Making the Twin Cities Even More Bike Friendly

Back in July, there was a great article about a U of M Computer Science graduate student named Reid Priedhorsky who is starting up Cyclopath.org--a "geo-wiki" that allows cyclists to post bike routes to all sorts of destinations. The advantage of this set-up is that sometimes the most direct, or most traffic-free routes can take you off of streets and onto unofficial paths--things that aren't picked up by any map. While the Twin Cities Bike Map is certainly decent--there are lots of alternative ways to get from point A to point B that experienced cyclists are likely to point out. Cyclopath is still in testing mode, but you can sign up to be notified of its official release.

On August 17th from 1-3, the City of Minneapolis and Bike Walk Twin Cities, are launching a
Bike Walk Ambassadors Program. As the website notes:

"The Bike/Walk Twin Cities Ambassadors are here to help you out! The Ambassadors provide the information and support needed to help you start bicycling and walking more often. The Ambassadors are available to give presentations, lead safety/user clinics, and host events year-round. They'll help your group learn how to reach destinations by foot or bike with ease."

There are several other good resources if you're looking to find the best routes to places.

Minneapolis Bike Love. Com has a route planning forum with lots of posted routes and a place where you can ask how to get from here to there.

Bikely.com, a national website, also has a list of bike routes and paths for the Twin Cities.

Bike Walk Twin Cities has links to a bunch of other map/route resources, too.


image: Cage Design. You can purchase a series of posters of favorite Minneapolis-St. Paul cycling locations here.