Commuting by Bike!

The Twin Cities have gone absolutely crazy for biking over the past few years.  Ever since being named America's Most Bike-Friendly City in 2010 by Bicycling Magazine (a major upset since Portland, OR had held the title for many years), the whole bike culture seems to have exploded.  There are now over 100 miles of bike trails and lanes just in Minneapolis city proper, with hundreds more throughout St. Paul and the suburbs.  But it goes beyond just making room for bikers.

Here are stories I've come across in just the past month that relate to bike culture in the cities.  There was an art festival this month that took place in the middle of the night at locations throughout the city that were designed to be visited by bike.  Outdoor concert festivals here have bike valet service.  Target Field (where the Twins play) has room for 300 bikes to park, and it fills up every game.  Two weeks ago it was Twin Cities Bike Walk Week, with events every day throughout the city.  And this summer, the Nice Ride bike rental service has expanded their fleet to over 1,000 bikes deployed at 150 bike rack kiosks throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Katie and I always like to dive into the culture of our hometown, so we've really taken to biking here.  Birmingham was so unfriendly for biking, so hilly and with almost no accommodations for bikers, so the only time we biked there is when we took the bikes down to the Gulf coast.  Since moving here, we've biked more than we had in the past eight years.  We also like that we can do it as a family activity and Henry can join in the fun.  We scored a great bike trailer for him at a garage sale on our street!

Checking out his new road digs

He's been getting used to the trailer and the bike helmet, and he likes it more and more each time out.  It even lulls him to sleep sometimes!

Away we go!

After a while of summer bike fun, I decided to take it to the next level.  Half of my team at work commutes to work regularly by bike, and I thought I should give it a try, too.  The only problems were that 1. my 12 year old mountain bike was not meant for commuting, and 2. I've never commuted by bike and I've never ridden my bike in urban traffic before!  So, the first step was to do lots of research and figure out how to do this without making a complete fool of myself.

It was clear my bike needed some work, so I gave it a good cleaning, oiled the drivetrain and all the other moving parts, retrofitted some commuter tires and a storage rack, and started doing some practice rides.  It's almost 10 miles one way to the office, and I needed to get back into decent biking shape.

Heading out to the Kingfield Farmer's Market last Sunday

After a few trips around the neighborhood, Lake Harriet, and to farmer's markets, I felt I was ready.  I mapped out a good route, and after some delays for weather and a sick child, today was the day!

So this morning I got ready to roll, packed my trunk bag with my laptop and a change of clothes, and headed on my way.  I gotta say, at first it felt really strange to be going to work and to not be in my car.  But after a few minutes I was warmed up, cruising along, and it felt great!  Nice breezy morning, great scenery,  fresh air.

I took some pictures along the route.  Here's a picture tour of my commute to work this morning.

Heading out of the neighborhood.
Narrow but workable bike lane here, not much
traffic in the neighborhood anyhow.

West side of Lake Harriet.  Great day for sailing!

East side of Lake Calhoun.
Not the best picture, but I'm on a moving bike!

A leafy neighborhood of south Minneapolis along Irving.

Ignoring the enormous billboard, this was a cool looking cafe.
I'm waiting for the green light at one of the only major road
crossings of the entire route (Lake St.).

Made it to the Midtown Greenway!  Smooth sailing for the
rest of the trip.

Look at all those road crossings I won't have to stop for!
The Greenway runs in an old railroad trench and cuts clear
across town.  Super convenient bike highway!

There's even a full service bike shop right on the Greenway
for any emergency repairs, gear needs and snacks.

Approaching the Sabo Bridge, a futuristic looking thing
which allows bikes and pedestrians to go over the very
busy Hiawatha Ave.

The Greenway connects with the Hiawatha Light Rail Trail,
which takes me right into campus alongside the light
rail route.  I didn't think to wait for a train, would've made
for a better picture.

Finally!  The plaza outside my office on campus.  Note the
copious amounts of bike parking.  It's summer session so
not as many bikes around as usual.

Considering this was a 10 mile route through a metropolis of 3+ million people, it's really amazing how accessible it is by bike.  I waited for cars at four intersections total, and was on dedicated bike trails for
about two thirds of the trip.  The rest of the time, I was on quiet neighborhood streets except for a few blocks.  I was really happy with how low stress it turned out to be.

My stats for the trip:  9.66 miles, 53 minutes, 10.9 mph average, 570 calories burned.
The return trip was 9.57 miles (slightly different route because bike traffic is one way clockwise around the lakes), 55 minutes (a stiff headwind!), 10.5 mph, and 589 calories burned.

The best part is that I felt great all day.  No mid-afternoon energy crash, no exhaustion tonight, just happy that I got such great exercise today.  I'm definitely looking forward to my next bike commute.  I hope to build up to once or twice a week over this summer and as long as the weather holds out in the fall.  Some folks here bike year round - did you know there are snow tires for bikes?? - but I'm not quite ready for that!