Fifty Plus (50+) - Minnesota Root River Trail Report

Got into Lanesboro, MN today at 2 after a very nice drive. Lanesboro is at the heart of the Root River Trail system. This is a paved trail with a flattish middle section of about 40-45 miles with two very hilly sections on each end.

I was feeling a bit tired but decided that since I'm here for 4 days that I'm going to ride. So I got out for an afternoon 25 miler. It was a great ride. The mid-section has just enough up and down to it to get a bit of a workout. There's an early autumn tinge of color. Weather was excellent, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70s. The trail was fairly busy, with a lot of 50+'ers out for rides. This area caters to recreational trail riders, Lanesboro has 3 bike rental shops. Everyone was very friendly, I chatted with several people along the trail. Some of the 50+'ers looked pretty serious, riding expensive road bikes and in cycling kit.

Highlights were all of the bridge crossings over the Root River, the river bluffs that lined the trail for miles, the wildlife - saw a couple of deer, some geese, squirrels, and a large flock of turkeys that were attempting to take over the trail, and the look & feel of early autumn. After getting back to town, I found a restaurant with an all you can eat taco bar for $5.95. And it was very good. The icing on the cake was when a guitarist sat down and started playing.

Hope to get in a longer ride tomorrow, if my back doesn't act up. I had to skip my trip to Yellowstone because of it. And I'm riding only my recumbent on this trip because of it. The bent was perfect today, as it gave me a great view.

Have no internet access from my motel (and my cell gets no signal). But I found a cafe that has wireless and even though it is closed right now, their wireless is on. So I'm in my car, parked in front of the cafe, checking on things. As I type this, a couple of 50+'ers are putting their bikes up on their roof rack, I see that one bike is a lugged steel 80's Trek road bike and the other is a Colnago. So I guess the place isn't reserved for us fuddy-duddies.

I think I'm going to like it here. Maybe I will stay until someone comes and gets me.

You've been to lanesboro before, right?

We were there this afternoon so perhaps we met or passed eachother, we were east to Peterson and back to Lanesboro. We had supper at the Riverside and I'd suggest you make it there, you won't be disappointed. I hope you also have time for pie in Whalen next week and she's closed now till Wednesday :(
Have fun it's a beautiful part of Minnesota.

Hi Tom,
This one of my favored trails. We gave up on Root River because of the wash out between Lanesboro and Whalen which you reported.
Did they fix that and how? It looked as if they needed to build a bridge or something.
This trail is almost 4 hours from my house. Because of that and gas prices we went other places.
We do like that restaurant on the river bridge in Lanesboro a lot. We know the owners but have been out of touch because of the above. We made several summer vacations in that town and I did use the trails to train for CC tour.
I would appreciate this trail information please.

Will, I rode 60 miles on the trail a couple of weeks ago. It's in great shape!

The trail section that was washed out has been filled in and paved. It's really kind of neat that that part of the trail is so open with the river on both sides of you.
I spend a lot of time on this trail.

When my wife and I rode the Root River Trail in the early '90s, there was a place in Lanesboro called the Wurst Haus, with a band that played oompah music. Is it still there?

fghhunter, we certainly must have crossed paths in Lanesboro as I passed the Riverside 4 or 5 times on Sunday evening. I rode to Preston on Sunday and Peterson on Monday. Attempted to get pie in Whalen but it was closed today. Not open again until after I leave. Had to settle for an excellent dish of butter pecan ice cream in Lanesboro.

Solveg, this is my first trip to this area. It exceeds my expectations.

As I noted above, I rode to Peterson & Whalen this morning. When I got back to Lanesboro I had put in 28.5 miles. Had my ice cream and decided to go for 40. My longest ride of the year has been only 32, after doing 5 40+ rides last year. So I headed back toward Preston again. Went about 2/3rds of the way before turning around. When I got back to my motel, the computer read 44.15 miles. Could have gone further but my rear was getting a bit sore. It took me 4 hours in the saddle (excluding stops) and that was long enough for today. Have to save something for riding tomorrow.

Browsed the bike shop in Lanesboro. They have a season-end clearance in progress. All bike stuff at 20%-30% off. Will have to pick up a few things. If I had more room in my car, I might buy another bike as they have some great prices. A Sun EZ-Sport CX bent is just $699.

Had a blast on my ride today. It felt good getting in a longer ride again. Wasn't sure I had it in me this year.

One thing I like about this place is that so many people are here to ride. You can strike up conversations at restaurants or at the ice cream shop about "How was your ride today" and about 80% of them will tell you. It is fun to be in a town where the #1 activity is riding a bike, with #2 being riding in a canoe or kayak.

+1 for the Root River Trail. We rode it in August of this year. Don't forget about the Preston to Harmony section that goes South.

But the Preston-Harmony section has steep hills!!!

But the Preston-Harmony section has steep hills!!!

But what a blast to ride down! :eek: :thumb:

It is true that I almost never ride down a steeper, paved hill. I did get the bent up to 24 mph on a long, slightly downhill section of the trail riding from Preston toward Lanesboro.

Today I decided to do something different. I rented a delta trike with underseat steering, one of the new Sun X-series bikes, to see how I liked it. What a great view. Nothing in front of you at all, and riding in a slightly more reclined position than my bent. It was fun. It also weighed a ton and it was slow going up slopes. Only did about 18 miles on it (I decided to walk more today).

This was what I rode:
http://www.rbr.info/store.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=84&category_id=12

There are so many 50+'ers here. At 53 I think I'm younger than about 70% of the people I see on the trails. A lot of trail riders in their 60s and 70s.

Bought a few things at the bike shop today and chatted with the owner for 15-20 minutes. What a dream job. He drove 18-wheelers for 30 years before moving here to run a B&B. Then 3-4 years later he decided to open a bike shop and it has done very well. He must have at least 100 rental bikes, with a good 25-30 recumbents, trikes, or recumbent tandems. But no road bikes. Says people who want road bikes always bring theirs with them. He said it was a great job, as the visitors are nearly always friendly and easy to deal with. He closes it in November and goes south for the winter.

When my wife and I rode the Root River Trail in the early '90s, there was a place in Lanesboro called the Wurst Haus, with a band that played oompah music. Is it still there?

Still here. I had a really good root beer there today, they make it right on the premises. A family came in and ordered a meal and the 60+'er who makes the meals in the back, came out and played his accordian for a few minutes after they got their food. Fun people.

There are so many 50+'ers here. At 53 I think I'm younger than about 70% of the people I see on the trails. A lot of trail riders in their 60s and 70s.


That's common there this time of the year. The weekends usually have a much wider age range. I rode there the weekend before last and saw quite a few younger roadies and young families.

Bought a few things at the bike shop today and chatted with the owner for 15-20 minutes. What a dream job. He drove 18-wheelers for 30 years before moving here to run a B&B. Then 3-4 years later he decided to open a bike shop and it has done very well. He must have at least 100 rental bikes, with a good 25-30 recumbents, trikes, or recumbent tandems. But no road bikes. Says people who want road bikes always bring theirs with them. He said it was a great job, as the visitors are nearly always friendly and easy to deal with. He closes it in November and goes south for the winter.

That is a dream job:)

I've been enjoying your trip report. I'm hoping to be able to take a few trips similar to yours now that I'll be retiring soon and will have lots of free time:thumb:

I bid good-bye to Lanesboro today, but not until putting in another 25 miles. Rode to Fountain. Or I should say up to Fountain. I knew it was up a bit from the river but didn't know it was a steady up slope for 5+ miles after making the turn to Fountain and breezing over a nice flat 1/2 mile stretch.

Not a steep slope, as it is a railroad grade, just a steady 1%-3%. I started okay, but it ground me up. I prayed for a flat stretch as I crested each hill, but there was just more uphill grinding after each. By the end my legs were fatigued and I was kinda "walking", just spinning at 5mph. A combination of having tired legs from all of the previous rides and not being in shape.

But I had been told there was good pie in Fountain so I was determined to get there. As I spun over the last crest, I was chanting pie, pie, pie, pie, pie. Then I saw the "Welcome to Fountain - The Sinkhole Capital of the USA" sign. They had a sinkhole corralled there, with a big display telling about why so many are in the area.

I think it took me about 45 minutes to do the last 5 miles.

But there was a double reward. The pie was good (peach) and then there was the ride back down the hilll. Old Tom was flyin' (for Tom). I was cruising at 17-18 mph for 21 minutes over a 5.7 mile stretch (had to stop twice at intersections and another time to keep from hitting a kamikazi squirrel) so my overall average was 16. I have certainly never had the experience of riding downhill for 21 minutes before. What a blast!

Did 25 on that trail and then another 5 once I got to Trempealeau, WI. So I'm up to 117 over 4 days. Two more days of riding to go.

I also stumbled across another really nice bike shop. Was driving north of La Crosse, WI and through Onalaska, WI and saw a bike shop. The "Blue Heron Bicycle Works." It appeared to be a one-man shop, I chatted with the owner for a while. He is an "independent" bike shop. Carries no major brands. But he had a rack filled with Salsa, Surly, Gunnar, and other bikes that he built up from frames. Really nice stuff. Bunch of older frames that he rebuilt too. Stays in business by doing repairs on local bikes and does his bike builds as a side business. Not a carbon frame on the premises, but he said he'd work on those too if that is what someone wanted. He loves building steel frame bikes with moustache bars. Neat place.

You must have missed to interpretive sign along the trail that talked about the railroad having to break the trains in smaller units and using of helper engines to climb out of the valley onto the western plains. We made that climb at the end of the day after traveling from Houston on the eastern end. I was expecting it because I had read the sign, but my wife was more than a little suprised with the length of the climb. Not a bad climb, just a long one. The return trip back east was fantastic. I think I only made a couple of pedal revolutions in 5 miles.

You must have missed to interpretive sign along the trail that talked about the railroad having to break the trains in smaller units and using of helper engines to climb out of the valley onto the western plains.

There was a sign??? :notamused:

I think I'm biked out.

Did another 36 miles today on the Great River Trail in Wisconsin. It was a great ride, up to the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge. I've been there before but it was particularly nice now, being that it is the start of the migratory season. Hundreds upon hundreds of birds out on the Mississippi River and it's backchannel wetlands. Pelicans, geese, cranes, egrets, herons, dozens of varieties of ducks, red-winged blackbirds were flocking (yikes, winter must be coming!), plovers, and much more. Spotted three bald eagles later in the ride.

This makes 153 miles ridden in 5 days. I know people do more than this in a few hours, but it is more than I have ever ridden before. Including some stops made while sitting in the big, easy seat, I've put about 16 hours in the bent's "saddle." I'm sore in many places - my feet ache, my rear aches, I've got sore spots in sensitive places, but overall it does feel good.

So while I had planned to ride again tomorrow, I think I'll skip it. Take some walks instead. My motel room overlooks the Mississippi River and one of the locks on it. I can even see the river while lying in bed. I sat on my deck this morning watching the fog rise off of the water. I'm watching the sun set over the Mississippi as I type this. With my spotting scope set up next to me, so I zoom in on any interesting bird or sight. Life is good.

Saw an odd sight on the Root River Trail the other day. There was a crumpled dead deer right on the trail. As I was wondering how hard a bike would have to hit a deer to kill it, I noticed that it was lying right at the base of a 40 ft'ish bluff. So either someone really smacked it with a bike, or it fell off of the bluff. I'm guessing bluff, but I never imagined a deer would fall off of one. They seem so graceful and sure-footed.

Someone here on BF hit a deer with a bike, but the both walked away.

It sounds like you had a great trip, Tom. Now, when I'm in town it will be easier to lure you over to MN for a bike ride. You do need a tiny digital camera you can keep in your bag. I would have liked to have seen the birds.

Don't forget about the Preston to Harmony section that goes South.

If you're all the way down in Harmony you might as well drop in on Decorah, IA (my home town). Lots of trails, rivers, bluffs, hills! It's not as organized as the Root River Trail but it's easy to find maps in the local shops and I think you will find it as scenic and charming as any place in the area.

I drove through Decorah on the way to Lanesboro. Frankly, even having lived in Wisconsin for the past 19 years, I had never heard of it before. But it looked very nice and I made a note to check into that area.

I just remembered that today is exactly 2 years from the day that I decided to think about riding a bike again. And ironically, I was coming to the same town that I'm sitting in right now - Viroqua, WI. On an earlier trip to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve I noticed that they had an old road through it that was now a lightly used MUP. So at the last second before leaving, I put my Bridgestone CB-1 into the car.

I did ride it and it was a memorable ride. I forget whether I rode 2 or 3 miles out from where I parked before it became so incredibly painful that I had to give up. I had an old Vetta gel seat on it, that had hardened over the years. I had no strength in my legs, a 200 yard long slope was almost impossible for me to get over. It was not a pleasant experience. I was humilated by how out of shape I was.

I'm still not in good shape, and my speed still royally sucks. But I'm made quite a bit of progress in the 2 years.

Isn't it amazing how far one ends up riding when the scenery and the weather
is great. It often seems that the miles (and the hours) just fly by and before you
know it your time is up and the odometer shows a much higher number than you
ever would have planned. At least that's the way it often is with me.

It sounds like you've had a great trip and that the 'bent has served you well.
It's too bad you couldn't have grabbed that EZ Sport, they're a very comfy ride,
though maybe you could use the same amount of funds to venture into a used SWB.
The more I use mine the more I love it. It seems to be about the fastest bike I
own for the same amount of effort expended, and it tends to fly uphill.

Thanks for the ride reports, Tom.

Happy Trails

I've twice taken SWBs on test rides. Didn't like them at all. Found them difficult to handle. I grant that would improve with practice. But my biggest concern is that as the bottom bracket gets up to seat level, my feet are prone to going numb. That happened on both test rides, once within 6-7 minutes. I know others have the same problem.

I may try renting something like a Bacchetta Agio, where the BB is almost up to seat level, to see how that works.

I do agree that getting the BB up level with the seat does improve uphill performance, as you can push directly off the back of the seat and not lose power on the lesser angle of the lower BB designs.

Finally got back home. Wow. I was gone for 6.5 days and it feels like I got in at least 10 days of activities. Picked up a bunch of produce & baked goods at an organic farmer's market this morning, visited 5 art studios, and got in a 4 hour hike. I'm totally worn out.

A sign of how busy I was - when I opened my suitcase after getting home, I found my iPod. It never got turned on during the week.

A friend of mine asked me if I had ridden all of those miles by myself. Hadn't thought of it, but except for slowing while passing a few couples on the Root River Trail to chat for 5-10 seconds, I rode them all in solitude. In reflecting on that, I think if I had been with someone who wanted to do more miles, that I would have ridden more miles. I pushed myself some, or I wouldn't have ridden 153 miles, but I took it easy at times too. I haven't ridden with anyone since June, 2007.

I'm glad you had such a great time, Tom! I'm jealous.

I was stuck in my studio working the entire time, but am now done and packing for KS. I've doubled my income this year, but it's been grueling. In this economy it makes sense to make money while you can, but I have had very little fun this summer. Like I said, I'm envious.