Message to Riders

Greetings, Riders!  We hope you all are as excited about the Fifth Annual Fiddlin’ Fifty Gravel Grinder & Potluck Picnic as we are.  Attached to this e-mail are the cue sheets and waiver.  One is for you to print, fill out, and give back to us on Saturday morning; the other is for you to commit to memory; make sure that you memorize the one which you wish to ride.  If you need either one of them in a different format, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.  Both will be available here at the house, as well. A fourth attachment refers to safety and etiquette.  Please look it over to see if there is something listed that you do not already know. 

Potluck business:  Please bring your perishable potluck profferings in well-labeled coolers.  We will have someone to help bring these items from the parking area to the house, and other people to organize the food throughout the day, so we hope that nothing will be left behind.  We don’t have much refrigerator space for cool things, but do have outlets for keeping Crock-pot items warm.  In addition, if you wish to sit on something other than the grass, you will need to bring a chair.  We are going to confine the chickens during the ride, but we can’t guarantee a lack of chicken poop which, while remarkably large, can be hard to see in the grass.  

Our address is 6478 Colombe road, Chisholm, MN 55719.  You can use your smart phones or some other miraculous device to navigate your way here, or you can attempt to follow Susan’s directions.  However you do it, please park in the designated parking area.

If you are approaching from Virginia, take highway 169 south to the turn for Kinney/25 north.  Follow 25 north through Kinney, stay on it by turning right at the T intersection, and continue until you come to McNiven road, which is the first road that crosses 25.  Turn left and go until you hit pavement and the first road that goes to the right.  That is Colombe.  Follow that until you get to the sign for parking, which will be on the right. 

If you are approaching from Hibbing, take highway 169 north to the Chisholm/73 north exit.  Follow 73 north through Chisholm (this will include a left turn at the first traffic signal in Chisholm).  At the north edge of town, you will come to McNiven road, which goes to the right.  There will be a storage facility on the corner.  Turn right and follow McNiven until the pavement ends.  Turn left on Colombe road and follow it until you get to the sign for parking, which will be on the right. 

If you are approaching from Ely, take highway 22 west where highway 1 meets 53.  Follow 22 until you get to 73 (the first stop sign), then turn left.  Follow 73 south until you get to Johnson road; our landmark for this turn is the guard rails which both are visible as you descend the hill on 73 and keep speeding motorists from sliding into the creek.  Turn left on Johnson and follow it as it curves right to become Colombe.  Continue past our driveway until you get to the parking area, which will be on the left.  

You all may have noticed that we mentioned “parking” a couple of times.  We are tremendously pleased that there are too many of you to park at our house and happy to have neighbors who will let us park across the road from their house.  It is about a quarter of a mile from us.  We will have one volunteer there to direct parking and another volunteer available to bring your potluck items to the house.  You will then be able to easily ride your bikes down for check in.   

“This is all great,” you say, “but when do I need to be there?”  Excellent question!  Check-in on Saturday morning begins at 8:00.  Our volunteers won’t be here until 7:00, so please don’t come too much before 7:30, unless you want to fend for yourself/be put to work.  The ride will begin at approximately 9:00. 

Remember, this is a ride and potluck, so stick around afterward if you can.  There will be a lot of good food and interesting chat.  Perhaps most importantly, we have the Lonesome Polecat award to present.