Biking in Twin Cities (Minneapolis, St. Paul: bus, car, office)

[kuan]

Nope there's no "no bikes" law. That area just has few bike friendly roads.

[MNNative]

Originally Posted by kuan

Nope there's no "no bikes" law. That area just has few bike friendly roads.

Ah, well that makes sense.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by MNNative

Is that a law for no bikes in that area or is it just not the safest area for bikers? My husband works just near Rosedale and was thinking about getting his bike out before it gets unbearably cold...He hasn't heard of anything regarding that and one of his coworkers bikes to Rosedale and catches the bus pretty routinely...

No, there's no law that you can't ride a bike thru there, it's just that all of the streets around Rosedale are very busy and not real great for bicycling. My wife can get up to County B on bike paths, low traffic thru streets and side streets, but then the only way to get from there to north of the Mall is Fairview, which is not a good biking road at all.

[cinnamon_toast]

I live near the Gateway Trail (Stillwater section) and that is a fabulous trail as well. It is much quieter than the city trails and even better - no speed limit.

[MNNative]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

No, there's no law that you can't ride a bike thru there, it's just that all of the streets around Rosedale are very busy and not real great for bicycling. My wife can get up to County B on bike paths, low traffic thru streets and side streets, but then the only way to get from there to north of the Mall is Fairview, which is not a good biking road at all.

Yes, I can see your point. I'm not sure how his coworker manages it considering their office is north of the mall, west of Fairview...but I suppose your wife doesn't have much of a choice aside from Fairview coming from that direction.

If my hubby does decide to bike I think he plans to take the Parkway/byway as far as it'll take him (which is very far actually) and then I'm not sure how his route will be. His profession is pretty stressful so I think he's sorta regretting the idea of biking 8 miles (16 total). His other main concern is how long it'll take him to get there...I just did a Google Maps function for walking and it says 2hrs an 48min. I doubt that'll happen if it takes that long...lol...the 17 minute drive (using highways instead) just might make more sense. (Though he'd like to not have to drive and saving on gas would be neat, too...though his car gets excellent mileage anyhow).

I dunno...but it is nice to have the option, isn't it.

[kuan]

Here's a beta version of a cyclomap.

Cyclopath Geowiki

[MNNative]

Originally Posted by kuan

Here's a beta version of a cyclomap.

Cyclopath Geowiki

That's very cool...it doesn't show an estimated time though (differs quite a bit between the level of rider you are I suppose).

[Sobefobik]

What about biking in the winter time? Do a lot of people still commute in the winter?

[kuan]

Yep. People commute in the winter. Mostly closer to downtown, but I always see this one guy on the luce line trail in Plymouth.

[rodhaenke]

Originally Posted by Slig

Those trails around there are some of the more beautiful I've seen. I don't go through Fort Snelling anymore because the trail to get up to the Mendota Bridge is too steep. I take the trail that goes down the road above the trail entrance and around the front of the fort. But yeah, that whole area is really cool and it bypasses alot of traffic and risk of getting hit by stupid drivers.

There are 2 bike trails from M. Falls to F. Snelling - one hugs on the east side of Hiawatha - it is a good alternative to the river trail.