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Tour of Lakes 2011
Join us for 3 days of bicycling and socializing in the beautiful Brainerd Lakes area June 3-5, 2011 on our annual Tour of Lakes weekend! If you've never biked in this area before, you are going to love it! The roads are low-traffic and very scenic, passing by many area lakes and forests. The Paul Bunyan trail is also nearby. We'll do rides all three days. The rides on Friday & Sunday will be regular TCBC A/B and B rides, while the ride on Saturday will be a TCBC Outreach Ride---the Tour of Lakes, my all-time favorite 1-day ride! Plan to not only bike with the group, but eat, socialize, and relax by the lake and around the campfire with us as well at Good Ol' Days Resort in Nisswa! I hope you can join us!
Rides:
Friday, June 3:
1:30 PM A/B -2 mileage options: 35-45 and 40-50 mi. BRAINERD LAKES I. Depart from the Paul Bunyan trailhead in Nisswa, just south of Nisswa by the Dairy Queen (NOT the parking lot by the Nisswa Chamber of Commerce building). This is about 6 blocks south of Good Ol' Days Resort. Join us for a ride in the beautiful Brainerd Lakes area with scenic panoramas as big as Paul Bunyan himself as we ride past glistening blue lakes, through dense forests and on the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway and Trail! Now THAT'S no tall tale! MANDATORY post-ride stop at the A&W for root beer floats! Contact leader prior to ride if weather looks questionable. Mary Derks (651-335-6505) maryderks@yahoo.com, Scott Larson (612-730-8371) and others.
Saturday, June 4:
TOUR OF LAKES OUTREACH RIDE. 35 or 70 miles. Join in the FUN on Tour of Lakes (TOL), an event ride sponsored by the Paul Bunyan Cyclists in the Brainerd Lakes area. Be part of the train of TCBC jerseys as we make our way from one delicious rest stop to the next via the scenic low-traffic roads of the area. The tour is known for its varied and plentiful rest stops (think 'rolling buffet'), with past tours featuring such treats as blueberry pancakes, breakfast sausages, fresh fruit, beef & chicken tacos, hot turkey sandwiches, corn on the cob, cheesecake, root beer floats...you get the idea!!! You DEFINITELY will not be in "calorie deficit" mode after this ride!
- Registration: Pre-registration is required by MAY 1. To register for the ride, go to www.paulbunyancyclists.com and click on 'Tour of Lakes'. TOL does NOT accept registrations postmarked after that date and consequently, no "day of ride" registration is available. Ride fee includes ride support, rest stops, and a t-shirt. You must be registered for the ride and attend the ride briefing in order to get mileage credit.
- Ride start time/departure location: Ride departs at 7:30 am from Pequot Lakes. Consider getting to the ride start early to allow time for parking, check-in, picking up your t-shirt & taking it to back to your car, etc. Please be sure to wear your most recent TCBC jersey if you have one!
Sunday, June 5:
9:30 AM A/B 40-50 and 45-60 mi. BRAINERD LAKES II. See June 3.
Lodging:
Given that we thoroughly enjoyed staying at Good 'Ol Days Resort (www.goodoldaysresort.com) the past two years, we will be staying there again this year! The resort is 1/2 mile from downtown Nisswa, right off of the Paul Bunyan trail, and has 2 and 3 bedroom cabins, along with lodges (motel-style rooms), all brand new as of 2 years ago. All the units face the lake and there is a nice beach, group campfire area and spacious central gathering area and porch in case of rain, or as another place to gather. Friday's and Sunday's rides will start about 1/2 mile from here, at the Paul Bunyan trailhead in Nisswa. Each person is responsible for booking their own lodging. If you are interested in staying with the group, you may want to consider reserving a unit soon due to the limited number of units available (last year, they filled up in a couple weeks). If you want to find others to share lodging with, just post a message on TCBC's Message Boards (accessed from www.biketcbc.org) or contact me and I'll add your name to the list of people looking for lodging.
Fresh gourmet coffee is available 24/7 in the lodge. Also available is a free continental breakfast, which includes various hot and cold cereals and an assortment of fresh fruit, yogurt, bagels, English muffins, and pastries.
The rates for our group are lower than last year and are as follows (note that these rates differ slightly from those listed on the resort's web-site). Note that additional charges may be incurred if more people are in the unit than the stated maximums.
- Lodge Room: $105/night based on 2 people.
- 2 Bdrm Cottage: $205/night based on 5 people.
- 3 Bdrm Cottage: $230/night based on 6 people.
- Loft: $450
Directions to Good Ol' Days Resort from Hwys 371 & 210 in Brainerd:
- From Brainerd, go north on Hwy 371 to downtown Nisswa.
- Turn right at the stop light and follow Main Street (Cullen Lake Drive), heading north for 1/2 mile.
- Turn right on Poplar Avenue, then take an immediate left on Oak lane after crossing the Paul Bunyan Trail. (Oak Lane is their driveway).
- In case you get lost or have questions, their phone # is 1-800-227-4501.
Be sure to mention that you are with TCBC when calling to book your room; otherwise, they will tell you the resort is full as it is blocked for our group for the weekend
- Check-in/out times:See Good Ol' Days Resort web-site (www.goodoldaysresort.com).
- Other Lodging Options: For other lodging options, go to www.brainerd.com.
Meals:
Coffee: For those of you for whom coffee is one of the four main food groups, you'll be pleased to know that Good Ol' Days has fresh gourmet coffee available in their central gathering area 24/7.
Breakfast: If you're staying at Good Ol' Days, a continental breakfast is included with your lodging. See "Lodging" above.
Friday night pasta dinner: We will again be having a pasta feed on Friday night at 6:30 pm. Cost is $16/person including tax & tip and includes pasta, two kinds of sauce, caesar salad, antipasto salad, garlic bread, and brownies. If interested, please remit payment no later than Wednesday, June 1, as I need to give a count to the caterer by that date. If you're on the fence about coming, please consider doing so as we need a minimum of 40 people in order to make it work. You can either pay me at Wednesday night's 'White Bear Lake Loop' ride or click on the following link (preferred) to pay by Paypal. Please contact me if neither of these options work for you. Here is the link to pay:
Potluck Dinner on Saturday, June 5: A potluck dinner is planned for Saturday evening, assuming you're still hungry after all the delicious food you'll eat on the ride. Please bring something to grill and something to share. If you are not staying at Good 'Ol Days Resort and plan to join us for the potluck and/or ensuing campfire (which we hope you will), note that there is a $5/person/night "visitor's fee" payable to Good 'Ol Days.
Wondering what to bring to the potluck? In an effort to ensure we don't end up with 100 pans of brownies, please bring something based on the following:
If your last name starts with:
A-E: Bring a desert
F-R: Bring a side dish or salad (i.e. potato, pasta, fruit, lettuce)
S-Z: Bring an appetizer
If there is something you'd really like to bring, please bring that instead as we'd hate to miss out on your specialty (assuming your specialty isn't Lay's Potato Chips!) Also, if you'd prefer to bring condiments, paper plates, charcoal, stuff for s'mores, etc. for the group, please contact me at maryderks@yahoo.com to see what's still needed. Also, could "You Know Who" please bring that parmesan salsa again for the 6th year in a row???
As for the "something to grill" part of Saturday's dinner, there is an excellent meat market in Little Falls (about 2/3rds of the way to Brainerd). It's called Thielen Meats and is on the northwest corner of Hwy 10 and County Rd 27 behind the Holiday gas station. Here's some additional info. Check 'em out!Thielens
300 NE 13 St
Little Falls, MN 56345
Phone 320.632.2821 Fax 320.632.0503
Hours 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (M-Th); 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (F); 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Sat); 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (Sun)Retail meat market and specialty items
over 40 varieties home smoked sausages
delicious home smoked bacon
specialty cheese
specialty coffees and candies
Carpooling/Parking:
There are 28 parking spaces at the resort (2 spaces for each cottage & 1 space for each lodge room). Please work it out amongst your cabin. The resort owners asked that I encourage people to car pool as much as possible to allow room for everyone to park.
What to Bring:
- TCBC jerseys, socks, etc.
- Camp chair for sitting around the campfire.
- Something to grill and a dish to share for Saturday's potluck.
- Refreshments!
- Food for other weekend meals, as needed.
- Emergency Contact Form (see below)
- Your BIKE!
Emergency Contact Form:"If you bring it, you won't need it." Hopefully that's the case with the Emergency Contact Forms (http://www.biketcbc.org/docs/form%20Emergency%20contact.doc). If you would, please fill this out so we have contact info for you in case something should happen. Please fill out 2 copies---carry one with you on your bike and put the other in a sealed envelope and I'll collect them on Friday and return them (unopened) on Sunday. I will also have blank copies in case you forget yours.
Questions/Contact Info:
If you have any questions, please contact Mary Derks at 651-335-6505 or maryderks@yahoo.com
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I hope to see you in Brainerd this summer!Mary Derks
