Category Archives: News

Fun Bike Pic – July 25, Morgan

Some kids never grow up and have more fun in tandem. Picture taken in the Morgan City Park of two sisters having a great time on the Minnesota River Bike Tour in 2012.

See some of the HaveFunBiking photos taken on this tour and on the Mississippi River Ride.

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day at HaveFunBiking, hope you enjoy the photo!

Now, rolling into our 10th year as a bicycle media, our goal is to continue to encourage more people to bike, while showcasing unforgettable places to ride. As we search and post more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where camera will be and what we will posted next!

Do you have a fun photo of yourself or someone you know that you would like to see us publish? If so, please send it our way and we may use it. Send your picture(s) to [email protected] with a brief caption (of each), including who is in the photo (if you know) and where it was taken. Photo(s) should be at least 620 pixels wide for us to post. If we use your photo, you will receive photo credit and an acknowledgment on Facebook and Instagram.

As HaveFunBiking continues to encourage more people to ride, please reference our blog and the annual bike guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated, at-a-glance information, and maps we are known for in the Destination section of our website. Now, as the Bike/Hike Guide goes into its seventh year of production, we are adding a whole new dimension of bicycle tourism information available for mobile device. Plus, beginning September 2015, this year’s e-version of the Guide will move to quarterly editions where you may see some additional bike pics posted.

 Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in a pic to post!

Tour D’Amico Selfie’s Win Prizes

Dick Heglund, (above) riding Tour D’Amico (TDA) for the sixteenth year in a row had to make a funny face for the camera, to show others how a selfie should look. Sorry Dick, your not a winner of the Tour D’Amico Selfie’s Win Prizes contest. Maybe HBC should call you the official 4th of July or TDA Mad Hatter?

At this year’s Fourth of July,Tour D’Amico bike ride and picnic an extra incentive was offered to ride participants to take some fun photos of themselves along the route. The Hiawatha Bicycling Club (HBC) and two of its sponsors, D’Amico & Sons Restaurants and HaveFunBiking.com put together a selfie contest offering two categories, to win prizes from.

Too many cookies and the clowns appear. Selfie at Tour D'Amico Rest Stop in Edina.

Too many cookies and the clowns appear. Selfie at Tour D’Amico Rest Stop.

The first category was for the best selfie that that connects D’Amico & Son’s menu items or their signature into the photo. The winner of this category was Beatrice Zvosec, from Edina, winning a $50 Gift Certificate to D’Amico & Son’s Restaurant for her entry.

The second category, a selfie for the best creative photo demonstrating how much fun it is to ride one of the three routes of the Tour D’Amico. The winner of this category was Matthew Thill, from Plymouth, winning a $50 Gift Certificate to a Twin City Bicycle Shop, courtesy of HaveFunBiking.com, for his photo at the D’Amico & Sons reststop in Wayzata.

Selfie of Matthew having fun at Tour D'Amico Rest stop in Wayzata, MN.

Selfie of Matthew having fun at Tour D’Amico Rest stop in Wayzata, MN.

See several of the other selfies photos that made honorable mention on the TDA photo gallery at HBC Facebook Page, taken by the club’s Tour D’Amico roving photographers: Michael Becker; and Pat Smith Wells.

If you are in the Twin Cities next year, on the 4th of July, mark your calendar for a fun ride with a delicious picnic lunch upon your return, at the 17th Annual Tour D’Amico.

 

Fun Bike Pic – July 24, Apple Valley

Minnesota’s Mayor Mary, leading a group of Apple Valley youth on a bike ride that passes through the tunnel, under Pilot Knob Road, towards Cobblestone Lake and Park. This is one of the many trails that winds in and around the city’s residential areas, parks and to the Minnesota Zoo.

For more information on biking around Apple Valley, MN see the At-A Glance article here.

 

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking, hope you enjoy the photo?

Now, rolling into our 10th year as a bicycle media, our goal is to continue to encourage more people to bike, while showcasing unforgettable places to ride. As we search and post more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where camera will be and what we will posted next!

Do you have a fun photo of yourself or someone you know that you would like to see us publish? If so, please send it our way and we may use it. Send your picture(s) to [email protected] with a brief caption (of each), including who is in the photo (if you know) and where it was taken. Photo(s) should be at least 620 pixels wide for us to post. If we use your photo, you will receive photo credit and an acknowledgment on Facebook and Instagram.

As HaveFunBiking continues to encourage more people to ride, please reference our blog and the annual bike guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated, at-a-glance information, and maps we are known for in the Destination section of our website. Now, as the Bike/Hike Guide goes into its seventh year of production, we are adding a whole new dimension of bicycle tourism information available for mobile device. Plus, beginning September 2015, this year’s e-version of the Guide will move to quarterly editions where you may see some additional bike pics posted.

 Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in a pic to post!

 

Fun Bike Pic – July 23, Minneapolis

Dress up or come as you are for the 2015 Tour de Fat Costume Parade and festival, a family fun event that you wont want to miss. Here are several shot of last years Tour de Fat parade, in Minneapolis.

More participants in the 2014 Tour de Fat parade in Minneapolis.

More participants in the 2014 Tour de Fat parade in Minneapolis.

See more information about this Sundays event – a Day of Bikes, Beer and Fun, see the Tour de Fat highlights here.

Participants in the 2014 Tour de Fat parade, with a Minneapolis Police Escort.

Participants in the 2014 Tour de Fat parade, with a Minneapolis Police Escort.

Pic of the Day – July 22, So. Minneapolis

An early lap of the Wells Fargo Women’s Cup, at the Southside Sprint, in Minneapolis this last Sunday. With hundreds of spectators and perfect weather even the kids had fun taking a lap around the course and each winning a medal.

Following the Women's Cup, in Minneapolis, the next event was the Family Dental Clinic Dash, which proved to be very popular.

Following the Women’s Cup, in Minneapolis, the next event was the Family Dental Clinic Dash, which proved to be very popular.

For more information about the Southside Sprint, usually on the 3rd Sunday in July each year, check out their website.

 

Pic of the Day – July 21, Mankato

A great day for a bike ride in Mankato, MN. See all the fun option for visiting and riding there in the HaveFunBiking At-A-Glance article.

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking, hope you enjoy the photo?

Now, rolling into our 10th year as a bicycle media, our goal is to continue to encourage more people to bike, while showcasing unforgettable places to ride. As we search and post more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where camera will be and what we will posted next!

Do you have a fun photo of yourself or someone you know that you would like to see us publish? If so, please send it our way and we may use it. Send your picture(s) to [email protected] with a brief caption (of each), including who is in the photo (if you know) and where it was taken. Photo(s) should be at least 620 pixels wide for us to post. If we use your photo, you will receive photo credit and an acknowledgment on Facebook and Instagram.

As HaveFunBiking continues to encourage more people to ride, please reference our blog and the annual bike guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated, at-a-glance information, and maps we are known for in the Destination section of our website. Now, as the Bike/Hike Guide goes into its seventh year of production, we are adding a whole new dimension of bicycle tourism information available for mobile device. Plus, beginning September 2015, this year’s e-version of the Guide will move to quarterly editions where you may see some additional bike pics posted.

 Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in a pic to post!

RAGBRAI Sets Good Example with Helmet Safety

Jenna Rehnstrom, ABC9 News

This morning thousands of bicyclists were on the roads for RAGBRAI, and if you watched the riders roll through Sioux City, IA, you notice most of the people were wearing bike helmets. “It’s the safest way to ride whether you’re on a trip across the state or a trip across town,” according to Dr. Michael Nguyen who bikes into work anytime he can. It’s only a two miles trip for him to CNOS Health, but he always makes sure it’s a ride he does with his helmet on.

Riders make their way along the RAGBRAI route with helmets on.

Riders make their way along the RAGBRAI route with helmets on.

Dr. Nguyen says, “It reduces your risk of severe head injury and/or face injury by 85%.” The benefits of biking with a helmet are obvious. Experts say most bicycling accidents result in a face or head injury. A helmet protects what’s most important. See CNOS Video.

Dr. Nguyen says, “What the helmet does is very similar to a vehicle. It has a ‘crumple zone’-type technology, so any sort of strong hit might be deflected, [or it] might also damage the foam itself, but that’s what absorbs the energy of the kinetic trauma.”

What’s concerning to Dr. Nguyen, who often treats people with concussions and other injuries, is that many kids aren’t wearing helmets. He says close to half of all adolescents don’t make it a habit, which is why seeing adults on RAGBRAI doing it right sets a good example.

Dr. Nguyen says, “It’s important for us to be that role model and say, ‘hey, wearing a helmet, it’s not geeky, it’s not something you can just put off, it’s something that can definitely protect you.”

It’s a lesson RAGBRAI riders already know and one you can put into practice however long or short your trip.

Dr. Nguyen says it’s important that your helmet fits right so it will protect you. It should sit covering your forehead and not be able to move around too much. And you should always wear a chin strap that should fit snugly.

Click here for more information from RAGBRAI about safe cycling.

 

 

Thursday Night Mountain Bike Races

Clean the bathroom, watch TV or live a little at world-famous Thursday Night Mountain Bike Races at Buck Hill in Burnsville, Minn. The races are back for the 24th year and whether you’re a first-timer or local hero this weekly event continue to rank as “the best bang for your entertainment Buck” by every mountain biker in the world. See [video]

2015 Penn Cycle/Buck Hill Race Schedule

July 23rd, 30th and Aug. 6th.

New to the sport? Just $5 gets you into the Beginner class (approximately 20-minute race); while $10 gets you into the Recreational (40 minute race), or the Advanced (1-hour) & Fat Bike class.

Loads of door prizes each night means you will practically make money by just entering.

And a FREE kids’ race – held after the adult’s race – makes this the perfect family fun night. Plus there is food, drinks and the mind-blowing adult-on-kids-bikes events.

Registration: 5 to 6:15 p.m.
Classes: (Men & Women) Advanced, Recreational, Beginner, Fat Bike
Race Start: 6:30 pm (Advanced, Rec. and Fat Bike); 7:15 start for Beginner; 7:45 for free kid’s race
Food & Drink: All evening long!