The wetlands of this section were filled with mosquitoes, but a spray-down with repellent prevented all but one tiny bite to my knuckle on the entire trip.īackus was very small, but Hackensack was a good-sized town where I got a nice lunch. But the remaining 15 or so miles of bad road cut my speed way down, and I knew that I wouldn’t make it to Walker before the heat and sun became miserable again. Starting out from Pine River the next morning, I was grateful for the coolness and the slight breeze. The trees also changed to mostly scrub pine, which robbed the trail of every last bit of shade. I needed to slow down to a crawl to save my body and my tires, which made the 90-degree heat and noontime sun doubly uncomfortable, and kept my arrival date at my motel in Pine River seemingly forever out of reach. I felt the impact every 10-20 feet, jolting up through my spine. The surface becomes punctuated with perpendicular splits of 1-2 inches in width someone on foot would barely notice them, but they are maddening to someone on wheels. North of Pequot Lakes, though, the trail goes through an unwelcome shift in character. Walkers and runners, in-line skaters, bicyclists, and even another recumbent triker out for the day. The trail tied together miles of landscape and quaint little shops that everyone seemed to enjoy. The feeling was much different farther north in Nisswa and Pequot Lakes, where crowds of people enjoyed the trail as it snaked past numerous small picturesque lakes and tiny resorts. The white-barked birch trees leaned over the trail from each side, mingling their leaves above and creating a cathedral-like impression that inspired a sense of peace and calm in the cool morning air. I experienced some of the most beautiful moments I can remember, riding north out of Baxter in the morning. Rode my recumbent trike from Baxter to Brainerd over Memorial Day weekend. With the new state program incentive for electric assist bike purchases, it would be nice to bring the trail back to a good standard as the recreation industry is so key to MN. I have heard that the trail from Hackensack north is in better shape and hope to ride that part of trail soon. Pequot Lakes, Jenkins, and Pine River are particularly in bad shape. The trail has significant asphalt cracks from Nisswa to Hackensack with only an occasional smooth section of trail. I contacted them to find there was no more funding for any other work on the trail. Recently the DNR filled some of the cracks that had expanded quite wide with tar again and topped the tar with toilet paper, south of Nisswa to at least mile mark 17 and probably all the way to Brainerd. I probably should have bought a mtn bike. My front wheel was even jarred loose from the thumping of asphalt cracks filled with tar. To my disappointment, the trail was largely in disrepair. I bought a new rode bike in Brainerd this spring and planned to ride the trail for the first time this summer.
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