Early this month I visited Park Tool company in Minnesota to do some video collaborations.
That weekend we traveled up to Duluth to go mountain biking.
But having spent the prior week in Whistler, my expectations were poisoned by a kind of
elevation elitism.
I figured Duluth would have some good scenery and fun trails, but nothing challenging or
exciting.
After all, this was Minnesota.
What could Duluth possibly have to offer.
Well, big scary rock rolls for one.
Duluth turned out to be big league fun for many reasons, not the least of which is the
community that made it so.
It serves as an example of what can be done with a little bit of good terrain, and a lot
of cooperation.
Duluth is situated on Lake Superior with a nice ridge in the backdrop.
That ridge is only a few hundred feet above the city but apparently the riders there really
like downhill.
So they built downhill trails.
Not 5% grade machine cut flow trails.
Wicked, hand cut, fall line screamers with proper rock rolls.
And rock step ups, and gaps.
And they have a downhill park.
A lift access downhill park with 600 feet of vertical.
That may not sound like much until you see how fast their chair lift is.
Combine that with basically no line, and you can get in more than enough runs to make up
for the lack of vertical.
Should you prefer a more holistic mountain biking experience, Piedmont offers the full
gamut, from those steep downhill trails I mentioned, to relaxing cruises through the
woods.
And the Urban waterfront views aren’t too terrible either.
But in the day and a half I spent at Duluth, I probably rode most of what they had.
Compared to other places, Duluth hasn’t been in the game for very long so it’s developing,
slowly, by hand.
Quality over quantity.
Pick axes over bulldozers.
Speaking of hand cut goodness, this trail is actually at the downhill park, but only
used during enduro races.
It’s steep, loamy, raw, and tricky.
Speaking of eating it, check out this rock garden.
I watched, I dunno, 3 different riders try this over and over again until they cleaned
it.
Next week at Crankworx, pros will compete in whip offs and slopestyle competitions,
yet I doubt any of it will be as exciting as watching beginners get better.
And speaking of beginners, you know when your mountain bike scene is popping off when super
groms start to appear.
In a few years, she’ll be coming to a bike park near you to dish out some embarrassment.
Another thing I like about Duluth is the people.
When my phone went missing, the whole park knew about it
within minutes and kept their eyes open.
Sure, this could have had something to do with me having a big YouTube channel, but
I really think they would have done the same for anyone.
And after retracing our steps, we got word that someone found my phone by the jumps.
I met Adam and Tate at Spirit mountain.
They work, race, and build in Duluth, so it was exciting for them to show me what their
city had to offer.
But still, I was cautious.
I’m starting to become more cognizant of the effects an audience this size can have
on small trail systems.
This is why recent videos have taken place in my backyard, private parks, or massive
destinations that everyone already knows about.
But the feeling I got in Duluth was that they’re happy to get some recognition.
The week after my visit Adam visited the Pacific Northwest, and rode everything including Kamloops
and the biggest jumps at Whistler.
He got those skills from riding his home turf, and that speaks volumes for what Duluth has
to offer.
Now that I’ve gotten a taste of the Great Lakes region, I’ll need to check out some
of the other spots up there, especially in Michigan.
Until then, thank you Duluth for riding with me, and I’ll see you next time.