Featured trails:- Ringle mountain bike trails
Each time I bike at Ringle, I am in awe of the expertly designed and built trails. Central Wisconsin’s newest trail system leaves all mountain bikers a top-notch ride experience. Plus now you can ride a full loop! See a 2021 map here.
Ringle trailhead greets riders along with a camp fire ring, fix-it station, and info station (not pictured).
For a first time visitor to the Ringle trails, the trails are well-marked with easy-to-read signs.
For a new mountain biker, the machine built trails are smooth riding with workarounds on features. Plus a skills area!
For an intermediate rider, there are features to challenge oneself.
And for the expert thrill-seeking riders there are a plethora of features including gap jumps and swooping banked turns to get an adrenaline fix.
And don’t worry if you’re not ready to launch yourself these features since there are workarounds for all the major features with the most dangerous (or exciting, depending on your point-of-view) labeled with clear signage and adequate warning.
Wasteland - or not!
Central Wisconsin Offroad Cycling Coalition (CWOCC) works with the property manager, Marathon County Solid Waste Department, to use a piece of property that may be considered a wasteland (literally) and use it for a positive purpose. Most of the time, I forget where I am.
Multi-purpose
My husband beams as we stop to pick up seven dozen jars he found on Craigslist on the way to the Ringle trailhead.
Since I need to load up my bike to drive to the trailhead, I have only ridden on the Ringle trail system a handful of times. In fact, both times I’ve ridden the Ringle Trails this year have been on the way to a Craiglist pickup.
My husband and I had planned a date night and were considering Underdown or Ringle but the deciding factor was that he found a great Craigslist find on the way to the Ringle Trails. Today’s find - seven dozen canning jars! (With our garden expansion, we’ll certainly use these!)
All to ourselves
My husband didn’t need to worry about getting off the trail for some quick adjustments since we had the trails completely to ourselves!
Even though the trailhead is easy to get to - off Hwy 29 a few miles east of Wausau, and a Mountain-Bay State Trail trailhead, we are surprised to be the only car in the lot. It’s amazing the number of times I can have the trails to myself in Central Wisconsin. (Tip: I’ve found even at Nine Mile County Recreation Area which is the area’s premiere trail system, whether biking or skiing, Sunday evenings are almost a sure bet to have an entire trail system to oneself.)
This is nice since this is my husband’s first time on his mountain bike this year, and he quickly realizes he needs to make an adjustment. Oh, and it’s also nice having a date night (our first in months due to COVID-19) without any third wheels!
Look before you leap
Immediately after entering the trail system, we have exciting features around every twist and turn. Within minutes, we have a variety of features with workarounds. I know I’m not cut out for the big features (especially on this bike) but it’s fun to watch my husband ride them.
I like to ride by new features before I launch myself. Not only have I found it helpful on selecting a good line into a feature, but allows me to eye up what I’m in for. I have learned the hard way (literally, through some falls) that sometimes there’s a hidden surprise.
Difference in bikes
Stopping to look at the trail map along Rock the Wierzba.
I’ve ridden several times already this year, and my husband let’s me use his 29’er, full suspension, tubeless, carbon bike with hydraulic brakes when he’s not riding it, so using “my” bike - the 26”, hardtail, aluminum frame with tube tires and disc brakes is a bit of a downgrade to say the least. (Last year when he had to replace the broken crank arm he had to go to an antique bike parts store to find the part!) But what I notice for the first time is how squirrelly I feel riding this bike since these handle bars are only 22” wide versus 27” wide on my husband’s bike.
I also need to be a bit cautious as I have had a streak of pinch flats and we forgot to grab an extra 26” tube (although we have a 29” tube for the tubeless bike!) and I didn’t want to push my bike back to the car. Usually bikers are pretty willing to spare an extra tube, but that’s the downfall of having the trails to ourselves.
There’s some amazing features to challenge riders, with workarounds for mortals such as myself.
Lost 40
My favorite trail in Central Wisconsin is Lost 40. The trail is loaded with challenges but what has really stuck with me is my first ride on it last year. All downhill - that’s what my takeaway was when I did the trail for the first time. Then when I looked at a map and realized it was a loop, I was in awe that a trail could be built so well. This is a testament to the hours and hours of traiilwork CWOCC has put into the design and construction of the trails!
Earlier this year when I rode the Lost 40, I started getting adventurous and tried a few features, even though it was my first time riding the trail this year. Luckily I was on a 29’er because I would have surely been on the ground after one stepdown that was more of a dropoff than I expected. I just missed out on flying over my handlebars - a great example of making sure I adhere to my own advice of looking before I leap!
Letting loose
As we approach the end of the ride, I let loose since if I got a pinch flat now, it would only be a short walk back to the car. I attempt to get some air on a tabletop or two as well as "hump-a-lumps” (my term for intentional mounds to provide a bit of air). On the first tabletop I push off and laugh to myself when my back tire doesn’t even leave the ground. I guess I need to get a bit more speed. One takeaway from today - Ringle trail system features smooth riding with all the machine built trails. I was particularly grateful as with today’s high humidity I’d be spinning and slipping on roots - not a problem on the Ringle Trails as they are void of these nuisances!
The full loop around the landfill is now open! So we were able to cover all the trails without any doubling back at a casual pace and a few photo ops in an hour and a bit of change. However, I wouldn’t have minded going back to ride the trails another time so I could ride a few more features that I opted out the first time around. Also, all the trails except Lost 40 are two-way, so I could ride all the trails in reverse and have a completely new experience…plenty to come back for! Looks like we need to arrange another Craiglists pickup!
So many opportunities
Being a mountain biker in Central Wisconsin, I feel spoiled. I can hit up one of FIVE trail systems and can even bike to one of them out my front door. This is all working toward creating an IMBA Ride Center! Read more here.
More opportunities
The Ringle trailhead is not just the trailhead for the Ringle mountain bike trail system, but also a trailhead for the Mountain-Bay State Trail. If you want to check out the Mountain-Bay State Trail, consider participating in the free ride June 18-27, 2021, the Essential Gravel Bike Ride! We have 10, 20, and 44 mile route options. Learn more here.