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Amy Shreve's Journal
Duluth n' Mont Du Lac
posted by at 01:11 PM on June 20, 2008
I recently spent a couple days in the north woods of Minnesota, near Lake Superior.... ah yes, on of the most tranquil places on earth (at least, I think so)... .Duluth, MN. A funny little incident - as I was driving along on the highway... I saw a beautiful Bald Eagle, only to find the big ole eagle sitting on a dead deer. Yeah, kinda took away from the beauty, but still amazing, well, kind of...
Anyway...It's been a couple years since I've been in Duluth, but it was sure great to be back, get some great riding in and hang with some cool folks.
I got in early in the evening and checked into my hotel. I though, hmm, I don't wanna hibernate in my room quite yet. So, I made my way to downtown and parked right off Canal Park - a super happening street in Duluth. I got my Surly out and thought I'd go explore the area. I made my way down to where are the bridges and lighthouse were located. I also managed to score some ice cream along the way.
I hung down by the water and watched the gulls and just relaxed on a bench. It was a perfect night - hardly any wind and perfect temp.
The next day I made my way to the local shop - The Ski Hut. Super cool folks! After visiting, I grabbed some lunch and thought Iwould make my way to the event venue early to in some riding.
Mont Du Lac (ski resort) is actually located in Wisconsin, about 15 miles outside of Duluth. It's a BEAUTIFUL area! A couple people from the local cycling organization were actually there making final trail preperations for the weekends race, Dirt Spanker - a race I have always wanted to do.
I wish I would have taken a picture of the start of the race... a HUGE ass climb. And I mean huge, it was almost straight up, no joke. It had just rained a couple hours earlier and the grass was still damp. I kept spinning out as I was climbing up the start..that's how steep it was.
The trail is well marked and super easy to follow. The course isn't too technical. Lots of twisting and turning in the deep woods. Some fun, fast, steep decents and some really cool bridge crossings - I think there was one log pile crossing. LOTS of roots... and LOTS of freakin' misquitos. I think it's a 5 mile loop. Tons of ferns along the forest floor - made it look awesome. And lots of wildlife, especially deer. I was also told to watch out for bear.... be aware!
If you check out the trail, be aware it's on private property. Every Tuesday night the local cycling organization meets for group rides. I believe the organization is COGGS.
This is a perfect trail to go out for a nice relaxing ride to enjoy nature and a sweet trail to work your butt off.
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