Holzinger and Bubs

Location: Holzinger Lodge, Winona, MN
Time: 11am
Bikes: Check
Lungs and Legs: Must have forgot them in MPLS
Beers: Bub's (pronounced boobs)
MORBID Members: Pete and lots of MORC Members

9am: I had a car load of people and gear and met Scott at Salem Hills off of 494 and 52.
Caravan we did down to Winona, MN.
11am: We arrive and unpack the bikes and gear.
11:30am: Depart.
11:33am: Gasping for air, legs hate being attached to me and want to leave. After this point I loose all track of time and try not to a) black out, b) puke, and c) fall off a cliff.



We climb, I climb slowly for quite a while, gain around 500 feet in elevation and get an awesome look at the surrounding bluffs, the river, Winona, and a chunk of Wisconsin. Notable happenings while climbing, I cranked my bars on a nice little tree V and fell down about 10 feet of drop about this \ steep. I would like to thank the saplings that caught me and saved me from falling the other 100 feet. I also think I lost at least one lung and possibly most of my leg muscles. I faintly remember it being called Wildwood something. I think there was a sign there too but I might have hallucinated that.

Once we got to the top there was a nice loop of single track with some small log piles and little jumps. It was a big change from climbing through a ton of rock and roots. Most of the bluff is the chunky Minnesota Limestone and someone mentioned it was quarried almost 100 years ago. A part of the trail is called "The Quarry Trail" so yeah, it was a bit rocky. Back to the top. We stopped up there to gather everyone and rest up.



We did another loop up top and then down. Wow. It was fast. We were cruising down the bluff and flying over roots and rocks. It was a little trickier of a decent than anything in the metro. A few of the roots and rocks caught me off guard, Scott's wife caught a rock and tree the wrong way and snake bit the tube. I hung out with her, Scott, and another rider while she changed her tube. We flew down the rest over rocks and roots at speeds closing in on 30mph. Going that fast you could get some air if you tried on the last few rollers. It was great.



After the ride we headed over to Bub's(again, pronounced boobs) for some food and beers, oh and popcorn. I had the Bub's Red at first which was great. Josh who helped organized the ride was sitting next to me and suggested the All American Burger. This was no burger, as they say, it is breakfast lunch and dinner all in one. Let me tell you a little more about it, I will work my way up from the bottom. It starts with a normal bun, then a nice slab of beef like a normal burger, add some cheese, a thin slice of ham, some bacon, and topped of with an egg, then the bun. It was awesome. I want another now. I think I saw 7 of them delivered to table. There was a little beer left in Scott's pitcher at the end of the table so I gladly accepted some Oktoberfest which was really good. We let that settle and walked over to Adventure Cycle to check out their wares.



We headed out of town and picked up some Culver's for the ride back. It was a great time, I just need to find my legs and lungs before I head back. Thanks everyone!

These great pictures are from Scott Haraldson and I totally stole them.