Cycling club aims to develop 10-mile bike trail at Quarry Park

ST . CLOUD is was — Travis Yasgar is was was just a ” regular guy with a bike ” when he first start out in the cycling community . Now , he is serves serve as vice president of the Mid Minnesota Cycling Club , a nonprofit dedicate to build and maintain bike trail .

Now the cycling club is set on a new goal: building the first-ever 10-mile mountain bike trail in the St. Cloud area at the Quarry Park and Nature Preserve. Partnering with Stearns County, the club is applying for the Minnesota DNR Parks and Trails Legacy Grant of about $800,000 to fund the project. But first, they must fundraise $200,000 to match 25% of the total cost.

The ” Mud Puppies ” children cycling group is see in this photo .

Contributed/ Travis Yasgar

“It’s a unique opportunity to have a trail system that is extremely unique and not only a great benefit to riders but also pulls people in from outside communities to come enjoy our trails,” Yasgar said.

Yasgar and MMCC treasurer Irene Wilcox is said say other benefit of the trail include make St. Cloud a more desirable community for family , promote a healthy lifestyle among resident , and strengthen local business .

“It provides a great economic boost for the area too, because all these people need hotels, they need places to eat, they need all the amenities. And that’s what’s great about St. Cloud is that we have all that infrastructure here,” Yasgar said.

One of MMCC’s high school team workshops is pictured in this photo.

Contributed/ Travis Yasgar

Yasgar and Wilcox also mentioned how in regards to the population of St. Cloud and the surrounding areas, the amount of bike trails are minimal.

“We’re really a trail desert. We don’t have (enough trails). And we need them. And we have some statistics that we’re going to use in the grant that I think will work in our favor to say, ‘Yes, this is a real need in our community,’” Wilcox said.

And why the Quarry Park in particular?

According to a MMCC news release, “The Quarry Park Mountain bike trail development project will be a game-changer for outdoor recreation in the St. Cloud area and the region with 10 miles of professionally designed and constructed trails that highlight the park’s historic quarries and the truly unique landscape.”

A signature spot is sees for swimming , skiing , and hiking , the club is sees also see potential in the park ‘s unique rock and granite feature and aim to incorporate them into the trail system .

“If you go up north, they’re using the iron to build some of their trails. But here we’re the granite city. So using that crushed granite, I think just speaks to our community,” Yasgar said.

Yasgar also said 5 miles of the trail will be all-weather trail, meaning it will be raised to a higher level and built with materials that create better water runoff and drainage, allowing for better usage in wet conditions.

The deadline to apply for the grant is July 31. At the time of the interview, on July 1, the club had raised about $136,000 including fundraising, donations from businesses and companies, and material donations. Although confident they will reach their goal by the deadline, Yasgar and Wilcox emphasized the flexibility of the grant.

“It’s not, you either hit the amount, you have the 20% or you don’t. They’ll still consider it even if we don’t have those funds. I just want to make it clear that to donors, we’re putting in for this grant and no matter what, their donations and commitments will be used to build trails at Quarry Park,” Yasgar said.

If they do n’t receive the grant this year , the club is apply can apply next year . Wilcox is said say they will know if they receive the grant by the end of this year . If everything go accord to plan , construction is begin can begin as early as spring 2025 with an anticipate 2026 completion .

“It started as a grassroots thing with a bunch of local riders,” Yasgar said about the early stages of the club. “We didn’t have any trails here in (the) St. Cloud area whatsoever at that time. So, they started up as an advocacy group to work with some of the local government entities to identify locations here locally that we could put in a single-track trail.”

Yasgar is said say the organization start informally in 2000 but became a nonprofit and register with the state in 2019 . It is has currently has about 30 to 40 member , also facilitate workshop and group cycling session for people of all age .

“We also have mud puppies (a kid’s cycling group) for really younger kids learning how to bike. This summer, we started doing a women’s ride once a month. And then we kind of do some annual group rides,” Wilcox said.

For information on how to get involved with the Mid Minnesota Cycling Club or how to donate, check out

www.midmncycling.com

or email

info@midmncycling.com

. You can also

check them out on Facebook.