thanks for the video. I'm the guy who met you at the top of Drop into Pines this last Saturday. Some of these rock stretches remind me of Jackpot. I forget if you have been up there or not. Hopefully I can check out Drawpoint this year.
I'm hitting the area Thursday of this week before heading to Duluth for a day or maybe two. Certainly looking forward to this trail. Looks fun. Thanks for the video.
It was still closed when I was up there. I guess it just finally opened. They had some drainage issues I guess. I'm happy with what they built and look forward to the other stuff coming later in the year.
Look forward to checking it out. Probably won't make it up til fall. Hopefully the construction is done by then. Maybe next time I run into you, we can shred together.🤙🏼
Fun looking trail! Interesting how trail ratings work. I've found a black diamond in one place can be a blue somewhere else or vise versa. Go to Whistler or places in Southern Utah, for example, they mean it with a black diamond rating.
Great video Brian! I’m also glad you didn’t get ticketed for “rinsing and repeating” any of the features, or filming without a permit, lol. You definitely have to be on your best behavior here, or the DNR will give you a verbal spanking! 😩 If you’re lucky..
I have to laugh at the filming without a permit thing. I think the most I've ever made on any Cuyuna video was $15 and that is an outlier. Most are in the $5 range.
@@BrianVaughn it’s more about DNR filming policies and questions, how’s is it being filmed?, who’s given consent to be on the film?, are props being set up?, dose it cause disturbance to other users or wildlife?, is it for commercial use?, are state park rules being followed?, those kinds of things. I’m not out looking for this stuff or people riding backwards, I just run into people doing these things when I’m out working on the trail..lol. This UA-cam stuff is new to me and I’m starting to ask questions about how dose this type of filming practice fit with our current filming policies. I do like the video you did Brian, fun to watch and the best part is that I’m not in it, that’s cool you met Scott though, he’s a really nice guy. I think you’ll really like the new stuff in Mahnomen Unit (North). Rock Solid is building some amazing trails for advanced riders, big jumps and lots of rock 🤘😎
@@woody2578 I didn't actually meet Scott but he left a nice note on my car. I just figured incase he saw this, he'd know I bought a pass. I'm not much for the photo shoot ride. I never carry a tripod but I do think allowing people to look these lines over and re-ride them is important. More and more people are going to UA-cam to learn about things. This video isn't about showing off my riding but letting people know about the trails. In my opinion, trail organizations should look at this stuff as marketing. I'm small time but I know Iron Range folks are bringing in a larger guy to help promote the Ride the Range initiative. Pathfinder has been using UA-cam to help promote their builds via UA-camrs and I'm sure it's helping get their name out there. Word of mouth and races is not how people learn about these new trail systems anymore.
So I left here around 6am and got there around 8am. I was home by 1pm. I think I road for around 2.5 hours. I didn't ride the other units but I'm not a fan of the others. Yawkey is ok but to get there you ride a lot of boring trail.
I've heard a lot of mixed things about this trail. People seem to love it but I've also heard more expert riders saying some of the jumps and berms don't work at trail speed. Looks like some fun sections though! I'm going to try to get up there and see for myself soon. I really didn't see anything that I would say is for sure black features. Maybe some dark blue haha. I need to ride it for myself before I pass judgement on it though.
You know me...mr positivity. The last 100 yards are pretty fun. I'd love to see more of that. I'm no expert, just a hack with a GoPro so I can't hit most of the jumps. My guess is it requires pedalling hard to hit those jumps. But like I said, only that rock garden was black and that's cause there are two spots you can jump the rocks.
@@BrianVaughn actually I heard some of the jumps are to small and really easy to overshoot. And some of the berms don’t hold ya but that’s kinda on every trail. With the jumps being to small thing, that always kinda happens with the medium sized jumplines because they want people to be able to clear them. But that’s also a true blue jumpline then.
@@gregkosinski2303 the first line of jumps are basically what I said, true blue jumpline. They don’t really progress in size to how much speed ya end up getting. The last two before the big right hand berm I have to hit my brakes to not totally over shoot them. It’s a really fun trail but those last jumps up top aren’t big enough for trail speed and then after that right hand berm, before the three quick s berms (which are super fun) the jumps are much harder to clear. It’s hard to build a flow/jumpline right first go. It usually takes some riding and reworking to get everything to flow right. It’s really fun but I think the jumps need some tweaking
Hey Brian, have you tried Giants Ridge? They have some serious black diamonds that are every bit as full-on as many out west. Depending on speed, you can get as much air as you can handle.
I plan on doing some park riding this summer. I want to do a weekend there and hit Redhead, Duluth and Tioga. Their park hours are such I think I can get a trail ride in the morning and ride the lifts in the afternoon. Giant's Ridge is on the agenda, it's getting the wife to buy into my plan.
I love this trail. But people just need to know it's not without a lot of work. Climbing is quite common, but you are reworded with great short downhill sections.
How are the climbs? Always hard to tell on video. Planning to ride this one Saturday. As always, great video. I always watch your vids before riding a new trail. Cheers!
@@joelbenson3269 I had my Ripmo AF which is a 34 pound beast of an Enduro bike. It climbed fine, but it was more effort than I expected it would be. If you are a climber and have the bike for it, this will seem like nothing.
thanks for the video. I'm the guy who met you at the top of Drop into Pines this last Saturday. Some of these rock stretches remind me of Jackpot. I forget if you have been up there or not. Hopefully I can check out Drawpoint this year.
Thanks! I think it's the same building crew that did both trails. I haven't been up there yet but hoping to this summer.
I'm hitting the area Thursday of this week before heading to Duluth for a day or maybe two. Certainly looking forward to this trail. Looks fun. Thanks for the video.
Cool! Have a good one!
Super fun looking trail. Mostly blue with some black sprinkled in. Very cool
I’d agree with that. I have yet to see anything in MN that is sustained black diamond outside of Duluth.
I would agree. The difficulty is only a couple spots. Still people here will view it like a Squamish double black.
@@n47h4n12 nothing south of Duluth. I have yet to ride Giants Ridge but they have some stuff that looks promising.
This trail definitely makes going up to Cuyuna more tempting for me!
You'll have fun. You know what to expect.
Another great vid! Headed up in 2 weeks and can't wait to try this new trail. It is encouraging that they are making good trails that are challenging.
Thanks Michael! I think you'll like it.
Beautiful trail with little bit of berms and rock garden 🤙👊
Thanks 👍 It is a scenic area.
Cuyuna is a blast!! Was just there this weekend with some buddies. Started making plans for the next trip 🤙🏽. Kelp the videos coming 👍🏽
Glad you had fun! Did you ride Drawpoint?
@@BrianVaughn We kept it tame since it was our 1st up there. Bobsled, Man cage and tugger. Great flow that’s for sure.
Hopefully you hit Sandhog and Roly Poly.
Such a fun trail. Hard but doable. Definitely a confidence builder!
It's a good step in the right direction. The trails had gotten a little stale for me so I'm happy to have a trail like this to motivate me to return.
Good assessment of the trail. It gets better as it goes on. Did you hit the Kettle yet? I feel like that one is right up your alley.
It was still closed when I was up there. I guess it just finally opened. They had some drainage issues I guess. I'm happy with what they built and look forward to the other stuff coming later in the year.
Damn this looks fun! Thanks for sharing 👍
It's a good time! Thanks for watching!
Need to make my way up to Minnesota, good stuff!
There are some good trails in Cuyuna and the Iron Range.
Look forward to checking it out. Probably won't make it up til fall. Hopefully the construction is done by then. Maybe next time I run into you, we can shred together.🤙🏼
Yeah, definitely. I'll warn you, I'm slower than I look.
Fun looking trail! Interesting how trail ratings work. I've found a black diamond in one place can be a blue somewhere else or vise versa. Go to Whistler or places in Southern Utah, for example, they mean it with a black diamond rating.
It's kind of a thing here. Trails get rated higher than they should be. Really only Duluth has the terrain to have black diamond trails.
Great video Brian! I’m also glad you didn’t get ticketed for “rinsing and repeating” any of the features, or filming without a permit, lol. You definitely have to be on your best behavior here, or the DNR will give you a verbal spanking! 😩 If you’re lucky..
hahaha I was thinking the same thing! Good thing Nick wasn't out there to give him a ticket for going back up the wrong way
I got luck with the parking warning. Guess I need to watch out. Good thing I ride early.
I have to laugh at the filming without a permit thing. I think the most I've ever made on any Cuyuna video was $15 and that is an outlier. Most are in the $5 range.
@@BrianVaughn it’s more about DNR filming policies and questions, how’s is it being filmed?, who’s given consent to be on the film?, are props being set up?, dose it cause disturbance to other users or wildlife?, is it for commercial use?, are state park rules being followed?, those kinds of things. I’m not out looking for this stuff or people riding backwards, I just run into people doing these things when I’m out working on the trail..lol. This UA-cam stuff is new to me and I’m starting to ask questions about how dose this type of filming practice fit with our current filming policies. I do like the video you did Brian, fun to watch and the best part is that I’m not in it, that’s cool you met Scott though, he’s a really nice guy. I think you’ll really like the new stuff in Mahnomen Unit (North). Rock Solid is building some amazing trails for advanced riders, big jumps and lots of rock 🤘😎
@@woody2578 I didn't actually meet Scott but he left a nice note on my car. I just figured incase he saw this, he'd know I bought a pass. I'm not much for the photo shoot ride. I never carry a tripod but I do think allowing people to look these lines over and re-ride them is important. More and more people are going to UA-cam to learn about things. This video isn't about showing off my riding but letting people know about the trails. In my opinion, trail organizations should look at this stuff as marketing. I'm small time but I know Iron Range folks are bringing in a larger guy to help promote the Ride the Range initiative. Pathfinder has been using UA-cam to help promote their builds via UA-camrs and I'm sure it's helping get their name out there. Word of mouth and races is not how people learn about these new trail systems anymore.
Wed 9:30 am. Rebecca park and no other cars in the parking lot 🤣 yeha the whole place to our selves.
That's about the case at most trails on a week day morning.
Damn that was fun. 13+ miles ninety minutes. Not another person in sight. No crashes. Yeha!
What is your bar and stem setup? I have a Norco Sight, steel blue with bourbon accents and this would be a slamming addition to my steed!
I run a Tenet bar and stem with a Wolf Tooth headset.
Umber is the color! Thanks!
Hey Brian, I'm planning Cuyuna in the next few weeks. What wheelset do you recommend 29er Ardent 2.4 or 27.5 2.8 DHF/ DHR
Fastest rolling ones. Probably the 29er but I'm bring a patch kit. Lot of little sharp rocks.
This trail took part of my tooth! :)
Oh man.. that sounds like a bad day. Hope you got some redemption.
It looked like you were there early in the morning. What time did you get up or did you spend the night?
So I left here around 6am and got there around 8am. I was home by 1pm. I think I road for around 2.5 hours. I didn't ride the other units but I'm not a fan of the others. Yawkey is ok but to get there you ride a lot of boring trail.
@@BrianVaughn wow. That's a day then. Looked good.
Good morning Brian.
Good morning! Enjoy.
@@BrianVaughn very nice. Thank you
I've heard a lot of mixed things about this trail. People seem to love it but I've also heard more expert riders saying some of the jumps and berms don't work at trail speed. Looks like some fun sections though! I'm going to try to get up there and see for myself soon. I really didn't see anything that I would say is for sure black features. Maybe some dark blue haha. I need to ride it for myself before I pass judgement on it though.
You know me...mr positivity. The last 100 yards are pretty fun. I'd love to see more of that. I'm no expert, just a hack with a GoPro so I can't hit most of the jumps. My guess is it requires pedalling hard to hit those jumps. But like I said, only that rock garden was black and that's cause there are two spots you can jump the rocks.
@@BrianVaughn actually I heard some of the jumps are to small and really easy to overshoot. And some of the berms don’t hold ya but that’s kinda on every trail. With the jumps being to small thing, that always kinda happens with the medium sized jumplines because they want people to be able to clear them. But that’s also a true blue jumpline then.
@@ridindirt what did you think of Winze’s jumps? I cased like every single one of them 😂. I saw you cleared the eff out of them in your vid though.
@@gregkosinski2303 the first line of jumps are basically what I said, true blue jumpline. They don’t really progress in size to how much speed ya end up getting. The last two before the big right hand berm I have to hit my brakes to not totally over shoot them. It’s a really fun trail but those last jumps up top aren’t big enough for trail speed and then after that right hand berm, before the three quick s berms (which are super fun) the jumps are much harder to clear. It’s hard to build a flow/jumpline right first go. It usually takes some riding and reworking to get everything to flow right. It’s really fun but I think the jumps need some tweaking
Hey Brian, have you tried Giants Ridge? They have some serious black diamonds that are every bit as full-on as many out west. Depending on speed, you can get as much air as you can handle.
I plan on doing some park riding this summer. I want to do a weekend there and hit Redhead, Duluth and Tioga. Their park hours are such I think I can get a trail ride in the morning and ride the lifts in the afternoon. Giant's Ridge is on the agenda, it's getting the wife to buy into my plan.
@@BrianVaughn well, if you're wife is into hiking and easy trail rides, they have plenty of that also.
I love this trail. But people just need to know it's not without a lot of work. Climbing is quite common, but you are reworded with great short downhill sections.
I'm sure it is a lot of work to build trail like that. Good thing the DNR has tax dollars to pay for it.
@@BrianVaughn Oh, I meant a lot of work for the rider. Yeah, it's a lot of work to build too......🙂
How are the climbs? Always hard to tell on video. Planning to ride this one Saturday. As always, great video. I always watch your vids before riding a new trail. Cheers!
@@joelbenson3269 Those climbs are easy in my opinion. Smaller than Mucker and Sandhog.
@@joelbenson3269 I had my Ripmo AF which is a 34 pound beast of an Enduro bike. It climbed fine, but it was more effort than I expected it would be. If you are a climber and have the bike for it, this will seem like nothing.
Cuyuna is pronounced - KI YUNA.