https://www.bicycling.com/culture/a62754194/mike-pavlik-stolen-bike-recovery-minneapolis/

I recently posted on the stolen bikes facebook group about my bike which was stolen on Sunday. A member of that group messaged me with these pictures of someone on my bike -- and yes, I am 100% certain it is mine. The picture was taken on 32nd and Bryant Monday afternoon.

This is not a call to any type of action. Yes, I'm aware of some of the known stolen bike harbors around and I'm not going to go there. Just, if you see this guy monkeying with bike locks or wandering through alleys, just be aware of what he might be up to.

I have reported the theft. It was registered. I'm not counting on getting it back.

https://preview.redd.it/whnca0ynv4yd1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3aa0ec382e99649197c2b677b999f0519ec48fdb

https://preview.redd.it/k5m9uyxnv4yd1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a69d921f783a1b43af07112fc0629ac5e6980a23

Was wondering what routes do y'all take for that? Typically I go on 18th until Monroe. Then ride Monroe until 3rd. Then get on Hennepin bridge. The only part I don't enjoy the most is the 3rd ave bike path because it's so bumpy. I could go on the road but I'm a slow biker.

I've been seeing a lot of awesome construction on central, actual bike path 2 blocks south of broadway.

I just moved to Roseville near Materion Park and am looking for some nice bike routes starting in that area. I am familiar with the Gateway and Bruce Vento trails but am wondering what other routes and rides that people like to do in the area? What roads are best to ride on especially if I am looking to head north towards the lakes in North Oaks, Shoreview and White Bear? My rides typically range from 20-50 miles with some longer ones scattered in over the weekends.

The Bryant Ave Bike Boulevard has been praised both locally

https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2024/07/glowing-ranking-for-best-in-the-world-for-biking-in-minneapolis-doesnt-tell-the-whole-story/

 and nationally.

https://www.peopleforbikes.org/news/the-best-new-u.s.-bike-lanes-of-2023

On paper, Bryant Ave, at least south of Lake St, has all the trappings of an ideal separate grade cycling facility: curb separation from cars and even a median between the bike path and sidewalk on some blocks. However, like virtually any piece of bike infrastructure in the US it is an island unto itself. North of Lake St the bike path ends and cyclists are dumped onto a "shared" street with motorists who illegally speed and dangerously squeeze past cyclists. On the south end, the path dead ends into Minnehaha Pkwy and is by far residential with almost no direct access to destinations like grocery stores and restaurants. The major problem with the path section is the cross streets where the bike friendliness falls apart. Lack of traffic calming on side streets means a lack of traffic calming all over Bryant. Here's a not so little breakdown of all of the dangerous intersections starting from Franklin down to 40th:

Franklin Ave - A false traffic diverter only blocks southbound traffic, westbound motorists are allowed to go the wrong way in the eastbound lane to turn onto Bryant: I've seen motorists doing this back to back. A real traffic diverter would have been placed at the entrance of the block with zero access to a major high speed street. SE 2nd Ave is not a bike boulevard, yet the entire street is blocked off at 5th St SE by a curb and sidewalk with wooden bollards. This very effective treatment is found  nowhere on Bryant. There is no speed hump to slow turning traffic off of Franklin, only mid block speed humps and Franklin has no traffic calming and even has speedway stripes to encourage speeding, which sends a very mixed message with the new off street bike lanes. Between here and Lake St, a parking lane could be removed for a proper two-lane bike path. Instead, cyclists are dumped onto car prioritized streets with minimal to no traffic  calming whatsoever. 

22nd St - There are stop signs for traffic on 22nd with cyclists having the right of way, but that didn't recently stop a motorist from barely slowing down and turning directly in front of me. Thankfully, I assumed they weren't going to slow down and just coasted as they barely tapped their brakes. There's no traffic calming on 22nd to make motorists obey the stop signs. On the plus side, there are speed humps on Bryant.

24th St - Motorists have priority and there are no traffic diverters. Cyclists have stop signs. 24th has curb bike lanes, but there's no stops between Blaisdell and Lyndale and zero traffic calming which results in having to navigate past high speed traffic. There are zero speed humps on Bryant southbound.

25th St - This is one of the rare cross streets that has traffic calming, although only on the west side for some reason. This is a four-way stop with stop signs and there are no speed humps between here and 26th. Aldrich gives north-south traffic priority a block away, but I guess that couldn't be done here because bikes. 

26th St - Motorists have priority and two lanes with the second one being a passing lane, meaning that the majority of motorists are illegally speeding. There's no traffic calming on 26th as you approach Bryant. Cyclists have stop signs and have to wait for a break in traffic, which is especially dangerous after dark when a quarter of speeding motorists don't have their lights on. There are zero speed humps on Bryant, just car infrastructure with a bike stencil slapped on top. 

27th St - Cyclists have priority for once, but like almost every other cross street there's no traffic calming at all on 27th. Yet another block of Bryant that motorists are generously allowed to speed down if they the mood strikes them. 

28th St - See 26th, just reverse the one-way traffic and here you'll also see cyclists occasionally going the wrong way in the bike lane despite plenty of room for the city to make a two-way path and end wrong way cycling. This block of Bryant is more car infrastructure with a bike stencil not doing a good job of hiding that. Bryant continues to have no speed humps. On the plus side, the street is extra narrow here, so it'll slow some motorists down. The downside is that novice cyclists or cyclists with the bad habit of riding up against car doors means it's a particularly dangerous squeeze for a motorist passing a cyclist here. There's no traffic calming at the end of the block despite a crosswalk for access to the Midtown Greenway. 

29th St - Cyclists have right of way, but there's a lot of motorists who are always not stopping at their stop signs. 29th is supposed to be the city's take on a Dutch woonerf, except it's missing the requisite physical obstacles in the street to slow motorists. Per the FHWA definition: "trees, planters, parking areas, and other obstacles in the street". 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/saferjourney1/library/countermeasures/35.htm

29th has none of this and is just a widened alley for motorists to illegally speed through, quite the opposite of the city's stated goal of a low speed street shared between pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. Bryant itself is extra wide here, making this block a highly prioritized Motorist Boulevard with meaningless bike sharrows plopped on top. 

Lake St - Zero traffic calming or bike infrastructure to connect daily destinations on this major corridor to the city's new premiere bike boulevard. Motorists are allowed to run red lights with nothing in the street to even slow them down: no chicanes, no nothing. Pressing the crosswalk/bike buttons does nothing to prioritize bike traffic. Motorists have priority despite already having priority at every other intersection on Lake St. Car traffic turning off of Lake continues to maintain high speeds thanks to the extra wide lanes with no traffic calming. There's plenty of room to have a protected on street path on the east side of the street to connect to the Midtown Greenway a mere one block away. Instead, some bike stencils were slapped on top of car infrastructure, which to the city's surprise, doesn't turn it into bike infrastructure. This is also where the bike boulevard transitions from a street for cars where cyclists happen to be allowed, to a bike only path separate from car traffic. 

31st St - Motorists have priority with a signalized intersection: cyclists are expected to wait minutes for the light to change. Like every other signalized intersection on Bryant, they cause motorists to illegally speed while trying to make the yellow light.  Aside from major intersections there are zero reasons for extremely expensive traffic signals to exist on residential streets like this. When construction of the path was underway this was a four-way stop (as was every other intersection during construction) which allowed cyclists and pedestrians to cross almost immediately vs prioritizing motorists who may or may not be crossing. Accessing the path from 31st is difficult with no connecting bikeways despite being an extra wide street, which only promotes more illegal speeding. Yellow speed dashes down the middle of the street also encourage speeding. There are chicanes on the block at the end to slow cyclists, no traffic calming for motorists on 31st. 

32nd St - Motorists have priority: what should be a two-way stop for motorists only is a four-way stop including cyclists. Cyclists again have a chicane they have to slow down and zig zag around while motorists do not. 

33rd St - Motorists have priority: cyclists have a two-way stop and chicanes to navigate. Motorists get a straight shot to illegally speed at will.

34th St - Another four-way stop prioritizing motorists: instead of giving cyclists the right of way they are given more excessive stops. Another chicane to zig zag around while motorists can just keep their foot on the gas. 

35th St - High motorist priority: this is a residential street that dead ends into a Greek church and is lined with single family homes and low traffic. It only warrants stop signs at best. And yet, this heavily residential intersection has traffic signals to force cyclists to wait for minutes instead. Speed dashes in the middle of the street encourage frequent speeding not seen on neighboring unmarked 34th. No traffic diverters were installed for speeding motorists racing to/from I-35. 

36th St - Motorist priority: traffic signals keep bike traffic stopped for minutes. There are bike lanes, however they're super narrow and awkwardly placed  to abruptly hop up on the curb and then back on the street on the other side, leaving them parked on most of the time. No traffic calming here, just traffic speeding speed dashes. There are the signature chicanes for cyclists only: there are more chicanes for bikes on Bryant Ave than there are are for cars in the entire city. The apartment building on the SE corner across from a house has an unsigned hidden entrance that's blocked from view for southbound bike traffic by bushes and trees. Clearly visible only if you're northbound. No traffic diverters for speeding motorists racing to/from I-35. Cyclists get a chicane to slow them down, only on the south side thankfully.

37th St - Another low traffic side street where cyclists get stuck with a stop sign. This is where the car section becomes two lanes and actually has a mild chicane for motorists. The downside is that the retirement center south of the intersection has lots of curb cuts, including a blind spot entrance/exit ramp with concrete walls blocking all visibility until pulling right up to it. Motorists just pull right out from behind them over the bike path and sidewalk. No bike chicane, a least.

38th St - Another four-way stop with speeding traffic a la 35th and 36th thanks to the same speed dash design. It's not uncommon for motorists to tap their brakes before continuing speeding at 30 MPH or more. 38th is a secondary major street, yet no traffic diverters here either. No bike chicanes here either, you can actually bike in a straight line again!

39th St - This one is tricky in that it factors in the hill effect, which of course the city didn't. If you're headed southbound you'll be rolling downhill and greeted with a stop sign. Motorists still get priority. They also get a stop sign , but there's nothing to stop them quickly rolling into the intersection, so make sure your brakes are in working order while the leaves are obstructing the view of 39th. Downhill cyclists should absolutely have priority here and even have 39th totally closed to all car traffic and converted to a cul-de-sac with a curb and yellow painted concrete bollards. 

40th St - Finally, a connecting two-way bike path going east-west: there's none between here and the  Midtown Greenway. You get a stop sign again at this block too. Somehow, stop signs every block aren't done for motorists because public works departments say they'll just ignore them if they're on every block, and yet that's exactly what they did with cyclists. And guess what? Cyclists react similarly. Thank goodness for Walz's Laws stating that you can treat a stop sign like a yield sign of you're on a bike. Similar problems abound on 40th. Despite being the east-west bike path there's no traffic calming on cross streets and cyclists get no priority at major intersections like Lyndale. Go ahead and press the button, but you'll still have to wait as long as if you didn't press it. Motorists once again are prioritized all up and down another very rare separate grade bike facility. 

The Bryant Ave Bike Boulevard suffers from being "Green Lined": just like motorists are prioritized over train riders at even minor intersections, Bryant Ave suffers from adding several minutes of travel time going from one end to the other thanks to forcing cyclists to wait for motorists at nearly every intersection, not just busy major ones. Every intersection degrades the safety levels of this and every other major piece of bike infrastructure in the city. A path helps only so much when motorists are able to freely roll through or speed right through intersections without abandon. These are easy fixes, however, based on other bike boulevards throughout the city, once they're built they're never improved upon: the 5th St NE Bike Boulevard was built a decade ago and still suffers from the exact same problems it did then. Be glad that the city did a much better job this time, but be on your toes for lots of scofflaw motorists intersection after intersection. And I didn't even touch on motorists driving on the path!

Just traveled through a part of town I don't visit much. I was initially pleasantly surprised to see a bike lane protected with actual concrete. Then I saw the intersections, where protection just ended so cars could slide in to turn right. Sigh. Not too good, but not surprising despite the fact we've known safer alternatives for decades. THEN I saw a spot where protection was again replaced with a dotted line specifically so that cars could pass left turning drivers on the right IN the bike lane. Who the hell approves these designs? What is the point of spending all that money to "protect" the lane if the protection disappears exactly where it's really needed? I'm baffled by this planning. Who can I complain to about this that might be able to do something?

Anyone missing an Electra bike for about a week? It’s been left near my house near St Thomas in St. Paul for about a week.

I have a new ebike - fat tire. I was wondering if anyone could share any wisdom about winter riding in the city and road salt on the bike. I have no experience winter riding and am not planning on riding in winter a lot. Maybe on warmerish days, I dunno. Keeping my options open.

I don't have a reasonable way to clean off road salt during the winter aside from maybe using a coin wash car wash place or something. Bringing the bike inside to try to wipe it down isn't feasible for me. I keep the bike in a garage but it's not climate controlled. No access to water except what I could bring out there in a bucket.

Since I can't really clean the salt regularly, should I avoid riding during salt season altogether? Any tips/tricks for rustproofing or other preventive measures, cleaners, chemicals...

Let me know your experience. Thanks!

Sorry if not allowed, I'll be in town starting Monday through Friday and am looking for a cheap bike to borrow or buy so I can join in on some Halloween group rides. I'm about 5'11 and looking to spend less than $100. Honestly I wont be able to bring the bike on the plane so I would even be happy to return the bike later in the week before I leave too.

https://reddit.com/link/1gbkaus/video/ghjfmrrkdtwd1/player

Was biking home from the office today when I saw this guy get up onto the bike lane, cutting off a woman biking with her young daughter, trying to get around road closed barriers for Theo Wirth Pkwy. They were ok, and I knew the guy would have to turn around because the entire road is torn up and half the bike lane is a protective barrier for cyclists, so I pulled off to the side and wanted to see if I could get a picture of his license plate.

Did not expect him to hardly slow down and get up onto the curb separated bike lane WITH ME and pass with barely a foot of clearance. I've experienced some egregious driving around the city from drivers but this one takes the cake, even more reckless than the person a month ago who actually hit me by pulling out in front of me on Van White. I feel genuine rage that makes me feel physically sick because of the woman with her daughter he cut off.

This kind of shit happens ALL THE TIME around the city, and I've had people pull stunts nearly as stupid as this in FULL VIEW of the MPD and they are still doing nothing?? Why do we allow these people in our city and why do we allow them to have licenses? These people are borderline attempted murderers and we can't even get the city to do the most basic traffic calming measures to try and protect against these kinds of people. What the fuck can we even do when the city council does so little, the mayor is a jagoff, and the MPD sits around collecting a check while killing and endangering people themselves?

I’m starting a job in DTSP soon and I’m going to be commuting by bike a couple days a week. The streets look a bit post apocalyptic and I’d prefer to lock up my bike in a not abandoned garage if possible. Is there a garage near 6th and Minnesota or Cedar that has good accommodations for bikes?

Haven’t rode a bicycle in close to 39 years. Wa if. To begin commenting from Camden Webber area to Franklyn and Nicollet. Looking for Rlroute suggestions and ideas for build up stamina.

I was enjoying the gorgeous weather this afternoon and traveling WB on the parkway. I rode on the right side and plenty of cars went by. One car got really close and the driver blasted his horn and pointed at the bike path. So obnoxious.

Hey all,

I'm relocating back to Minneapolis in a few weeks. I'm hoping to do Le Grand Du Nord 110 miler in May 2025. Currently I'm in Utah and can count on at least a couple days per week that I can ride outside for a couple hours even during the dead of winter.

When I used to live in Minneapolis, I would commute via bike year round but a good amount of that riding wasn't particularly focused towards training and was just staying upright during a blizzard.

Anyone got some thoughts about bike paths or other sections of town that get cleared pretty well from snow with consistency? Any tips on how to put down good training even in the winter months? I have a Wahoo trainer that I'm sure will continue to get some use as well.

Any insights help. Just trying to avoid spending the entirety winter staring at Zwift.

I was riding the Minnehaha path today going westbound and decided to return back via midtown greenway. As I pulled up to lake Harriet I realized that bike path around the lake is only one way - the opposite way of what was convenient in my case. Same deal with Maka ska one.

I never really thought about those paths before because riding around the lakes in a loop is not my thing, but…. It seems inconvenient to have one way traffic for bikes.

My guess is that the design was based on them being used “recreationally” as in only by those riding around the lakes. IMHO that is myopic. What do you guys think about that design? Anyone had the same issue?