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bike touring

spokengear resources

Turning down a gravel drive way set back from the hustle and bustle of Scenic 61, you'll find Spokengear Cyclery and Outdoor. We're a small, independently owned, full service bike shop tucked into an expansive grove of cedar trees. We're passionate about the great outdoors and all things bicycle, and we're here to be your resource, both online and when you visit us in person.

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Nestled into six acres of cedar trees in Two Harbors, MN, you will find our shop. We’re small in stature, but large in what we offer. We’re on the edge of the Superior National Forest, which is home to the famed Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), where many visitors come each year to paddle a network of lakes for days, weeks, or months at a time. It truly is a beautiful area to explore from a canoe. 

However, often overlooked and simply viewed as paths to get to the lakes is an expansive network of gravel roads, forest service roads, and ATV trails that allow riders to create their own routes to pedal through for days or weeks at a time. Our goal is to help people to see this area as a destination for bikepacking and off road touring the same way canoeists from around the world see the BWCAW. 

We encourage riders to start by picking a few state forest campgrounds and link them together by bike over a weekend. From there, we encourage riders to expand into dispersed camping. The Superior National Forest allows for dispersed camping as long as riders abide by the principals of Leave No Trace and are on public land. Stop on in and talk to us and we’d love to help get you started. 

Maybe gravel and ATV trails aren’t your thing, and you prefer touring on pavement. The same, beautiful Superior National Forest delivers again with plenty of terrain to pedal through. Within the Superior National Forest, there are a few paved highways that take you through beautiful, lush, green forests. 

If you’d prefer to see the Lake, hop on what is arguably one of the most scenic legs of U.S. Cycling Route 41, The Northstar Route, which goes from the Twin Cities Metro area across the state and up the shore to Canada. If that’s not enough time spent by the Lake, keep going when you get to Canada and take on the famed Circle Tour around Lake Superior. Grab your trusty touring bike, load down those panniers, and go soak in the lake breeze. 

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