Lake cabins, hot days on the boat, s’mores over the fire, highway 169 traffic jams. These are all things that you envision as you drive north on a Friday evening up towards Mille Lacs. Mountain biking might be far from your mind as you leave your hometown singletrack trails, but you should think again. The Cuyuna Lakes mountain bike trails are some of the best around, and are one of 15 IMBA Silver Level Ride Centers in the entire world. The small townships of Crosby and Ironton lay a few pedal strokes away from the Cuyuna trail system, featuring endless, flowing, red dirt singletrack. Trails roll in and around the old mining pits that put these towns on the map long ago.

Growing on last year’s success, Now Bike’s Shred the Red trip to Cuyuna more than doubled in size. Sam Berglund and Ambrose Riegel led a group of ten riders through the red trails for the weekend. We had everyone from brand new riders to Cuyuna veterans, and everyone had a great time. We stayed overnight at the True North Base Camp cabins and enjoyed a cool dip in the lake after a full day of riding on Saturday.

Sunday started with a hearty breakfast at the North Country Cafe before a few extra hours of riding. Unfortunately the rain brought our Sunday adventures to a close earlier than we would have liked, but there was no doubt that we had an unforgettable trip. To all that rode, thank you! Here’s to another great trip, and looking forward to more to come!