RiverLake Greenway

Route: LakeRiver Greenway to Mississippi River Parkway, south to Minnehaha Falls. Then Minnehaha Parkway trail back home.

Happy Svenskarnas Dag!

It’s Swedish Heritage Day here in Minnesota and the blonds were out in full force at Minnehaha Falls Park for the annual celebration. I happened on this happy occurrence by accident on my ride and stopped to check out the fun.

There was traditional food, crafts and song.

Finally, it was a day when the schedule and weather gods came together to create the conditions necessary for an exploration of the new RiverLake Greenway, which opened officially on June 11. It is one of Minneapolis ever expanding bike-friendly avenues. It runs from Lake Harriet along 40^th Street to Nokomis Avenue, then jogs up to 42^nd Street to cross the Hiawatha Light Rail line and on down 42^nd to the Mississippi.

I got on near Phelps Park at Park Avenue and road to the river, curious to see what all the fuss was about. After all, this isn’t a bike path like the Midtown Greenway, it's just a regular road with some “traffic calming devices” (read roadblocks) added to keep the auto traffic down.

The ride was fine, a little hilly but nothing really strenuous. Not overly scenic, but a lot closer for me than the other Greenway and, at least on Sunday, nearly car-free.

Once I hit the river parkway, though, it was glorious. Sunny, not too busy. I took a break at a little turn off on the river and found out something new about something old in my town.

I’ve known there were walking trails along the Mississippi for a long time. In high school we used to have keggers down at “the flats” under the Ford Parkway Bridge, but today I learned these trails have a name, the Winchell Trail, and were the first scenic hiking trails in Minneapolis. The Winchell Trail runs along the river gorge from Franklin Avenue to the Ford Parkway Bridge, passing through the only gorge along the 2,350 mile length of the river.

Scenic overlook at the Winchell Trail

Cool, huh. If you want to check it out, you’ll have to leave the bike behind. It’s for hikers only.

Before I close out today, I want to get a shout out to Bikes and Pieces, a bikeshop/art gallery on 48^th Street at Chicago Avenue.

I went out to get the E-bike out of the garage today and the rear was totally flaccid. Tossed it in the car (another revelation-recumbent will fit in trunk) and ran up hoping to find someone who could fix it on a Sunday afternoon. Bikes and Pieces owner Mike Kmiecik fixed on the spot for $9.70. Thank You!

Mike Kmiecik

This is not your average bike shop. First, it’s tiny. Second, it’s all about reusing and recycling bikes and making art from the spare part and other bike related items.
Check it out if you’re in the neighborhood.

Happy trails to ya.