Category Archives: News

Bike Pic Nov 17, fun along the beach

The photo above shows Wendy Bourdin and Julie Cox, both from Ridgeland, Mississippi taking some time, in between sessions at the Bike Tour Network Conference, in San Diego, CA last week to enjoy some bike touring. Thanks to DecoBikes, San Diego’s bike share program many attending the bike tourism conference discovered the bike friendly streets and trails while sampling refreshments along the way in the Mission Bay Area, of the city.

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!

# find your next adventure

Bicyclists gather for an Open Streets fest in Richfield, MN.

Many new bike friendly communities announced today

In a press release today League of American Bicyclists (LAB) announce 55 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC). There were eighteen communities receiving their first BFC award, seventeen at Bronze and Hennepin County, MN, at Silver. Nine communities moved up to higher award levels, and the remainder renewed at their previous level.

Bicyclists ride using the Minneapolis bike share program Bike Friendly Hennepin Co. Minnesota.

Bicyclists ride using the Minneapolis bike share program Bike Friendly Hennepin Co. Minnesota.

​“As biking has become more and more popular, more and more communities are committed to creating safer places to bike,” said Alex Doty, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. “Winning a Bicycle Friendly Community designation shows a community’s dedication to creating safer and better places to ride your bike.”

According to LAB, this latest round saw strong growth in the top tiers of the program, as Madison, WI, became the 5th Platinum BFC, and four communities moved into the Gold tier: Austin, TX, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz, CA, and Tempe, AZ.

Dave Cieslewicz, executive director of the Wisconsin Bike Fed and former mayor of Madison stated,  “What this says is that any city can be a great cycling city as long as there’s commitment from a broad range of city leaders and the population as a whole. This didn’t come about overnight; it was a decade-long effort. We had support from city leaders, the business community and the thousands of cyclists in the Madison area. The lesson we learned is that it has to be a broad-based effort, it can’t just come from the top.”

Want to see who is doing what? Explore the Bicycle Friendly Communities (and businesses and universities) in your state using the Leagues online award database. To apply or learn more about the BFC program, visit bikeleague.org/community.

Not listed as a BFC or a  Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB)?  If you own, work at, or do business with a Bike Friendly Business, the next deadline for that program is December 15. Learn how to apply here.

The Bicycle Friendly America program is generously supported by Trek Bicycle, and all of their members, partners, and local reviewers throughout the year.

Bike Pic Nov 16, TC Gateway adventure

Here, in the photo above, a family spends time exploring the bike friendly streets and trails of the Twin Cities Gateway Area, in the north suburbs of Minneapolis. From the Velodrome at the National Sports Center, in Blaine, to the Mississippi River Trail that runs along the communities of Anoka, Coon Rapids and Fridley, visitors here will find miles of bicycling adventure in the nine cities of Minnesota’s TC. Gateway Area.

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!

#FindYourNextAdventure

Bike Pic Nov 15, pump track fun and skills

Here, in the photo above, a mountain biker tweaks his skill and confidence level on the local pump track in LaCrosse, WI, before hitting the trails there along the Mississippi river bluffs. Thanks to the teaching level that can be gained spending time on these pump courses both the cyclocross rider and mountain biker can: Ride safer; Ride more confidently; Ride faster; And have more fun!

A pump track , a small track using as little as 10 x 30 feet of land, is a looping trail system of dirt berms and “rollers” (smooth dirt mounds for pumping) for bicycling without the rider pedaling. The name comes from the pumping motion used by the cyclist’s upper and lower body as they ride around the track. The purpose of a pump track is to use this pumping motion to maintain speed around the track without pedaling [source:  Wikipedia]

 Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!

#FindYourNextAdventure

Bike Pic Nov 14, drugs for the bike-curious

The photo above shows Megan Ramey, from bikabout, (front left) leading a mobile workshop for the Bike Tour Network Conference, meeting in San Diego, CA last week. Focusing on “Gateway Drugs For The Bike-Curious: The Marriage of Bike Tourism and Local Food & Culture” the mobile session, with more than 65 participants, toured the bike friendly streets and trails while sampling refreshments along the way in  San Diego’s Mission Bay Area . Also co-leading this tour were: Ellee Thalheimer, from Action Publications, Shea Mayer, from Fitz & Follwell and DecoBikes (San Diego’s bike share program).

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!

#FindYourNextAdventure

Bike Pic Nov 12, muddy fun – cyclocross

As a way for road racers and recreational cyclists to remain fit during fall and winter season cyclocross (cross) in the upper Midwest is growing. Here in the photo above, a racers on a misty fall morning pedals her bike through the mud on a course at Saint Thomas Academy, in Mendota Heights, MN.

The History  of Cross
Cyclocross racing was developed in Europe in the early 1900’s as a way for road racers to remain fit during fall and winter. The intense event helped athletes maintain and improve their racing fitness and skills, too. As the sport grew, some riders abandoned the road-racing scene to become cyclocross specialists. Today, there are cyclists who focus only on cross and many professional road and off-road riders race cross to keep their race engines finally tuned in the off season.

The Course
Typical cyclocross courses are 1.5- to 2-mile loops on a mix of paved and off-road surfaces over flat-to-rolling terrain. Usually, races lasts an hour plus a lap. But, what makes cross such a unique and challenging sport is that courses always includes obstacles that force riders to dismount and run while carrying their bikes.

For example, most courses feature short, steep (often muddy) sections, which are nearly impossible to ride. There can be scary cliff-like drop-offs, river crossings and technical singletrack, too. Also, courses include series of man-made barriers scattered around the course requiring riders to carry their bikes over or, if they’re really talented, to jump their bikes over the obstacles (called “bunny-hopping”). It’s this combination of cycling, stunt riding, carrying, running and scrambling over obstacles that makes cyclocross so exciting, such a phenomenal workout and so darn much fun! [source]

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!

#FindYourNextAdventure

Bike Pic Nov 11, road biking Minnesota

Here the bike pic shows, Mark and Cheryl Norton, a Burlington Iowa tandem couple, cruising the Mississippi River Trail, near Brainerd, MN having fun!

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!

#FindYourNextAdventure

Bike Pic Nov 9, mountain biking growth

Those mountain bikes just keep getting bigger!

Here in the photo above, a mountain biker stops to take a phone call as he stands next to a large metal bike sculpture that sits at the entrance at Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park, in Nevada.

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!

# Find your next adventure

Bike Pic Nov 7, a proud family moment

In St. Paul, Minn. this proud mother poses with her kids after completing the local triathlon there. Find out more about the triathlon events here at: USATriathlon.org

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!

Bike Pic – Nov 4, pump track fun

Visitors to La Crosse, WI. will find several cycling opportunities, like the pump track here that can help improve a ones skills. Located next to the city’s mountain bike trail head check out their website to find all the other biking activities in the area including: BMX, city trail riding, paved and gravel road touring and more.

Thanks for viewing the Bike Pic of the Day here at HaveFunBiking (HFB), hope you enjoyed 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 present more fun photos worth a grin, scroll through the information and stories we have posted to help you find your next adventure. Then, while out there if you see us along a paved or mountain bike trail, next to the route you regularly commute on, or at an event you plan to attend with your bike, be prepared to smile. You never know where our camera’s will be and what we will post 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 use them. 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 print and quarterly digital Bike/Hike Guide to find your next adventure. We are proud of the updated – At-a-Glance information and maps we are known for in the HFB Destination section on our website and in the guide. 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 devices where you may see some additional bike pics – maybe of yourself so.

Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com and find your next adventure – we may capture you in one of the next photos we post.

Have a great day!