This trail runs 41 miles between Mankato and Faribault through farmland, woodlands, and along the Cannon River. There are trailheads in Mankato, Faribault, and Madison Lake (at about the mid-point of the trail). It is an hour-and-a-half or so drive from the Twin Cities. My girlfriend (I still have a hard time calling her a…
Many smaller communities sponsor shorter rides that will help a novice rider decide whether he or she wants to ride longer rides. Shoreview, MN is one of these communities. Each year toward the end of July the city puts on a bike ride around Shoreview in conjunction with A Slice of Shoreview Days, a nice…
This is a 100-mile, one day ride that starts in Albert Lea, Minnesota and goes around Freeborn County (it’s in the name). I have ridden it three times—twice in the late 90s and once in 2012. The first two times I rode with two friends, one of whom had lived in Albert Lea as a…
In 2014 I rode the Tour of Saints one-day ride. There are two distance choices, 35 miles or 50 miles so it is a good ride to break into long distance rides. The ride starts and ends at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN (thus the “Tour of Saints” name), takes place…
April 28, 2018 When we think of state bike trails we have a tendency to think of the more glamorous ones—the beautiful Root River Trail out of Lanesboro or the Sparta-Elroy Trail in Wisconsin with its three old railroad tunnels—and overlook the trails right in our own back yard. One of these, The Gateway Trail,…
August 10, 2015 by Bruce Wynkoop It is time again for the annual St. Paul Classic Bike Tour (Sept. 13, 2015) and, as St. Paul is one of my favorite cities and the Classic is one of my favorite rides, I thought I’d put in a plug for the event. St. Paul has been hosting…