Pre birthday bash ride to the Cedar Lake LRT loop and back
Join Carmel & I for a morning ride to beat the heat. We will ride on the Dakota Trail starting in St Bonifacius traveling west for a few miles and then coming back for a total of about 16 miles.
The ride will go through Baker Park, stops as needed, bring treats. There will be a stop on the return to Plymouth Station. Please note the Loretto, Hamel area is a bit hilly. Questions feel free to contact.
Ride Hiawatha Placeholder
Join me as I test run both the 40-mile and 12-mile (family) RH routes.
ThThis 39 mile rolling ride will start at the parking lot of the St Croix River Visitors Center in St Croix at 10 AM on Friday August 21. It is a ~60 mile drove from the metro area.
There will be a brief rest stop around mile 17 and a lunch stop around mile 25 in the resort town of Balsam Lake where there are many restaurants, some with outdoor seating. Afterwards we return to St Croix .
The roads are almost entirely country roads with light traffic.
There may be an optional un-scouted 45 mile route that follows most of the same roads but goes along the St Croix River slightly more for 10 miles.
An additional possibility after the ride is a lawn-chair-aided free bluegrass music concert by the Roe Family on the St Croix Falls Overlook stage at 6:30pm.is 39 mile rolling ride will start at the parking lot of the St Croix River Visitors Center in St Croix at 10 AM on Friday August 21. It is a ~60 mile drove from the metro area.
An additional possibility after the ride is a lawn-chair-aided free bluegrass music concert by the Roe Family on the St Croix Falls Overlook stage at 6:30pm.
A map-less social ride to downtown Minneapolis for the July 4th USA 250th celebration. Returning after dark so front and rear lights are required..
Save the date for the 2026 Iowa Amana Colonies Oktoberfest Oct 2-4
This is a dry run of the route for Ride Hiawatha. This is your chance to do it without paying. Will finish in plenty of time to eat something before RTR.
Ride start in parking lot next to St Croix River National Scenic River Visitor Headquarters. This is about 60 miles and 1.5 hrs from the metro. Car pooling when possible might be considered as an option.
Most of the rural ride is on lightly travelled county roads that are sometimes wooded but mostly farms. We will ride only a few miles on other slightly busier roads that have a shoulder although narrow.
The first 7 miles are along the St Croix River on a basically untravelled road. The next 7 miles leave the river and have quite a few large-ish rollers while gaining 400 ft over 7 miles to mile 14. A short rest stop at mile 17 is at Mobil in tiny Centuria WI. The interemediate destination is the resort town of Balsam Lake at mile 24 with an optional 2-3 mile loop ride on some light resort roads.
There are 5 restaurants in Balsam some with outdoor seating. The Market or Docs appear to be the best. The plan is to stop for light lunch there around 1pm but it will be a group decision on what to do.
After Balsam Lake, we head back to St Croix Falls again on lightly travelled roads covering a total of 37 or 40 miles passing under Gandy Dancer trail bridge.
At end of ride there is the possibility of an ice cream stop in St Croix Falls.
The ride is on pavements except one 2 mile section on unpaved but good road. This jog exists to avoid biking on a slightly busier paved road (35) but both options are OK.
Some photos along the route will be posted in a separate hbc email.