Tag Archives: Minnesota bike events

The winter/spring bike guide is here to help you plan your next adventure

The winter/Spring edition of the MN Bike Guide is here, just in time, as temperatures start to warm. Page through the latest Guide and rediscover the trails and scenic country roads in Minnesota. Now in our thirteenth year of publishing the guide, we have added several more bike-friendly destinations in Minnesota. Also, find many bike events and info on what you will see if you attend the E-bike Challenge, in Minneapolis, on April 2 & 3.

In this Winter/Spring issue, with all the fun bike maps, we’ve added several helpful tip sheets to keep you riding comfortably, especially if your looking at e-bikes, to be more eco-friendly.

The Bike Guide is the perfect primer for the E-bike Challenge 

Now, with the Omicron-fueled surge on the decline, the E-bike Challenge returns the first weekend in April. Offer consumers a comfortable environment to compare and ride the latest e-bikes. With several social distancing procedures in place around the exhibit area inside next to the huge indoor test track. Visitors will also discover, even if they can’t replace a car entirely, why most trips within a 10-mile range can be less expensive with an e-assist vehicle. And, in many cases, taking less time than a carbon-fueled vehicle for the same journey.

Some e-bike brands already registered for the E-bike Challenge include Giant, GoCycle, Serial 1 by Harley Davidson, Pedego, Riese & Muller, and Skyl Power Bikes. Along with Erik’s Bikes, Now Bikes, Power Bikes, and Trailhead Cycle, to name a few of the local bike shops with brands they carry. The event will also feature several breakout health and tech sessions, a kids’ bike test track, and other fun family activities. Plus, visitors will receive a complimentary printed copy of the spring/summer Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide, at the door. Full of new bicycling maps of popular Minnesota destinations to explore.

Check back often, the summer guide will be available in late April – until then, Enjoy!

Thanks to AAA The Auto Club Group, printed copies of both the Iowa and Minnesota Bike Guides are still available. With summer just a few days away stop by one of the AAA offices near you by looking at our digital editions for a map of a AAA office near you.

Complimentary Iowa and Minnesota printed bike guides are still available

Thanks to AAA The Auto Club Group, printed copies of both the Iowa and Minnesota Bike Guides are still available. With summer just a few days away stop by a AAA offices near you. Just look at the maps in our digital guide editions for a map of a AAA office location near you.

Where to pick up one of the bike guides

In the lower left corner of each Iowa and Minnesota map you will find the address of a participating AAA office to pick up a copy of the guide. Just stop in and ask for a complimentary of the guide and learn more about AAA’s Bike Benefit Program. A program that includes roadside service for your bike – It’s like having a SAG in your back pocket.

Help us by sharing your comments on this year’s Bike/Hike Guides

As we wrap up our 9th year of printing these handy, pocket size booklets we would like to hear, what you like about the guide and how we can make it better. So we can continue to add more links and helpful information to assist you in finding your next adventure. Please page through the Guide’s events, maps and helpful tips sections and give us your comments at: [email protected] – Thanks!

Check out our ‘Pic of the Day’

Have you seen our daily feature picture at HaveFunBiking.com, on Facebook, or at #nextbikeadventure on Instagram? If not, moving into our 10th year as a bicycle tourism media, check them out, like us and or follow us. If you have a good photo with a caption, send it our way.

Along with a good caption, photo(s) should be a minimum of 800 pixels wide and deep or larger for us to consider using them. If we do use your photo, you will receive photo credit and an acknowledgment on Facebook and Instagram.

So check out the guides, have fun and keep riding!

The winter edition of the Minnesota Bike Guide has been updated with more maps and helpful tips for your viewing pleasure.

More Maps and Helpful Tips: The Minnesota Bike Guide Winter Edition

Have you seen the winter bike guide issue yet? The new edition of the Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide has been updated with more maps and helpful tips for your viewing pleasure. Inside you’ll find up-to-date information to help you plan your next trail ride, back country road adventure, or bike event. You’ll also find great restaurants and other attractions to stop by along the way. And it’s all easily accessible through your mobile device.

Regularly Updated Digital Bike Guide

The digital version of the guide Minnesota Bike Guide is published quarterly. This allows us here at HaveFunBiking.com to provide you with regular updates for your next bike adventure. This platform also allows for the inclusion of more maps and bike events taking place over the next few months.

Mobile Friendly

It only made sense to make this guide for mobile devices, because you’re always on-the-go. Our maps include links to our web site full of information to make your trip a great experience. There are many updates since our summer issue so be sure to check it out!

Spread the Word

After you look through the bike guide, feel free to share the link with your friends. They can find their own adventures, or you can plan a group trip full of memories waiting to be made.

Send Us Your Pictures

We want to hear about how much fun you’re having out there so send us your pictures! Add #NextBikeAdventure, tag us in the photo, or email [email protected] for a chance to be featured in our pic of the day.

Download the new bike guide here.

BikeMN 2016 Train & Trail Tour – Photo Gallery Recap

On Saturday, June 20th the skies were sunny and the raindrops promised to stay away for a fun-filled day on the 4th Annual BikeMN Train & Trail Tour. After checking in at the BikeMN (Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota) table, at the Minneapolis Parks and Rec Board headquarters, everyone pedaled to the train. At the Target Field Station train platform, over 100 bicyclists boarded the Northstar Train for the ride to Big Lake, MN. After a 45-mile train ride, they arrived in Big Lake, where tour participants rolled their bikes off the rail cars. They were ready to take off for the 42-mile journey back to Minneapolis.

Facebook Photo Gallery of  the 2016 Train & Trail Tour

Enjoy the pictures we took while following the riders that were having fun riding their bikes along the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) in the HaveFunBiking Facebook Photo Gallery. The MRT is a bicycle route that has been mapped by MnDOT (Minnesota Department of Transportation). In Minnesota, the full route of the MRT meanders roughly 620-miles paralleling the river. Starting from its source at Itasca State Park to the Iowa border – then on to New Orleans. Utilizing largely low-traffic roads, the MRT route also includes relatively long segments of scenic state and regional trails.

The Tour

In Downtown, the Elk River tour riders enjoyed a catered lunch in the town square. Located next to the fountain overlooking the confluence of the Elk and the Mississippi Rivers, it was a great location to see the rivers.

At the Highway 169 Bridge, in Champlain, the MRT trail allows riders to choose two routes into Minneapolis. Crossing the Mississippi River here, riders can tour the Twin Cities Gateway through the nine wonderful towns. These communities include Anoka, Coon Rapids, and Fridley, all paralleling the river on the East-MRT.

For the Train & Trail Tour, riders stayed on the Minneapolis Northwest 301 side, or West-MRT, heading south towards Minneapolis. After crossing the I-694 Freeway Bridge, riders found the shaded trails along this stretch a comfort from the hot sun. The afternoon heat on this day made things a bit sticky. Leaving the North Mississippi Regional Park, it’s approximately three-miles to the end. For Train & Trail participants it meant it was time for ice cream.

If you were not able to join BikeMN on one of these Train & Trail Tour adventures, then don’t worry. If you would like to experience this route on your own, it’s easy to plan. First, check Metro Transit’s Northstar Rail schedule and connection to get you and your bike up to Big Lake or all the way to St Cloud. Then, study MnDOT’s County Bike Maps for a desirable route that you would prefer to ride back.

HaveFunBiking – it’s a great multi-modal experience traveling by train and then biking back to your original destination.

Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide dedicated to all fathers, next Sunday

Summer Minnesota bike guide is live!

Now available quarterly, the 2016 summer edition of the Minnesota Bike/Hike guide is now digitally available and dedicated to all those fathers, nexy Sunday!

Here is a shot of the e-version of the Summer Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide, now live.

Here is a shot of the e-version of the Summer Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide, now live – enjoy and have fun!.

In our 7th year of printing this handy pocket sized book full of bike travel ideas, HaveFunBiking.com (HFB) has now updated the printed version into a Minnesota e-edition, so check it out. With our new digital platform we are now able to update information on bike travel and tips regularly to help you find your next adventure. Plus, we will be adding additional maps of destinations you may want to explore in the future.

Please take a look at the most recent MN Bike/Hike Guide and bookmark it to your hand held devices for use when on the go. Formatted to fit your mobile phone and note pad the updated e-version offers bike events recently posted and more bike friendly maps, with links, then what is in our print edition. On each map you will find a QR code and link to the HFB Destination landing pages for easy At-A-Glance information when on the go.

From Mankato, over to Stillwater or up to Bemidji, we have highlighted many special landing pages offering you At-A-Glance information when on the go. All offering helpful links while visiting communities you are planning to ride that include: where to eat, where to sleep and other pertinent information that correlates with the maps to help you make your next adventure  fun.

After reviewing the latest edition please share the link of the 2016 MN Bike/Hike Guide with your friends. Give them a chance to find their next bike adventure too. Maybe you will ride together or share your escapades the next time you get together. Either way, the guide opens up many opportunities for bike travel and memories that will last a lifetime!