Carl Atkinson
Carl Atkinson
I am a shiatsu therapist and I work part time at CRC Cafe. I co-produce the Bicycle Film Festival in Minneapolis and the upcoming Sound Unseen Film Festival. I met my boyfriend at One On One and he likes it when I ride fast. Bikes are my main transportation, unless I feel like walking. I started riding in Minneapolis in 2002. I bought a Cannondale mountain bike and had drop bars put on it. That wasn’t enough, so I bought a British 3-speed. I couldn’t stop yet, so the Cannondale was replaced by a Croll lugged steel road racing bike. I needed something to ride around town on so next was a Raleigh road bike to fixed gear conversion. Then came the Bridgestone MB-4 singled, the Bridgestone Keirin track bike, and my Surly Steamroller. Somewhere in the mix I sold my car. Vacations turned into excuses to ride in other cities and across states. I love my bikes and my life is better because I ride. I don’t worry about my car breaking anymore. I understand how my bike works and maintain it mostly by myself. I feel a part of the community and connected to the city because I’m out in it every day. I can feel its bumps and see its people up close.
What do you love about riding in Minneapolis?
I’m proud of Minneapolis. I believe it to be one of the finest places to live in the world. When I ride my bike here I can sample all types of weather, soaked jeans, frost bitten fingers, wind-blown hair, tanned arms etc. People organize bike events all year round. The Stupor Bowl race was held for the eleventh February in a row this year. Bike races happened four Saturdays in a row on Medicine Lake in conjunction with artist built shanties. We have the Bicycle Film Festival in the summer as well as the Grand Rounds Tour. There are trails at Theo Wirth Park, tons of on and off road bicycle paths, a velodrome with a wood track, and lots of great day trip routes out of the city. Some of us drink a little when we ride our bikes here, which is way healthier than just sitting at the bar.
What do you hate?
I could do without wishy-washy drivers who “help” me out by letting me go before them. They mess with my timing. That being said, we are extremely lucky to have relatively considerate drivers here.
Describe a favourite route
The Mississippi River runs through Minneapolis and St. Paul. Crossing it each night from Downtown to Northeast gives me an amazing feeling. The neon lights from the old flour mills mirrored on the river, the glow of downtown, and the sound of the water all make Minneapolis feel like home.
Tell us about some bicycle flag-waving Minneapolitans
Jeremy Werst started Minneapolis Bike Love, as an online forum for all kinds of riders. It caught on and though there’s sometimes lots of lippy chatter, Jeremy’s aim to make biking approachable and a part of everyday life remains at its core.
Shanai Matteson, the Public Program Coordinator at the Bell Museum of Natural History, whose dedication to hosting bike events through the use of outdoor space has been invaluable. She has aided the counting of cyclists at busy intersections which might otherwise have lost their bike lanes.
Gene Oberpriller
Gene Oberpriller
“The Godfather of the Minneapolis bike scene, the den mother who adopts all the stray cyclists that blow through town, is Gene Oberpriller, former Bianchi pro and co-owner of One On One Bike Studio and Go! Coffee in downtown Mpls.”
– Andy Corson, Surly Bikes
I have been riding pretty much every day since 1974. My parents didn’t let me get my driving licence till I was 18. So I started riding and racing a BMX bike all over the city. I started working in a shop in 1981. Raced a bicycle professionally for 10 years or so. Worked for a number of bicycle companies in the 1990’s. Started One On One Bicycle Studio in 2003. I am married to Jennifer, (and she is the best woman in the world). We have two kids, Hannah and Axel and their two cats Max and Sparky.
What do you love about riding in Minneapolis?
The four seasons.
What do you hate?
The mentality of drivers and the cops because they clearly do not get it! This country really needs to get its driver education program inline with the coming reality that bicycles are traffic too.
Describe a favourite route
The Mississippi River road on both sides Mpls and St.Paul. You can ride on the street, on the bike path, on the dirt running path, on some alleys. You can ride some sketchy bluff trails and you can even ride some of the shoreline. It’s always the first route plowed in the winter. I can ride all 27 of my bicycles there and it’s never the same.
Who are Minneapolis’ cycling promoters?
State wide it’s Jim Dustrude, Principal Transportation Strategist, MN Dept. of Transportation, Office of Transit and Bikes. He just retired, but he has played a big role in the infrastructure here in Mpls and of course the state. He rides.
On the city front, Donald Pflaum who is the Transportation Engineer for the city. He gets it. The mayor [R.T. Rybak] is also really supportive of cycling.
Gary Sjoquist, is a full time advocate with Quality Bicycle Products who brings a lot of people together to get projects started.
Shawn Sheely has been the most active citizen when it comes to cycling in the city. He always has his foot in the door.
Recently, we have seen that just about every ward in the city has a person on some group that is a cyclist and makes it known when infrastructure issues come up.
Hurl Everstone [of Cars are Coffins] and I do a fair amount of networking with the media that Minneapolis is a great cycling town.
Hurl Everstone
Hurl Everstone
Founder of Cars R Coffins Cykel Garage
Cycling for me is as normal as putting on a pair of shoes in the morning. If I don’t ride I get cranky, restless even. I was raised on a steady diet of bicycles and punk rock. Bicycles gave me the freedom to explore outside my neighborhood. Around the age of 12, I witnessed art-punk pioneers Devo performing on Saturday Night Live. At about the same time, a kid named Mark Halliwell moved to town from Liverpool. Halliwell brought with him his collection of Sex Pistols records and raced at the local BMX track. I knew right at that moment, that punk music, combined with bicycles, would always be a part of my life.
What do you love about riding in Minneapolis?
Riding to work on a sunny, spring morning. Soft light coming through the trees, few cars.
a favourite route?
The connector ribbon of singletrack between Glenwood & Hwy. 55, on my way to Theo Wirth mountain bike trails. Few people know about it, fewer utilize it. Shhh! Don’t tell.
The infrastructure is pretty good in Minneapolis. The MidTown Greenway is probably the fastest way to get across town with no impediment from traffic. Another great trail, The Cedar Lake Bike Highway is a boon for commuters from the western suburbs into downtown. The trail currently terminates close to downtown on Glenwood Avenue. Both of these urban trails are great assets to the local cycling community. But for the daily rider willing to take on the auto and bus traffic of the city streets, there is still a long way to go. Minnesota statute 222.169 requires cars and buses to give at least three feet of room when passing a cyclist, but you’re often lucky to get three inches when riding through downtown. The Hennepin Avenue bike lane sits between three lanes of northbound traffic and a southbound bus lane. Left hand collisions are common. Whenever possible, I avoid the heavily trafficked streets and avenues. That said, it is still fastest to travel by bicycle in the urban core. Parking is never an issue, bike lanes and trails abound on many streets, and this is especially important in winter: my bike starts every morning!
Mark Emery
Mark Emery
I bought my first bike 20 years ago and have been commuting to work on a bike since I was in the US Navy. My bicycle collection grew slowly through college and grad-school and now, as a mechanical engineer, it stands at a modest five. My two first loves were photography and bicycles – perfect compliments to each other. I ride year-round and can be seen riding to and from work, on any number of group and weekly rides, or sitting and drinking a coffee or beer at the CRC Cykel Garage, socializing with fellow cyclists and friends.
What do you love about riding in Minneapolis?
That I can pedal from one side of town to the next, greeting fellow cyclists with a wave and smile, all while having little to no interaction with motorized traffic. We have some of the finest independently owned and unique bike shops in the country, as well as several custom frame builders. I love the tremendous positive energy felt amongst fellow cyclists – I feel like we’re all one large family. Whether you’re a friend, acquaintance, or new to the scene, cycling is the common ground that ties our extensive backgrounds and other interests together.What do you hate?
Aggression, intimidation, lack of respect, and the verbal and sometimes physical assault I experience from those situated inside their motorized vehicles. I hate the hate.
Prominent cycling flag-wavers?
The Midtown Greenway Coalition members. midtowngreenway.org
Scott Cutshall
Scott Cutshall
We are a family of three: I’m 44 years old and a stay at home dad/former New York City jazz musician. My wife Amy makes money as a registered nurse, and our eight year old daughter is Chloe.
My wife and I rode as kids, got away from it as adults, got back into it big when we started thinking about things like oil, kids, the earth, fun, health, big-monied corporations, greed, war, the simplicity of a cycle, and lots more. We homeschool our daughter, so bikes, riding, exploring, all of it makes sense to us.
What do you love about riding in Minneapolis?
Lots. The way the city is planned out, it’s really set up as a cyclers city. Lots of flat areas, with just the right mix of rolling hills, and a couple leg-busters to keep you honest. Add to that a local government that seems to support and encourage cycling – it’s good indeed. As a family, we love riding here (compared to the New York City area, where we moved from in June of 2007) because the parks system is rich and robust. It’s very easy to run errands here via two wheels, stop for some great coffee, and then hit a great park for our daughter to play in.
What do you hate?
When relocating out here, I told myself that I would embrace the winter weather. And I have. But riding in -30 and -40 degree weather is pretty rough, truth be told. It’s certainly not for everyone. My wife doesn’t dig that at all. Our daughter, Chloe, who is eight years old, is far more fearless than mommy, but even she has been heard to tell me, "No way, José, enough is enough… I’m staying inside and playing with the cat."
A favourite ride?
Roll out from our house, head south along the West River Parkway (right beside the Mississippi River – really pretty on a sunshine-filled day), keep heading south to Fort Snelling, hang there for a bit, roll eastward across the Mendota Bridge and on down through the village of Mendota and then enter the Lilydale Trail. It’s a pretty amazing mix right there; you have gone from urban pretty, to historic pretty, to a seriously ugly-car/truck heavy bridge with a killer view of the Mighty Miss’issp and on into this wooded area that makes you feel like you are in the most green lush areas of Northern England-like tree gnomes and imps are going to jump out from behind trees. Pretty remarkable. Heading north now, you end up on the other side of the Mississippi River from Saint Paul, climb your choice of hilly bridges, enter downtown Saint Paul, work our way up, around & past the state capital building. Head west along the great bike lane on Summit Avenue (old, historic, beautiful, big-money mansions) back down to the river, go north along the East River Parkway, cross another bridge, and bam, we’re home. A great day of riding, laughter and sight seeing, and we put down a nice strolling 28-32 mile ride. As a family how can you beat that?
Vist Scot Cutshall's Minneapolis blog LargeFellaonaBike
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