Never done it, but that seneic stretch on 61 north from Duluth to Grand Marais looks pretty decent for riding. Looked like pretty wide shoulders up to Two Harbors and it seems to be a popular spot with riders as there are always people using it when I'm up there in June for Grandmas.
It may be in your backyard too, based off the UMDRunner name.

Another resource, scroll down a little way on this site and you'll find a ton of riding links: http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail...lid=BGM035-015

And if you want to give racing a shot, check out these sites:
http://mcf.net/index.php
www.wisport.org
(despite the Wisconsin connection there are a good number of races on the western side of the state within driving distance of MPLS and Duluth)