Nature Valley Grand Prix

During the week of June 15-19th, the Nature Valley Grand Prix, a professional cycling stage series, comes to the Twin Cities. I've been to the event several times, as its always one of my favorite sporting events to watch.

There are 6 stages, the first two being in St. Paul. I attended the second race in St. Paul, the downtown Criterium. The announcers made it fun, even though it was raining just before the race began. Fortunately, it looked like the course dried up pretty well. The riders did a loop of something around a mile, 28 times for the women, and 40 times for the men. The race had some drama, especially with the women's field, which was stacked with some of the top professionals.

I was also able to attend the Minneapolis criterium 2 days later. Lots of people showed up for this race, including cycling legend Greg LeMond. He was on the stage with the announcers, and mentioned how he liked the kids "ride" that took place between the womens and mens event. It must have been pretty special for some of the pros, who no doubt look up to LeMond. While the kids ride and mens race were great, the womens race once again had drama, only this time, it ended with 3 people going to the hospital. There was a massive crash going into the last lap of the race. Many riders were down and it took a while to pull everyone out. Due to the crash, race officials decided to call off the race and not count it towards the results.

Having a professional cycling event in Minnesota is a real treat, and I look forward to attending again in the future. Now, to catch some of the Tour de France, which starts this weekend!

Minnehaha falls

I recently checked out one of the most popular places to visit in the twin cities: Minnehaha falls. It is located in south Minneapolis, not far from the mississippi river.

The falls are surrounded by a wonderful park, which provides ample space for those wishing to walk their dogs, go on bike rides or runs, or simply throw a frisbee around. The falls themselves, while not huge, are still a fun sight, as it is a nice change of scenery from the city.

The best thing about the park, though, is the fact that it is very well used. There were many groups of people there when I visited, yet it didn't feel overly crowded. It I one of those places that makes me appreciate living in a metro with so many parks.

Kayaking

One of the highlights of living in Minnesota (or Wisconsin) is having the opportunity to spend time on the water. I recently went kayaking, and also got the chance to go tubing and go on a short ride on a pontoon.

I've only used a 2 person kayak before, so getting into a single person kayak was new for me, but I wasn't too scared, after all, I was on a lake that wasn't very busy. It began to rain, but I continued to explore, going past an island and into an area that most motorboats can't go due to low water levels.

Going tubing was fun, even if a little painful. I don't know what hurt more: hitting the water after falling off the tube or the pain from holding on to the tube.

It was a fun day on the water, and I hope to have more just like it.

Interstate State Park (WI)

Last year, one of my posts was about hiking at Interstate State Park. That was the Minnesota side of this wonderful State Park. Across the border in Wisconsin, the park is even larger, offering many trails, and some great places to camp. I spent a couple of nights camping at a nice campsite in the south Campground of the park.

We arrived at the campground in the late afternoon on a Friday, and quickly set up the tent. I got a fire going, and we cooked some hot dogs and roasted some Marshmallows. Then the rain set in. It rained on and off into the early morning, but it was fine, as we were dry in the tent.

The next morning, we grabbed some bananas and drove into St. Croix falls for a cup of coffee at a small coffee shop. We walked around the small downtown for a while and headed back into the park. By this time, it was 10:30 or so and we began our hike through the park. We started at our campsite in the south Campground, right next to the trailhead of the Eagle Peak trail. The trail went on for a little less than a mile, heading uphill through the woods to a rocky area that provided a nice view (Eagle Peak).

From Eagle peak, we walked down the trail, and quickly connected to the skyline trail, which starts at the group camp area. The skyline trail goes through the woods, and requires you to walk underneath some downed trees along a trail that goes on for about a mile and a half, which ends at the visitor center.

The visitor center is a nice place to take a break. There are some exhibits showing pictures of creatures that roamed the earth during the Ice age thousands of years ago. There are a few fossils, as well, including a mammoth tooth! There are bathrooms at the visitor center, and this is also the place to buy wood and ice at the park, amongst other random items that you may want.

After our break at the visitor center, we were off to the next trail, one that lead us to the Pothole trail. The pothole trail was an exciting trail, with cliffs overlooking the St. Croix river. There were people climbing the rock faces, which were probably about 50 feet high. It was a short, but exciting trail, with some great photo opportunities along the trail.

We walked along the street on our way back to the campsite, and saw a beaver not far from the road. It was fun to see the animal scurry through the woods, though we didn't get much of a picture. We got pretty close, but there were some plants in between us and the beaver.

After we made our way back to the camp, we decided to check out the downtown of Taylor's falls for a late lunch (it was 2:30). We found a place with a large rotating root beer mug (I think it is called the Drive-in). It was a nice place to grab a burger and fries. After our lunch, we were off, and after a walk into the Minnesota side of Interstate State Park, we drove back to camp. The sleep was much better on this, the second night, as there was very little rain and we were pretty tired after a long day of hiking.

If you are looking for a quick getaway from the twin cities, I definitely recommend Interstate State Park. It is only an hour away, and provides enough to do for a great weekend.

The Best Ice Cream in the Twin Cities

Generally, I write about the outdoors, fitness, and other adventures, but I've come up with a new conquest: Finding the best ice cream in the twin cities. I've already begun my search, and let me tell you, this is one of my most enjoyable conquests!

I actually got the idea last summer before I started my blog, but never really ran with it. This year, I'm making it happen. Of course, all of this will be in moderation. I am only going to roughlyone ice cream shop (or gelato shop) per week.

There are plenty of different options, so I imagine this project could run into September, but I will still be writing about my other conquests as well.