7 Minute Miles

Lebanon Hills Mountain Bike Trail


Only a mile and a half from my home, Lebanon Hills Regional Park is nearly 2,000 acres of wooded awesomeness just south of the Twin Cities. While there are lots of different activities available in the park, my favorite part is the network of mountain bike trails that is primarily designed and maintained by the Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists non-profit volunteer organization.

While I’ve had the same mountain bike for a long time (and lived in this house for 11 years), I never really knew about these great trails just down the road until a few years ago. Since I started riding there, though, I’ve probably been around the main loop nearly 100 times. MORC keeps adding new sections and improving the older parts, so the riding experience just gets better and better.

Now Dakota County is getting in on the act too – a new trailhead parking lot and warm-up building is under construction that should open next spring. You can see in the shots after the jump that the new parking lot is already paved and about half of the structure is finished. I’m not sure we really needed to spend all that money, but it will be nice to have when the snow melts.

As for my riding ability, I’m starting to feel a little limited by age and equipment. I can’t afford a new bike right now, but I did take this Rockhopper out for a spin a few months ago. It was like night and day – that thing could just ride right over a curb like it wasn’t there…

Youth, however, is something I can’t buy in a store. As I’ve become more comfortable with trail riding, I tend to go faster and take risks that my body can’t always handle. I’ve now had 4-5 major falls, but nothing broken (so far).

Today’s crash was pretty typical: took a jump near the end of the trail at high speed, tilted sideways in the air, landed off balance and the front tire slid out sideways. I sat there stunned and couldn’t move (just like the ski crash). Eventually got up with a bruised thigh and scraped arm, but was able to ride home.

My kids have gone with me a few times on the shorter loops, but they seem to have lost interest. Anyone else want to go?

Originally published by DK on November 6, 2011 at 11:26 pm in Biking, Longform


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