I’ve been publishing the print version of the Twin Cities Bike Map since 1983. In 2013 I introduced the mobile version of the map and watched mobile sales rise while print sales have declined. Although I’ve seen a COVID related surge in print map sales during the last year, the overall trend has been down,… […]
Looking for a hilly ride to put some burn into your legs? Try this route, near the Afton area. It incorporates about 1800 feet of climbing into a 30 mile ride. We started at the pin and went counterclockwise. The last leg was mercifully flat and we had a tailwind.
The Twin Cities Mobile Bike Map has been updated. Changes include the St. Paul Grand Rounds, the new trail connector in S. St. Paul, the first stage of the new paved River Bottoms route and changes in a number of suburban cities. Check the Avenza app on your phone. Updates are free if you’ve already… […]
I’ve been publishing the print version of the Twin Cities Bike Map since 1983. In 2013 I introduced the mobile version of the map and watched mobile sales rise while print sales have declined. Although I’ve seen a COVID related surge in print map sales during the last year, the overall trend has been down, to the point where I can no longer profitably run small press runs. I’ve decided to discontinue the printed version. It’s the end of an era. I will no longer sell the print version through my website, but you should be able to find maps at Twin Cities bike dealers through the end of the season. The mobile version of the map is still available and will be updated regularly.
Looking for a hilly ride to put some burn into your legs? Try this route, near the Afton area. It incorporates about 1800 feet of climbing into a 30 mile ride. We started at the pin and went counterclockwise. The last leg was mercifully flat and we had a tailwind.
The Twin Cities Mobile Bike Map has been updated. Changes include the St. Paul Grand Rounds, the new trail connector in S. St. Paul, the first stage of the new paved River Bottoms route and changes in a number of suburban cities. Check the Avenza app on your phone. Updates are free if you’ve already downloaded an earlier version of the map.
Can bikes be used as part of a canoe/kayak shuttle? Dave Olson has been doing it for years. Vicky and I tried it on July 4. We paddled the Crow River from the Lake Rebecca canoe launch to a take out in St. Michael. From there I pedaled back to pick up the car using a marked bike route from the Twin Cities Bike Map. It worked well and offered two advantages over the traditional two vehicle shuttle. We needed only one car and I got to kayak and bike in the same day.
kayaking the Crow RiverBike Route along the Crow River
The flood waters have receded significantly in the last couple of weeks, but the road into Fort Snelling is still closed. That required some extra research. Easy enough to do since road barriers are designed to keep cars out, not bikes. Here’s what I found. The flooding did a number on the park road.
The Driftless Area is a unique geologic feature of the upper Mississippi River. Four major glaciers passed through the upper Midwest in geologic time; flattening hills, filling in valleys and leveling the landscape, but none of them touched the Driftless Area of what is now SW Wisconsin, SE Minnesota and NE Iowa. The result is a highly dissected land of ridges, valleys, trout streams and rivers. The landscape is dotted with small family farms, wooded hillsides and rural communities.
This bike tour takes it all in with a mix of paved and gravel roads, long ascents to ridges followed by equally long descents into valleys. It crosses the Mississippi River twice and passes Amish farms, bakeries and buggies. Average daily distance is 50 miles, but with numerous campgrounds, hotels and B&Bs along the way, the options for changing up the daily ride are endless. You will be challenged physically by the hills and rewarded endlessly by the scenery and small town friendliness.
Adventure Cycling Association, the national organization for bicycle touring, will do a presentation at REI Bloomington Wednesday evening, February 20. It’s a great organization and has inspired me to continue bike touring for years.
The Cycling Museum of Minnesota, that little engine that could, keeps chugging along, producing exhibits and talk series that reflect the wide range of cycling activities in Minnesota. The latest, called LifeCycle, may be their most ambitious to date.The exhibit, two years in the making, profiles eleven wildly different members of the Minnesota Cycling Community in photos and interviews.
Some of the profiled members are well known in the cycling business: Steve Flagg, founder of Quality Bicycle Products, Erik Noren of Peacock Groove fame and Eric Hawkins, owner of Park Tool Company.
Others are better known to bicycle advocates:: Cynthia McArthur and Louis Moore.
Sveta Vold, of Belarus, now living in St. Louis Park, has established herself in off-road cycling, with feats of strength in the Arrowhead 135, Almanzo 100 and the Day Across Minnesota.
The last group of profiled riders are the barrier breakers: Marques Watson, recipient of the first Philandro Castile Memorial Award, once an apprentice at Express Bike, now a supervisor and engineering student, Salma Nadir, a student athlete at the University of St. Thomas and the only Muslim woman mountain bike racer in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.and Cali Jirsa, founder and owner of Cherry Cycles, the first woman shop owner in Minneapolis.
They all have one thing in common, a love of bicycling, but each brings a different perspective on that love. In follow-up discussions, the Cycling Museum will pair the unlikeliest of these riders in moderated talks that are sure to bring out the similarities and differences of these perspectives.
The LifeCycle exhibit opens Saturday at the Hennepin History Museum, near the MIA.and runs through mid-March.
Looking for a place for some unstructured exploring?Try the southeast shore of Lake Minnetonka and areas east. This is an area where you can wander around on low traffic roads that twist and dip and wind through towering trees and tony homesteads. The best places to explore are the peninsulas that define Lake Minnetonka’s iconic bays such as Gray’s Bay, Robinsons Bay and Carsons Bay.
The attached map shows a recent ride with Dave Olson. The route starts in Hopkins, works its way northwest, then drops down to cross the Gray’s Bay Dam. From there we wandered through Woodland, Deephaven and anywhere we thought might be interesting. This isn’t meant to be a tour guide, just a hint of where you can explore. The two red pins, or placemarks, mark the location of the stone arches shown below, two of the more unusual discoveries along the route.
The new Trailhead at Theodore Wirth Park is an impressive building with the potential to strengthen outdoor activities in Minneapolis. This has been part of a long term project to bring mountain biking and cross country skiing into the city and make these sports available to a more ethnically and financially diverse group of users.
Currently it’s just an impressive building and some new mountain bike trails, but a restaurant, classes and new activities are in the works.
Others are better known to bicycle advocates:: Cynthia McArthur and Louis Moore.
