Come join me (Art Christofferson) and other TCBC riders for the Fulton Gran Fondo on Saturday, May 4, 2024.  There are 3 mileage options:  24, 50 and 100.  I will be riding the 50 mile route at a B/C pace, starting at 10 am.  You are welcome to ride with me or at a difference pace or mileage.  Please report your mileage to me by end of day Sunday, May 5 via email to artchris0002@yahoo.com.  The Block Party follows the ride (see below for more info).   

For more information and to register for the ride, go to https://www.fultongranfondo.com/.  You must be registered for the ride in order to receive mileage credit.  

From the ride's website:  

Gran Fondo – 100 miles – Imagine riding 100 miles with nearly 2000 friends.  This is urban riding, suburban side streets and some wide open country roads with stops at 3 aid stations (leaves at 9 am).  Fulton Gran Fondo 2024 · Ride with GPS

Medio Fond – 50 miles – A little shorter and easier road ride than the Gran Fondo (leaves at 10 am).  I will be doing this route.  Fulton Medio Fondo 2024 · Ride with GPS

Piccolo Fondo – 22 miles – A police escort will deliver you to the Three Rivers District trails that will take you to a pit stop at Pizza Luce Hopkins with a complimentary Fulton beer (leaves at 11 am).  Fulton Piccolo Fondo 2024 · Ride with GPS

All rides finish at the NE Minneapolis (2540 NE 2nd St. Minneapolis, Mn) production brewery where the Post-ride Fondo Block Party runs from Noon - 8pm with live music, cold beer and food truck fare. Admission is free for riders, friends, and family.

A mapless stay together ride that is perhaps the flattest ride in the club.  We'll start at Harriet Island in St. Paul and ride through Lilydale Park to the St. Paul Yatch Club.  We'll turn around and retrace the route riding pass our starting location and head down Plato and the Robert Piram trail to Kaposia landing in South St. Paul.  From there we'll continue down the MRT to the Rock Island Swing Bridge for our rest stop.  We'll return on the the MRT and make a short stop at the Charles W. 'Speed' Holman Memorial.  After this short stop we'll head back to Harriet Island using Bayfield, Filmore, and Harriet Island Blvd.

There is water and facilities at the rest stop, but you should plan on bringing your own snack.

This ride is free for current members and first-time guests.

Thanks to Pat Exley for letting me post a C version of this scenic (and flat) ride! See his B/C ride description for full details. We will be following the same route but at a slower pace, somewhere around 11 mph, so that we have more time to enjoy the beautiful views. This will be a mapless, stay-together ride. Call or text Lyle at 612 516 2053 with any questions.

Join us at the beautiful 45th Parallel Distillery in New Richmond, WI for a 50 mile ride primarily north of New Richmond.  We will shoot for the upper end of an A/B pace of 17 mph.  An A group may form and run at a faster pace.  17 mph will be a good effort given the climbing and amount of shorter punchy hills particularly on the back half of the ride.  We will try moderate effort to keep the group together, but will regroup as necessary.  Understand that it is more difficult to “flow” as a group on the punchier terrain.

There will be rest stops at mile 23 in Osceola.

Please stay for rehydration, refueling, and socializing at the 45th following our excursion.  The menu at the 45th is phenomenal - can't miss!

The 45th opens at 10:00 AM - so bathrooms should be available at the ride start.  Please park away from the front as best you can to reserve those parking spots for the early arriving and lunch crowd.  We appreciate the 45th being gracious hosts for our rides.

Please use the pre-registration tool for signing up for the ride.

Sleep in and then leave the city behind as we ride across the border using the St Croix Crossings Bridge to Houlton and then into Stillwater.  This route will follow most of my original Ride Across the Border but we will not go into Hudson and the return will follow the longest route back using some county roads that the longest route uses.

Lovely, fairly quiet roads thru Demontreville area, by Lake Jane and Lake Elmo and the McDonald neigbhood to make our way over to the new and beautiful St Croix Crossings Bridge going up and then down the Stillwater Lift Bridge.  We'll take a break in Stillwater near the public area, and the river.  Food can be gotten at the Daily Grind, River Market, Amoco Station or bring your own and hang out at the public tables, if we can find a free one.  Public Restrooms available also. 

Return will take Brown's Creek Trail and then get off at McKusick road to some familiar quiet, roads, making our way back to White Bear Lake and the bustle of city / suburban life.  

Ride leader will ride at the high end of the B range, approximately 14-15 mph avg or less and will wait at turns if needed.  Anyone wanting to go their own pace faster or slower is welcome to.

I will not have any cue sheets, but you can download to your garmin, wahoo or use the ride with gps app on your phone to be paperless.  Please register for the ride if you plan to ride, it makes entering the ride extremely quick and easy for the leader and you will only need to confirm your arrival with the ride leader, and be able to prepare yourself for the ride.

Any questions about the ride or if the weather becomes questionable, feel free to txt me at 651-295-1908.

There are many possibilities for packing a lot of ups and downs (a lot of hills) per mile of cycling while making a loop out of River Falls.  For instance, one can start with a long climb right from town. This ride however doesn't do that, tries to stretch things out a little, while still putting us on the quiet, rolling, and often obscure backroads, often with no need for center lines, and little traffic.  

Starting at Hoffman Park in River Falls, we loop around through the north of town, then start a series of climbs and descents until we get near our rest stop in Ellsworth (at mile 30). We exit through that town, then do another series of descents and climbs, finally returning to River Falls via our long descent down Happy Valley Road.

As we discovered last week, some roads seem to revert to gravel, partly due to their remoteness. On this ride, plan for one half-mile stretch of level gravel. 

As ride leader, still quite out of shape, I plan to ride in the rear, and you are welcome to ride as slow as me, especially on the several long ascents. And you are welcome to blaze ahead with the other, fitter riders. Either way, this is training for longer hills on more challenging rides later on. 

Note that we depart from Hoffman Park River Falls at 11:30 am. The ride briefing will start at least 5 minutes prior to this. 

Note: even if you have NO doubt about the weather, be sure to check for an unlikely but possible ride cancellation before coming to the ride.

This nearly 50 mile route is at https://ridewithgps.com/routes/46462052. I will plan to have as many cue sheets (and possibly maps) as registered riders. 

Coffee anyone?

The ride will be leaving from the Wayzata Dakota Trailhead in Wayzata to our favorite cafe’, Ruby's Roost in Victoria.
The route will travel thru Excelsior and Shorewood en route to Victoria.
We will stop at Ruby’s in Victoria for a short break, snack & coffee.  This is the rest stop for the A/B and A groups.  

After the stop, we'll head east and north to Deephaven and back to Wayzata.    

The route is a mix of roads and trails with rolling hills.

• There will be two A/B groups.  Tom Hewes will lead a group at speeds of 18-21mph with an average for the ride around 17 mph.  Mary Derks will lead a group at the low end of an A/B pace with an average for the ride around 15 mph.

After the ride we can grab a bite to eat at the Wayzata "Muni" Bar & Grill.

Parking: The route starts and ends near the Dakota trailhead in Wayzata.
Rest Stop: Ruby's Roost Cafe for coffee in Victoria.

Coffee anyone?

This weekend's ride will be leaving from the Wazata Dakota Trailhead in Wayzata and proceed on the Daktota Trail out to just past St. Bonifacius.
We can stop for a rest at the St Boni Bistro in St. Bonifacious to grab a coffee if anyone would like before heading back on the trail to Wayzata.

• B group - typically rides at speeds from 15-18mph with an average for the ride around 14-16mph.

We often grab a bite after the ride at the Wayzata "Muni" Bar & Grill.

Parking: The route starts and ends near the Dakota trailhead in Wayzata.
Rest Stop: Ruby's Roost Cafe for coffee in Victoria.

Coffee anyone?

The ride will be leaving from the Wayzata Dakota Trailhead in Wayzata to our favorite cafe’, Ruby's Roost in Victoria.
The route travels to Shorewood and Victoria.  We will stop at Ruby’s in Victoria for a short break, snack & coffee.  Rest stop is at mile 18.

After the stop, we will head towards Chanhassen, then turn north through Minnetonka and then back to Wayzata. This route is a mix of roads and trails with rolling hills.

• A group - typically rides at speeds from 18-22 mph with an average for the ride around 17-19 mph.  Scott Larson is the ride leader for this group.    

We often grab a bite after the ride at the Wayzata "Muni" Bar & Grill.

Parking: The route starts and ends near the Dakota trailhead in Wayzata.
Rest Stop: Ruby's Roost Cafe for coffee in Victoria.

Dirt Church

I am delaying the start of Dirt Church until 1:00 PM because the trails are currently closed due to rain. Hopefully they will reopen by 1:00 PM on Sunday.

I am finally healthy enough to start leading rides again and I figured the best way to start is to finish the ride that I was injured on back on January 7^th. 

Willow River State Park has some of the best mountain bike trails near the Twin Cities. This is a Wisconsin State Park and will require a vehicle admission sticker. A day pass is $13 and the annual pass is $38. The annual pass expires on December 31, so the best time to get one is on January 1!

This will be a “B” level mountain bike ride and we will regroup at all trail intersections. I plan on riding about 2-3 hours, which will probably be about 12-19 miles. Restrooms are available at the ride start.

Post ride refreshments will be at Pitchfork Brewing.

“PLEASE CHECK THE TCBC RIDE CALENDAR AND RIDE CANCELATIONS ON THE TCBC FORUM BEFORE COMING TO THE RIDE.”