Lakes and Bike Trails of the Twin Cities

Minneapolis Lakes: 25.62 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 2 hours 12 minutes, average speed 11.5

Our bike ride today was the ultimate! Since our hotel for the night was in St. Louis Park, we took advantage of the bike trails in the area. We arrived early at the Doubletree Inn and began pedaling our route at 10:00am. Just down the road from the hotel, we picked up the bike paths that eventually put us on the smooth pavement of the Cedar Lake Trail. I got the opportunity to visit with other cyclists while waiting for a train to clear our path. The locals gave us great suggestions for lunch and we were excited to try the Tin Fish Eatery on Lake Calhoun.

We exited the Cedar Trail at the north end of the West River Parkway, another beautifully paved bike trail, and soon came across the Stone Arch Bridge at St. Anthony Falls, the only natural major waterfall on the upper Mississippi River.

The Parkway led us to the Midtown Greenway, A biker’s highway that cuts across the Cities. We were now in search of the Tin Fish Eatery and a rest along Lake Calhoun. The food at the Tin Fish was very good and the dining experience was unique.

We were just arriving back at our hotel when we received a call letting us know that our room was ready so we checked in and had a little down time before getting ready to meet up with the Night Owl Riders downtown St. Paul.

Trail Opening Ceremony—St. Paul, MN

Dinkytown Greenway Trail Opening: 39.35 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 3 hours 19 minutes, average speed 11.8

We didn’t have to search very hard to find a ride for today. An email was sent advertising the grand opening of the Dinkytown Greenway Trail near the University campus of St. Paul, MN giving us a chance to bike the Twin Cities again. We are getting to know quite a bit about the vast biking opportunities of this metropolis. Our ride began from South St. Paul where Amy & Luke live, about 10 miles from the grand opening meeting place on the campus lawn of the University of Minnesota.

The grand opening celebrated a key link by providing safe bike travel across the Twin Cities. We were joined by Mayor Rybak at the site of the proposed Surley Brewery in Minneapolis. You need not be a beer drinker to enjoy what is being planned here. We are excited to check it out next fall when it is complete.

The Brewery owner was at the site to welcome us and explain what they have planned and why this site was chosen. Brewery tours and a restaurant are part of the plan.

Back on our bikes, we pedaled with the group to the site of the grand opening celebration. We were greeted by many officials responsible for getting this $2.3 million dollar connection complete and they promised more surprises to come.

We parted from the group following our ride on the newly paved Dinkytown section of the Greenway and continued routing ourselves back to South St. Paul. Lunch was way overdue and we were getting hungry. As we entered onto the Big Rivers Regional Trail in Mendota Heights, we saw the Lucky 13 Pub and enjoyed a hearty meal on the patio beside the trail.

We wanted to see if we could get back using only the trail systems and with the exception of a few miles, this was accomplished. We truly enjoyed this day of biking in the “Big Cities” and look forward to our next adventure here.

Minnehaha Falls Burley Biking

West River Parkway–Minneapolis: 11.84 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 1 hour 8 minutes, average speed 10.2

This tandem/Burley adventure took us to the West River Parkway bike trail along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We started at the Minnehaha Park and Falls and progressed north towards the University of Minnesota. We saw many great sites along this 12-mile journey. Of course the falls were spectacular and Kennedy enjoyed the boats on the river.

Minnehaha Park is one of Minneapolis’ oldest and most popular parks, attracting over 850,000 thousand visitors. The 193-acre park features a 53-foot waterfall, limestone bluffs and river overlooks and has been on my “must see” list for some time. I was grateful to see it this day when the water was flowing rapidly over the rocks.

We stopped for a short snack at the Bohemian Flats near the University which also gave Kennedy a chance to explore the authentic paddle wheeler, the Minneapolis Queen. We then pedaled back to the Falls where we had lunch at the Sea Salt Eatery—very enjoyable!

Kennedy’s biking miles for 2013 now total 73. She is slowly getting used to these trips with grandma and grandpa pulling her behind in the Burley.

7th Annual Minneapolis Bike Tour

36-Mile Road Route: 37.68 miles
Tandem Pedal Time: 2 hours 45 minutes, average speed 13.6

We came to this ride less prepared than usual, leaving home without a camera battery in the camera, water in the water bottles or sunglasses on the bike and even though we were not as organized as usual, we managed to have a fabulous ride. We began to see bikes on vehicles as we neared Kenwood Parkway in Minneapolis and our excitement began to grow. We needed to be on route by 7:30 a.m. so arrived ready to ride by 6:30. The Minneapolis park commissioners were at the start to welcome us and cheer us on our way.


Note: All photos of this biking event were taken using a Droid Motorola cell phone.

We registered for this ride through Living Social, an online business that offers daily deals and discounts, which was a savings of 50% off the normal ride fee. So all we had to do now was sit back and enjoy the ride along with 4000 other riders. The weather was the best ever—mid 60’s, sunshine, slight wind and once away from the mass start, few hills and lots of traffic-free surface to claim.

The route took us around 5 pristine lakes and then along the Mighty Mississippi, travelling past the University of Minnesota before returning back to our start at Parade Field. This 36-mile loop had 4 full rest stops and allowed us to bike the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway unhindered by motorized traffic. Rest stop #4 allowed me to shake hands in gratitude with a representative of Calhoun Cycles where 7 years ago we rolled our Rans Screamer our their door not realizing at the time the relationship we would have with this bike.

This is definitely a route we would like to share with our tandem friends in the future. Who would think this beauty could exist within this urban setting? The Minneapolis Park and Rec Board has done a wonderful job protecting the many miles of inner city property for all to experience and enjoy (http://www.minneapolisparks.org).

A Post Ride Party was planned following our cheerful finish and included music, food vendors and various exhibition booths—a wonderful way to end this fun riding day.

Biking in the Big City

Minneapolis Ground Rounds: 10.94 miles
TANDEM: Ride Time was 1 hour, average speed: 10.8

We began biking downtown Minneapolis upon our early arrival at the Midwest Mountaineering Outdoor Expo being held near the University of Minnesota. We parked the van and began to search for a bike trail that would allow us to quietly pedal along the Mississippi River. After a bit of a struggle, we finally found a paved trail that lead us towards the west bank of the Mississippi River.

It was a wonderful day of riding with temps in the 50’s. One motorist stopped us at a busy intersection apologizing for the intrusion but wanted her son to get a closer look at us on our strange bike. He shouted a cheery “hello” and we were then all on our way. We did not expect any speed records today but we did enjoy the constant view of the Mississippi River throughout our ride.

Biking the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis

Comments: Ride Time was 1 hour 19 minutes, average speed: 11.8

We planned this last minute bike escape to the Twin Cities to take advantage of the free hotel room we won while at the 2010 Bike Expo in Minneapolis. Our night’s stay was to be at the Sheraton Minneapolis Midtown Hotel located on the Midtown Greenway—a wide, vehicle-free bicycle highway across Minneapolis. We checked into the Sheraton at 2:00 p.m. and got ready to ride.

We dressed for the 50-degree temperature and began pedaling west with plans to find the end of the Greenway. We turned around to head back to the hotel after biking beyond our destination and then encountered the chilly SE winds until reaching the protection of the Greenway again. The temperature was dropping very quickly and we were happy to be back enjoying the warmth of our hotel room. Our evening plans were to visit with Amy and Luke and then go to supper at our favorite Cities restaurant—The Flame—a cozy way to complete the evening.