Get the Latest Mountain Bike Trail Conditions and Check for Closures Before You Ride

With the changing of the seasons comes mountain bike trail closures, especially during the freeze/thaw cycle.  These closures are put into effect to prevent trail damage and erosion.  Mountain bikers are anxious to get out and ride during the Spring but need to respect these closures and stay off wet trails.  This will save MORC and other IMBA Chapter volunteers hours of trail repair time.  Bookmark this post and check back often to see current MORC trail conditions, get trail information and maps.  For the latest Cyclecast, visit 2WheelWeather's MORC Weather Blog.

Battle Creek Regional Park

Maplewood

Trail Info

MORC Trail Conditions

Image Credit:  MORC

Carver Lake Park  

Woodbury 

Map     Trail Info     Facebook  

MORC Trail Conditions   

Image Credit:  Mountain Bike Geezer

Eagan Bike Park

 Eagan

Trail Info     Facebook

MORC Trail Conditions

Image Credit:  Eagan Bike Park Facebook page

Elm Creek Park Reserve

Maple Grove

Map     Trail Info     Facebook

MORC Trail Conditions

Image Credit:  Griff Wigley

Hillside City Park* 

 Elk River

Map     Trail Info

MORC Trail Conditions

Image Credit:  Griff Wigley

Lake Rebecca Park Reserve

Rockford

Map      Trail Info

MORC Trail Conditions

Image Credit:  MORC

Lebanon Hills Regional Park-West

Eagan

Map     Trail Info     Facebook     Twitter

MORC Trail Conditions

Mendota Trail (MN River Bottoms)

Eagan

Map     Trail Info

MORC Trail Conditions

Minnesota River Bottoms

Bloomington

Map     Trail Info

MORC Trail Conditions

Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve

Savage

Map     Trail Info

MORC Trail Conditions

Image Credit:  MORC

Salem Hills/Harmon Park Reserve

Inver Grove Heights  

Map     Trail Info

MORC Trail Conditions

Terrace Oaks Park West

Burnsville

Map     Trail Info

MORC Trail Conditions
  

Theodore Wirth Park

Minneapolis

Map     Trail Info     Facebook     Twitter

MORC Trail Conditions

Image Credit:  Mountain Bike Geezer

*fee required

MORC Trail Condtions from around the state:

Southern MN     Northeastern MN     Northwestern MN

From MORC:

Why Are Trails Closed?

Sustainable trails are built so that water will run across the trail, not down it. When water runs down the trail it focuses the water and increases erosion. Riding wet trails creates ruts that will focus the water and increase erosion.

Riding wet trails also increases cupping of the trail surface and causes puddles to get deeper and wider, both of which slow the recovery of the trail.

Trails are closed (and often fenced off) during the freeze/thaw cycle in the fall and spring. During these times, trails are especially susceptible to significant damage.

Trails may also be closed after significant weather events, or if there are unsafe trail conditions.

The trails around the Twin Cities metro area are particularly sensitive due to the very large numbers of users these trails get every year.

When trails turn into maintenance headaches, land managers start to consider closing trails for good... PLEASE do your part to ensure that we have access to great trails by riding responsibly. Together we can keep these mountain biking opportunities available for generations to come! Wet Trail Conditions
Beyond major closures, knowing when not to ride after a rainfall can be less obvious. Trails will not be posted as closed or fenced off after normal rainfalls/storms, so it is up to you to make an educated decision. Here are some general rules regarding wet conditions:

- Trails should not be used during wet weather, or when the trail is soft or muddy.
- Trails are open if the trail is firm and the surface will not be disturbed by foot or bike travel.
- PLEASE be patient if the trail isn't ready... allow the trail to dry before riding.
- Trails are typically too wet to ride for 18-24 hours after a significant rainfall.
- Riding wet trails damages the trail by creating ruts that increase erosion.

Please check the Trail Conditions Pages above for the most up-to-date information. And if you ride a trail, please take a minute and update the conditions if they haven't been updated in a while... this is a great way to both help out your fellow riders and help preserve the trails we love! 

Carolina Fernandez Visits Minnesota on Partners Travel Grant

Carolina Fernandez, an equine therapy specialist from Montevideo, Uruguay, is in Minnesota this month to exchange best practices in the field with practitioners across the state.  Last weekend Carolina visited Montevideo, Minnesota, where she toured Lee Mar Ranch, a highly regarded equine therapy facility. Hosted by Minnesota-Uruguay Chapter members Patrick Moore and Sue von Bank, Carolina also got to try her hand at making maple syrup, which is in high season now in Minnesota. Temperatures rose into the 60s (about 16 centigrade) on Sunday for the first time in the area since last October, one meteorologist reported.

Product Review: PDW Dave's Mud Shovels

During the seasonal transition periods in the Spring and Fall, riding a fatbike can get a little messy.  Mud, sand, slush and puddles can get a rider all wet.  To combat this and keep riding dry and comfortable, Portland Design Works has made Dave's Mud Shovels.  These lightweight, quick-install fenders are wide enough to keep water, mud and muck from being flung all over your legs and backside from those big fatbike tires.

The Dave's Mud Shovel rear fender installs in seconds with an adjustable clamp and is long and wide enough (22.5" X 5.5") to keep your backside dry on the messiest of rides.  The angle of the fender can be adjusted to fit all makes and sizes of fatbikes.  MSRP $28.

The Dave's Mud Shovel front fender installs quickly with rubber straps that attach to the downtube of the bike.  It is long and wide enough (19.5" X 6.5") to keep your legs dry and clean when riding through the wet stuff.  The rubber straps accommodate a wide variety of tube diameters.  MSRP $20. 

When the mountain bike trails are closed during the spring thaw, I like to hit the gravel.  This allows me to keep riding until things dry out, but it can get a little dirty.  PDW's Dave's Mud Shovels become part of my necessary riding gear at this time of year.  Mud, water, wet sand and sloppy crushed limestone hit these big fenders instead of me.  My riding apparel would be filthy without them and I wouldn't be warm and dry.  At the beginning of winter, those wet snowfalls are another prime time for using the Mud Shovels.

These fatbike fenders are reasonably priced, lightweight and they do the trick to keep you dry.  Both fenders are easy to remove and clean up quickly with just a rinse and a wipe down.  One area that the rear fender doesn't cover very well is at the confluence of the seat stays, top tube and seat tube.  I usually have my frame bag strapped on and it always gets soaked and covered with dirt as the spinning tire throws a steady stream right on to this area.  Good thing my bag is made with water-resistant nylon and zippers keeping my gear dry inside.  Other than that, the benefits of these fenders far outweigh this small negative.  If you are an all-weather fatbiker, I would recommend Dave's Mud Shovels for all of your messy rides.

Note:  Please do not ride wet mtb trails, this causes ruts, trail damage and takes many hours of volunteer time to repair.  Allow trails to dry before use.  Your local IMBA chapter will thank you.

The front and rear Portland Design Works Dave's Mud Shovels are available from the PDW website, Penn Cycle and other fine bike shops.

Disclosure:  Portland Design Works provided the review samples for this article, but offered no other form of compensation for this review.

Product Review: Gup Gum Gear Bottle Cage Coozie

Winter cycling requires a rider to hydrate just as much as during warm weather rides, so slushy or frozen water bottles can be a nuisance.  To help extend the amount of time it takes to freeze up a water bottle, Gup Gum Gear handcrafts the newly redesigned Bottle Cage Coozie right here in the Twin Cites.  This product is fashioned to fit around standard water bottle cages and uses 3/8" thick closed cell foam for insulation to significantly extend the time it takes water to freeze.  Each Coozie has a heavyweight nylon exterior and medium weight nylon interior with holes for bottle boss bolts.

The front panel flap on the Bottle Cage Coozie pulls down for easy installation and removal.  One of the nice features of the Coozie is that it hugs the water bottle allowing removal and placement of the bottle back into the cage without any interference at all. 

My busy schedule lately has not allowed me to ride as often as I would like, but I did get a chance to test the Bottle Cage Coozies several times in varying below freezing temperatures.  For shorter rides usually lasting 1½ to 2½ hours with temps in the teens and twenties Fahrenheit, my 21 oz. water bottles remained ice free.  To extend this test for many hours, after a 2 hour ride with temps in the low 20's, I strapped the bottle cage/Coozie/water bottle combo from my ride to a pole outside and left it to the elements.  When starting this test, I filled the bottle with cold water from the refrigerator instead of using room temperature water.  I wanted to see how the Coozie would perform with water that was already around 40° F.

My results, after the 2 hour ride the bottle was free of ice.  After 6 hours and a temperature reading of 25° F when I checked the bottle, a thin layer of ice had started to form on the inside walls of the bottle.  At 13 hours I checked the bottle again, the outside temperature now was 20° F and the water in the bottle had frozen significantly, but not solid.  I was able to squeeze the bottle breaking up the ice from the sides allowing me to drink from it.  Colder temperatures than this test will speed up the freezing process but still allow a cyclist to get in several hours of riding without their bottles freezing up to the point that drinking from them is not possible.

*CamelBak Podium bottle with Jet Valve was used during testing.

Image Credit: Gup Gum Gear

Image Credit: Gup Gum Gear

Neil from Gup Gum Gear did his own testing on the effectiveness of the Bottle Cage Coozie and posted the above two photos and his results on the Gup Gum Gear Facebook page.  These are the results from his test:

"Cage Coozie comparison: A couple bottles from Saturday's ride. Green bottle was in a fork mounted coozie from 9:30am til around 2:30 pm. The white bottle was in a seat tube mounted cage (read: vertical) from 9:30 til about 1:30, then the cab of the truck - parked til 2, then driven home with the heater on. Outside temps were between 10 and 20. On the green bottle, the minor valve freezing was easily removed with a whack on a hard surface and was then completely free flowering. The ice inside was very minor. Both bottles were straight tap water; no additives.  The effectiveness of the coozie should be plain to see."

Image Credit: Gup Gum Gear

Ride longer without your water bottles freezing up as quickly with the insulating properties of the Gup Gum Gear Bottle Cage Coozie.  And they are not just for winter time use, I plan on using them during the summer to keep my water cold on those hot days.  My conclusion, these Cage Coozies are an effective way to significantly slow down the icing up of my water bottles on cold winter rides allowing me to stay hydrated as needed.

The Gup Gum Gear Bottle Cage Coozie can be ordered from the Gup Gum Gear Shop page for $25 each.  All Black Coozies are ready to ship and custom colors can be made to order by contacting Neil for a list of currently available colors. 

Disclosure:  Gup Gum Gear provided the review samples for this article, but offered no other form of compensation for this review.

Montevideo, Minn. Drummer Performing Thursday in Uruguay's Capital

Rachel Limon, Past Chair of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners, Receives Business Leadership Award

We are delighted to share the news that Rachel Limon, a past chair of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners, has been awarded the 2013 Business Leadership Award by the Minnesota Consular Corps.

Nearly 100 diplomats, executives, government officials, politicians and special guests attended the awards dinner at the Minneapolis Club on Wednesday evening to celebrate Rachel's achievements. A number of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners members were on hand for the event.

Rob Scarlett, the current president of Minnesota-Uruguay Partners, was asked to introduce Rachel to the audience before the presentation of the award.

Uruguay has been named the most transparent country in Latin America for 2013

The full global report can be found at the Transparency International website:

http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results

¡ Felicitaciones a nuestros compañeros/partners en Uruguay-Minnesota Partners of the Americas !