I have an opportunity to ride to an event in Big Lake this Saturday. Any insight on routes is appreciated. So far I've found these:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/450284

http://goo.gl/maps/VXoFE

I'm inclined to do the Bikely route just because it avoids that squiggly system of trails west of Coon Rapids Dam that Google routes me through. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Ha, I made the first map. There is a section that has a small to no shoulder; I think it is between Champlin and Dayton. If you are headed up in the morning, there is usually little to no traffic which makes it not an issue.

Another thing is that when you are headed north on the trails to Coon Rapids Dam, there are these wooden bridges that are extremely slick (like ice!) when they are dewy in the morning. Hopefully they have fixed that issue but I haven't done the route in a while.

Thanks. I'm going to be riding early afternoon. How nasty is that stretch? I'm totally comfortable with on-street riding, but I'm not a fan of SUVs or semis buzzing by at 60 mph with inches to spare.

You could take the Northstar Commuter Train.

Last year, the 3sp Adventure Society took the train to Elk River and biked back. I don't recall the route doing anything wacky that wouldn't work in reverse. This seems to look a lot like your bikely route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5524567

I offer it more as information than an actual suggestion, because I couldn't recreate that even WITH a map, much less going backwards.

Ha ha, funny guy.



Yeah, pretty similar. I like that the Gmap route takes the west side of the river up to Coon Rapids Dam. I prefer that over the east side.

I think what I'll do is take the Gmap route to Coon Rapids Dam, then follow Nickel's Bikely route from there. Dayton Rd. from Champlin to Dayton looks manageable based on satellite view.

Thanks all. I'll post a link to my route on Garmin after.

We had one nutter in a truck kind of buzz us but other than that, it was just friendly, rural traffic. There is maybe a foot of shoulder. If you look on google maps, you can see the road (pavement was in good shape).

KN, I agree with MRJ.

A couple of years ago I rode to Anoka and then took the Northstar from there to Big Lake.
It was a blast.

viewtopic.php?p=237143#p237143

Now that I see the forecast of 20-30mph winds out of the NW on Saturday I'm beginning to think you guys are right, but I desperately need the hard miles if I'm going to do the Almanzo without hurting myself.

Train there, ride back?

That would be nice. Ride there in afternoon, watch son's baseball tournament, drive back with family at night. I rarely have the luxury of going for a ride for the sake of going for a ride, so I have to work them in when I can.

I think the point is to hurt yourself to some extent.

Of course I want it to hurt. What I meant to say is "without injuring myself."

KN,
With the strong NW winds today, you could practically coast home from Big Lake.

Well, I did it. I've done long rides on windy days before, but I've never fought a grueling, relentless headwind like that for 45 straight miles. Took three and a half hours! The route itself was nice, but the ride wasn't particularly enjoyable. Like Nickel said, the shoulder was narrow in spots, but traffic was courteous- until I got to Big Lake and some redneck kids deliberately buzzed me in their big, loud pick-up. There were times I'd be on a slight hill, really pushing hard, and I'd look down to see I was fighting for 9 mph. If I were to ride back in the same wind, I think I could have made it home in two hours or less.

Here's the route and stats: http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/311559689 ("View Details")