would be glad to help any way I can.

Ride safe,
Hans

[Snowboy]

@Trail Patrol -

The DNR and not the local chapter are getting things like patrolling and emergency services going. Based on what was said at the meeting Tuesday, it sounds like the DNR is just beginning the process of getting the agencies on board. So I wouldn't get too excited that your phone hasn't rung yet.

Again, the reason the opening is going to be the spring is precisely because more time is needed to get all these things ready to go. Opening this year, besides being tough on the trails, would not give enough time to get the "squishy" part of running nearly 25 miles of trail.

[Tim Wegner]

OK, so I know I am special and I get to ride the trails at Cuyuna sooner than the rest of you do. Jeff and I were doing the GPS mapping of the trails at Cuyuna. We got just a bit over 10 miles done today but we had to ride almost 14 miles to get the 10 miles GPS'd.

In a different post I stated that in order to cover all the trails in the system you will need to ride some of the trails more than once to get to the trails that you selected NOT to ride the first time through. I put on 14 miles and only covered about 30% of the trails that are currently in place. Right now we have 16.5 miles on the ground and we have not gotten to the Yawkey area. We measure the trails once they are ready for the compactor so there are trails started at Yawkey but not compacted and so not counted in the total. We are guessing that we will reach 6 miles at Yawkey.

Now for the riding today. OMG!! The specialty crews have been working on the trails in an attempt to take the trails from excellent to OVER THE TOP. They have succeded. Once a person is familiar with the trails you will be able to really let the bike go. Even when holding back I had to work to keep the bike tires on the ground. My highest speed today was 18+ MPH. However my average moving speed was only 7.6 MPH. I normally average about 8.4 at Lebanon. How is it possible to average almost 1 MPH slower at Cuyuna when I hit a max of 18? Climbing, None of the downhills are a reward until you climb to the top. Some of the climbing was middle chain ring and some was 1 and 1. Now I am not nearly as fast and strong as some of the other riders out there and many of you will climb much faster in taller gears but the fact that we have signifcant climbing here in MN is awesome. Here is my summary of the ride today:

Hill 1 has 3 different trails on it. One around the base, one that goes to the top and is a really fun downhill and a 3rd one that we call deepwoods because it is fairly flat but it winds through a really thick stand of trees. think of Milaca with flow and you will get the feel of what this trail is like.

Hill 2 is my favorite right now. This is the one that climbs forever but the downhill is so incredible I just couldn't quite laughing. Hill one is also home to the "F" trail. When we wrote the bid specs for this project we listed sideslope as A,B,C,and D. This one is so FREAKIN steep that we had to add another category of side slope:F. The sideslope is approaching 90%. With a sideslope this steep the backslope cut is about 15 feet tall. Was it expensive to build? Dam right it was. Was it worth the cost? You can let us know next spring.

Hill 3 has the screamer on it and it has some really great trail and overlook views it is now ranking behind hill 2. The specialty crew has not touched this one yet and it may become my favorite but time will tell.

Hill 4 is the overlook trail and this is the one that has 11 different trail options on it. We only rode one of them today. We are jokingly calling it Tim's trail. During the design process I said to Jeff that I think there is room for one more trail on this hillside(there were already 5 on it) Jeff said if you think you can pull it off go for it!! Once this one gets surfaced (it is a bit sandy in places) you will just fly for about 10 minutes of downhill. Most of it has good soils but the places where the sand is located for some reason seem to be on an outside turn with severe consequences (100 foot drop) if you miss the trail.

That is all I have for now. Billy just hold on soon you will be riding it. Josh, don't forget to pick up those t-shirts from my camper.

Next trip up will be August 31 for 3 days to work with the IMBA downhill specialist. I want to learn all that I can from him so I can become a more rounded trail builder/designer.

tim

[Wolfchimp]

Thanks for the update Tim! Once the trails open up there, there is going to be a mad dash to that area. The anxiety is building and once we hit the Spring opening date:crazy2:...I am guessing we will all be on overload! I already can't wait to ride Cuyuna!!! Thanks for all the hard work!:D

[bakkeb]

Every time you post an update on this trail Tim, I get more and more excited about it. Its been a long time coming for this, and it just sounds unbelievable. I can't wait to actually see it for myself. Sounds like its truly gonna be an epic trail. You've done a great job with this and I will never be able to thank you enough times for how much work its been for you. You rock!:etard:

[PeterG]

Everyone that is workin and has worked on this project is and has been amamzing. These trails will reflect that! The acquisition of the trailer is going along good. We (Trailblazer Bikes) have looked around a LOT for the best deal for the best trailer. We should be makin our decision sometime this week. So we should have a trailer for the next meeting. :jumpy:

[Tim Wegner]

Peter
what a tremendous generous donation you have made to the future of this trail system.
Thanks for all of us that will be visiting your area and riding the trails. Hopefully if all goes as planned we will soon have other trails in the area to compliment the trails at Cuyuna.

Thanks again to Trail Blazer Bikes for the donation. I am sure your shop will be visited when bike things get broken on the Cuyuna Trails
Tim Wegner

[Susannah]

Everyone that is workin and has worked on this project is and has been amamzing. These trails will reflect that! The acquisition of the trailer is going along good. We (Trailblazer Bikes) have looked around a LOT for the best deal for the best trailer. We should be makin our decision sometime this week. So we should have a trailer for the next meeting. :jumpy:

Thanks for your generous donation!!

[Snowboy]

Thank you Trailblazers! We look forward to putting your donation to work.

Just so everyone knows, in about a month we will have some more news about Cuyuna. And no, we are not moving the opening date up. {groans}

I'm also hoping to have some pictures of the trails. The IMBA Trail Care Crew paid a visit and did a little test run on a few trails. We have been very careful about not posting too much to discourage poaching but I think we are getting to a point we can post some action shots. :D So stay tuned for those!

[ryno lite]

Thank you Trail Blazer Bikes for the generous donation! I hope all the people who drive up from the Twin Cities to ride Cuyuna stop in a spend a few dollars! We need to support those who support our sport!