State's Bike Use Shifts into High Gear

By Mary Van Beusekom

While many people begin their commute by turning a key in the ignition, Maery Rose usually starts hers by strapping on a helmet.

The 59-year-old Anoka woman bikes two miles to the Northstar rail line, which she takes to Target Field, then gets back in the saddle for another two miles to her job as a business process analyst in Northeast Minneapolis.

With three bikes to her name—one of them a fat-tire model for the winter—she also logs miles on her way to pick up groceries or check out a library book. “I don’t like formal exercise, so I prefer to work it into my daily routine,” she said. “When I’m on a bike, I feel young.”

On Sunday, Sept. 11, Rose plans to join the estimated 6,000 cycling enthusiasts participating in the Saint Paul Classic bike tour. AARP Minnesota is the main sponsor.

Winding through city streets for the 22nd time, the annual ride (not a race) will start and end at the University of St. Thomas. “It’s a whole lot of fun,” Rose said. “It’s so nice having police guide traffic and the roads closed so you can bike without a lot of cars.”

AARP members get a $5 discount when registering at bikeclassic.org by Sept. 1, when online registration closes. Same-day registration will also be available. The Classic is one of several bike events, such as group rides and open-streets community festivals, that AARP is hosting over the summer.

Will Phillips, AARP Minnesota state director, said AARP is sponsoring the Classic for the second time in a row because it wants to encourage active and healthy lifestyles among members.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to engage with people who are already active in biking, have a shared interest in livable communities and, now or in the future, have an interest in what AARP is doing to support that,” he said.

Dorian Grilley, executive director of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, which puts on the Classic, said the ride is a fun way to celebrate a very bike-friendly state.

“Minnesotans have always loved the outdoors during all seasons,” Grilley said. “The bicycle industry—and Minnesota is a leader here—has responded with incredible technologies like lights, fat bikes, studded tires and clothing that make it easy, safe and fun to ride all year.

“Minneapolis and St. Paul are some of the best bicycling cities in the country,” he added.

Support for cyclists
In fact, in its list of bike-friendly localities in 2010, Bicycling magazine named Minneapolis the No. 1 bike-friendly community, although it had slipped to No. 3 by the most recent survey in 2014.

The state has a robust bicycling infrastructure, from bike lanes in Minneapolis and St. Paul to miles of dedicated bike trails like the Midtown Greenway in South Minneapolis and the Paul Bunyan State Trail from north of Bemidji to south of Brainerd, said Grilley, who for three decades biked a 30-mile round-trip to work.

Minnesota has made a name for itself with bike-friendly firms that provide incentives for employees to ride to work, such as indoor bike racks and free on-site repair services. As home to the Nice Ride bike share program and national bike part and tool businesses such as Quality Bicycle Products and Park Tool, Minnesota is a hub of the nation’s bicycle economy, Grilley said.

Rose, who recounts her biking and other adventures at maeryrose.com/category/bikes, encourages everyone to try biking to work or other places they would normally drive.

“A lot of the people I talk to say ‘You’re really brave’ and ‘I couldn’t do that,’ but you can,” she said. “You just start out slow and stay safe, and it’s no problem. It’s just so much fun.”

The Saint Paul Classic has two routes. Riders can choose to go 15 or 33 miles—or do both, for a 48-mile loop. Ride-day registration and sign-in opens at 7:15 a.m. Riders can start biking as early as 7:30 a.m. or as late as 9:15 a.m.

Go to aarp.org/mn or call 866-554-5381 toll-free to learn about other AARP-sponsored biking events.

Mary Van Beusekom is a writer living in Excelsior, Minn.