Nicollet Island

Minnesota Travel: A Bike Tour in Minneapolis

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• published: 17 Sep 2012
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On July 12, 2012 I embarked on a real adventure: a biking tour of Minneapolis. Early in the morning my friend Gail dropped me off at Calhoun Bicycle Rentals, where Brad, one of their guides, took me under his wing and showed me around one of America's best bicycling cities. We started on the Cedar Lake Trail, made a quick stop at Hidden Beach and continued into downtown Minneapolis. We even cycled right next to the north wall of the Twins Stadium. Once in downtown, we admired the many bridges over the mighty Mississippi River and continued to Mill Ruins Park, a remainder of the many mills that used to dominate the Minneapolis skyline, particularly in the second half of the 19th and early 20th century. This was the era when Minneapolis had 33 flour mills that produced almost 10% of the flour and grist in the entire United States. Brad took me past the modern Guthrie Theater to the 35W Memorial that commemorates the collapse of an important bridge in 2007 during rush hour that killed 13 people. Behind the memorial is a lookout point that provides a phenomenal view over the Mississippi River, the bridges that cross it and the various remaining mill buildings on both sides of the river. We headed back north again and crossed the river on the Stone Arch Bridge, a curved railway bridge that was opened in 1883. From here we explored the eastern shoreline as well as Nicollet Island. Then we headed back south through the campus of the University of Minnesota before crossing the Mississippi again on the Washington Bridge and then riding south along the big river until we headed back to the bicycle store on the Midtown Greenway which is almost like a bicycle highway. Biking in Minneapolis is a great experience; the city has an extensive trail system, excellent signposting and surprisingly considerate motorists that stop for bicyclists at intersections.