Trail Care Crew Swings Through Minnesota

July 1997

By Gary Sjoquist, North Central Mountain Bike Group

The Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew landed in Minnesota July 24-26 and participated in trail clinics at six different locations.

The first stop was Winona, MN, with Adventure Cycling's Greg Gall and 15 members of the Winona Area Mountain Bikers. At a scenic singletrack trail overlooking the Mississippi River, Mike and Jan introduced various maintenance techniques, including a method to limit "volunteer" trails by placing logs and brush lengthwise rather than across a closed trail. "The point," Mike stated, "is to make the closed trail look less inviting and harder to navigate than the open trail."

After their Winona stop, Mike and Jan headed north to St. Paul for a day-long Trails Workshop on July 25. Fifteen park planners, managers, and maintenance personnel from city, county, and regional parks throughout the Twin Cities area attended the workshop in 90 degree heat and high humidity. Thanks to Penn Cycle and Valley Creek Bicycle, all participants were able to ride mountain bikes, affording a unique perspective for those who had never ridden mountain bikes before on trails they manage. The goal was to ride, discuss problems areas with Mike and Jan, ask questions, and gain a better appreciation for trail design and maintenance.

The day's first session took place at Battle Creek Regional Park in St. Paul. "This is great," gasped Dave Grommesch of Burnsville Parks and Recreation as he pushed a bike up a hill. "Now I know why mountain bikers hate gravel. It's easy to put down, but there's no traction on a hill." Mike and Jan were quick to point out the problems of improper trail design, often found at a facility like Battle Creek where existing trails are simply signed as open for mountain biking. "Often the slopes are too steep, or there's too much berm established for water direction," said Jan. "The result is a damage control mode - you're always trying to solve a problem that wouldn't have occurred with the right design."

The entire group then traveled to Cedar Lake Trail in Minneapolis, a problematic urban mountain biking site. "We see this a lot," Mike observed. "Cities have these little wooded pockets where a bunch of trails cross each other. A short loop trail could work, but it needs to be managed, which might mean limited access or user fees. The key is a management plan before opening it up to riders."

After traversing the hills and valleys of nearby Theodore Worth Park, a sweaty, muddy, mosquito-bitten group of park planners and managers left late in the day with new insights into mountain biking trails. Dakota County's Steve Sullivan extolled the event: "This was awesome. Mike and Jan have so much information to give. With bikes, we covered a lot of trail and got to see problems first-hand instead of getting a typed report from someone."

Mike and Jan then traveled to Terrace Oaks Park in Burnsville, where a quick ride was interrupted with stops to discuss problems. They noted how muddy potholes and small branches at eye level cause trails to widen as riders ride wide to avoid them.

The crew held a work session along the Minnesota River Valley Trail in Bloomington with employees of Quality Bicycle Products (faithful IMBA contributors). The session focused on unique issues inherent in trails on a flood plain, including on how to deal with thick sand left by annual floods. "Mix in kitty litter," suggested Mike. "It's clay based, so will mix in and provide some stability."

Then Mike and Jan loaded their Subaru Outback for the day-long drive to their next stop in South Dakota. "It's great doing these trail clinics. It's also a little frustrating. You help to solve their problems, but you don't get to see the results," " Jan remarked.

Thanks to Subaru and the talents of Mike and Jan Riter, IMBA's Johnny Appleseed approach to trail design and maintenance worked well during the brief swing through Minnesota. The crew visited multiple trail sites and worked with more than 50 park and trail managers, maintenance personnel, and volunteers, offering a wide range of resources, helpful tips, and plain old common sense. The North Central Mountain Bike Group would like to thank Mike and Jan for their time and interest in our trails, and would especially like to thank Subaru and IMBA for implementing a truly visionary project.