A very “Woolly” 62.8 miles

Nothing like some sweet Woolly flow to get you stoked for a long day in the saddle!  Photo Credit:  Jason Kunshier

By Dallas Wynne

On a casual group ride a few friends discussed the idea of completing a metric on our local singletrack mountain bike trail as part of the Cup O’ Dirt Challenge. The plan included an all day grazing stack table at the trailhead picnic area, and a scoreboard to track the mileage totals of  Keith, Jason, Nate, Ben, Tyler, Starr, and myself.

The lap log sheet for the 2015 Woolly Metric.  Photo Credit:  Benjamin Mullin

The Woolly mountain bike trails were hand built by dedicated enthusiasts over the past 8 years.  The rugged and slightly renegade nature of the trails make them a challenging, fun, and unique ride.  The 8 miles of trail consists of mostly flow trails, some significant climbs, grassy meadows and short stretches of limestone trail connectors.  

Dallas's Trek X-Caliber at the entrance to the Wissahickon section of the Woolly Trail on Woolly Metric Day.  Photo Credit:  Jason Kunshier

With the possibility of afternoon rain showers we started out shortly after sunrise.  The trail thread was slick from the morning dew which caused two spills in the first lap, but by the second lap the trail as tacky and confident.  I had intended to take it easy the first few laps as I knew it was going to be a long day, but I soon found that I was averaging close to my normal lap times.  If you tried to dog it, it just seemed harder. Using gravity and maintaining smooth speed is key.  

The name sake of the "Erratic Rock" section of Woolly on Woolly Metric day.  Photo Credit:  Jason Kunshier

The trailhead buffet made a glorious pit stop after each 45 minute lap. Having food and water readily available without having to carry it was a welcome change to every other ride of this length. On the other hand the technical nature of riding singletrack requires more mental focus than the typical gravel grinder, this is doubly true when riding 8 laps of the Woolly.  As a local to this trail you become intimately familiar with every rock, root and stump.  When to sweep corners wide, and when to square them off. The continuous action of shifting, braking, leaning, and standing made it impossible to mentally check out.  

And so went the workmanlike process of completing laps, filling water bottles, and eating 300- 400 calories with each pass of the trailhead picnic table.  

By 2:00 pm Tyler and I having started early were tied at 54 miles, while the rest of our crew were between 38 and 45. At that point the heavy rain arrived which  signaled the closure of the Woolly.  We met briefly and decided to finish our metric on the crushed limestone goodness of the nearby Gandy Dancer State trail that would not be damaged by riding in the rain. 

At over eight hours, this is the longest and Woolliest metric of the year.  We all agreed that it would be worth doing again next year. 

Stay tuned at www.woollybikewoollybikeclub.com

Endless beauty and flow awaits YOU at Woolly!  Photo Credit:  Jason Kunshier

!!!WOOD FIRED PIZZA AT WOOLLY DAY!!!

The crew from A Wandering Fire will cook you up incredible pizzas to order!  Photo Credit:  Jeff Wolf

Woolly Day 2015 is shaping up to be quite an event!  We're thrilled to announce that we've upped the ante again on this - we will have amazing artesian wood fired pizza available for sale at the event - and 10% of pizza sales will go straight back to the Woolly Bike Club!

We figured that it would be tough to beat riding sweet singletrack with great folks, having the full fleet of 2016 Salsa Bikes available to demo, a bon-fire, byo barbequing, and more...  After scratching out heads on how to make this event even more fun, we reached out to our good friends Maaren and Todd (an avid local mountain biker) of A Wandering Fire.  We're so grateful that they've agreed to help keep us hungry mountain bikers satisfied on Woolly Day!

So, for the duration of the Woolly Day event (from 1 - 7PM) A Wandering Fire will have their amazing mobile wood fired pizza oven on site and will have pizza's available for sale - I'm a huge wood fired pizza fan and this is some of the best pizza I've ever had.  Check out their menu here! 

Don't forget, eating wood fired pizza at Woolly Day is good for you- and good for the Woolly Bike Club (as 10% of pizza sales proceeds will be donated to Woolly) - so come hungry! 

For the full scoop on Woolly Day 2015, check out the official event page, RSVP for Woolly Day on Facebook, and if you plan on demoing any Salsa bikes, RSVP on Salsa's Facebook event also.  See you at Woolly Day!  

 

WOOLLY DAY 2015 - Sunday, October 4, 2015 - Fun, Friends, Food, Fire, Fall colors, !FREE 2016 Salsa Cycles bike demo!

YOU'RE INVITED!  Join The Woolly Bike Club, Cyclova XC, and Salsa Cycles for Woolly Day 2015!  (Above picture is from Woolly Day 2014)

Fall is one of our favorite times to ride here in Woollyland - in the majestic upper St. Croix River Valley!  We also have a fantastic Summer of riding and achievements to celebrate - and a thrilling Winter of Groomed Singletrack riding to look forward to:  Join the Woolly Bike Club, Cyclova XC, and Salsa Cycles in celebrating the changing of the seasons at Woolly Day 2015!   

!!YOU'RE INVITED TO WOOLLY DAY 2015!!

BASIC EVENT DETAILS:

When:  Sunday, October 4, 2015 from 1PM until ???

What:  Fun, Friends, Food, Fire, Fall colors, !FREE 2016 Salsa Cycles bike demo!, and of course epic riding on the Woolly trails!

Where:  Woolly Bike Club Trailhead (at the bottom of "Big Oak") at the intersection of Lincoln and Maple Drive in St. Croix Falls.  Go to the TRAIL MAPS & DIRECTIONS page on WoollyBikeClub.com for directions.

Social Media:  Help us plan for how many folks to expect by RSVP'ing for the event on the Woolly Day FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE.  If you'd like to demo any sweet 2016 Salsa Bikes, please do RSVP on Salsa's Facebook Event Page.  Also be sure to like the Woolly Bike Club on Facebook!
Lodging:  Spend the weekend in Woollyland!  For full info on the amazing range of lodging - camping or hotels, check out the great St. Croix Falls tourism website!

FULL WOOLLY DAY 2015 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

1 - 7PM:  Free Salsa Cycles Bicycle Demo.  Join us for free test rides of the full 2016 Salsa Cycles product line!  Bucksaws, Beargreases, Blackborrow, Pony Rustler, Spearfish, etc, etc...  All of the hottest new 2016 Salsa bikes will be available for free test rides.  Salsa and Cyclova XC staff will be on hand to talk bikes with you and answer any questions you have on what could be your next dream bike!
 1 - 7PM:  A Wandering Fire will have their amazing mobile wood fired pizza oven on site and will have pizza's available for sale - I'm a huge wood fired pizza fan and this is some of the best pizza I've ever had.  As a bonus, 10% of the proceeds from Pizza sales will be a donation to the Woolly Bike Club (huge thanks to A Wandering Fire!)!  Check out their menu here! 

~4PM:  Group ride roll out from Woolly Bike Club Trailhead.  Think of this group ride as a guided tour of the Woolly Mountain Bike trail network - lead by the people who built the trails!  We will break up into a couple of groups based on rider ability and keep the groups together.

Evening:  Following the group ride(s), we will hang out at the trail head around the bonfire, eat pizza, barbeque, enjoy beverages, and solve the world's problems! 

What To Bring:  Bring your mountain bike, motivation to ride a bunch of sweet Salsa demo bikes, a snack/beverage to share, an appetite for amazing wood fired pizza, a flannel shirt, and a beverage koozie!  

The crew from A Wandering Fire will cook you up incredible pizzas to order!  Photo Credit:  Jeff Wolf

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Woolly Day 2013 was a blast - with attendance and the fun factor doubling each year!

We are thrilled to have Salsa Cycles' staff and demo fleet at Woolly Day this year - be certain to come with fresh legs to try out the full line of 2016 Salsa bicycles!

Thursday Night Woolly Trail Work Night - !TONIGHT!

Thursday Trail Work Day- September 3, 6-8pm

Thursday trail work day is here once again, and the Woolly could use your help. We will be working on rerouting another section of trail, specifically, a section of trail that has been an erosion issue for some time, but recently has become much worse. As usual, we'll be meeting at the WBC trail head parking area at the corner of Lincoln and Maple at 6:00 pm, and heading up to the work site from there. 

Come on out tonight if you can!

Meeting Location: WBC trailhead parking area at the corner of Lincoln and Maple at 6:00 pm, and heading up to the work site from there.

For those not familiar, with where the Woolly Trail Head is, click here.