What we did &where we went

Let me just first say, neither of us had ever mountain biked before and didn’t know what to expect.

The town of Crosby has grown exponentially in the past few years, largely because of the surge in popularity of the Cuyuna mountain biking trails. I love the little thrift shops and antique stores there, and they have so many! It was entirely Chad’s idea to go mountain biking and I thought it sounded fun, so why not try it out. To be honest, I was picturing a casual bike stroll through some hills and nice scenery. As soon as we got the bikes and they told us we needed helmets, I started to get a little nervous that I was wrong. The bikes looked super intense and heavy duty, so they definitely weren’t meant for a casual ride through the hills, and the seats were SUPER uncomfortable. We later learned you’re supposed to wear special butt pads with them LOL.

There are several different styles of mountain bikes you can rent at different prices. We decided to go with the suspension bikes which are one of the easier styles to ride for newbie bikers. I believe it was $75 a person for a 4-hour rental. We then rode the bikes over to the trails which are very close by. They have maps and trail labels letting you know how difficult each run is. We stuck to the easy beginner trails, of course. As soon as we started the first trail, I realized this was going to be much harder than I thought. The trails were pretty steep and very narrow. I thought I was going to go off a cliff at one point, and I totally hit a tree. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t hit more or fall off my bike! There’s also a ton of rocks on the path and you definitely get some air. I probably wouldn’t recommend these trails to someone faint of heart. I don’t mind a little bit of a challenge so it was definitely fun for me, but I won’t be jumping on the harder trails anytime soon.

The last trail we tried was actually my favorite, because we got to ride next to a lake and it was pretty scenic! It was another easy trail called Drag Line. By the end of the day, we were both very sweaty and I was extremely tired. It was a lot of work, especially when you can’t really sit on the seats much while on the trails. There were boat races going on at the time as well, so we biked back to the city and watched them race for a little bit. My favorite part of the day was going to this store called Victual. They have a TON of cheese from all over the world and give out as many free samples as you want! I definitely bought some to take home. They are also known for their lactose-free ice cream, so I will have to go back sometime and give that a try as well. As soon as we got back from Crosby we both passed out hard. SUCH a fun day though.