I am in the Twin Cities and ride every weekend. Not with any organized groups but I am always looking for other riders who might want to join me. I put in 30 to 40 per outing at a pace of 18-20 mph. I typically do routes throughout the cities utilizing the trails and streets but I go west to Lake Minnetonka and beyond sometimes. I am lately thinking of exploring northeast to White Bear and Stillwater.

@khamsborgsmollen: Check out the Flèche Ride.

It’s a good group of people, at a good pace. There are other groups that also meet at the same time and location, and those folks know about other groups, etc.

@ppayne1959: I’m based in St. Paul and I did the Stillwater route several times last year. From where I start, it’s about 50 miles round trip. I usually add another loop to bring it up to 62mi (100km).

Much depends on where you are starting and where you want to join the Gateway trail. Once you’re on the Gateway, the trip to Stillwater is a breeze. Take the Browns Creek Trail at Duluth Junction. I did this round trip several times last year. From where I start, it’s about 50mi. I would add another 12 mile loop and make it an even metric.

wish I would have asked here last summer on options to Dayton Road. If I do that ride to Bemidji again does Luce Line to Wayzata, to Orono, then north on Lake Independence regional Trail, county roads to Albertville then diagonal to Monticello sound like a better option?

@jwsknk: I can’t say that I know much of anything about that area, but a quick look at the Googlie suggests that you’d want to go north out of Albertville on Labeaux to County Road 39 NE. The latter is at least marked as “bicycle friendly”, and will take you to Monticello.

Jason Ave, NE, will cut the corner and it’s probably the diagonal route you mentioned. Not knowing the area, I don’t know what it’s like to ride on that road. It’s just not marked as “friendly” on the GMap.

39 was what we took from Elk River, marked as part of the MRT, that wasn’t too bad. Even the Minneapolis to Dayton was okay on a Thursday morning heading north, back into town on a Saturday afternoon was a bit more stressful. The MRT on the east bank just looked like a lot more corners to look for and a better chance to get lost.

Sounds like some good routes shared. I really do want to ride with others on occasion. I live closer to the Mpls lakes, so ppayne59-your rides on the weekends might be fun to join. The Fleche Ride also sounds good to try. Its early though! This weekend doesn’t look promising, but I would like to try and catch up with some fellow Ragbrai riders sometime this summer. Thanks for the posts!

I did the Stillwater run with a group of friends this past weekend. Perfect day for it. Once you get to the trails it’s a very smooth ride. Getting through St.Paul can be a bit daunting unless you’re comfortable wrestling for roadspace with cars.

The Stillwater ride was a long ride! I haven’t gone further than 30 yet. Need to get on it!

Juan, where are you in the city? I am over by Lake of the Isles. Would you like to get together for a ride soon? I am busy this coming weekend but after that I typically ride Saturdays and Sundays.

@ppayne1959 I’m in St. Paul, not far from where the Omnium bike shop used to be. I’m busy this weekend as well. Dang kids and their college graduations. ;) The following weekend I’ll be riding the MS-150 from Duluth to Century College.

I’ve got some other RAGBRAI friends in the area, though, and they can probably pull together a disorganized group for the 11th or 12th.

@khamborgsmollen Stillwater’s a really nice destination. Unless you’re training for hills, take the Browns Creek Trail (the turning from the Gateway is well marked). We had lunch at Leo’s Malt Shop, but there are plenty of places in town and I think they’re starting to get used to cyclists. The trail can get crowded on a weekend. If you want a shorter route, there are parking lots along the Gateway so you can park and ride.

You guys are all missing the most important part of RAGBRAI training, drink beer, get back on the bike and ride, repeat several times. My brother and I ride the twin cities area quite often at a more sedate pace with plenty of rest stops to sample all of the old and new microbrewery offerings in the area!

@bianchi-brett: You may be missing the fact that Stillwater is home to several breweries, if that’s your thing. Me, personally… hard knocks and family history… I prefer the malts at Leo’s.

It would be fun to do a microbrew training ride. I am traveling for work this next week, but would love to join some fellow ragbrai riders for a fun training ride.