There’s something curious happening in the Twin Cities. You see it everywhere—in the spandex-clad Lance Armstrong wannabes who hit the road each weekend and the bike messengers who weave in and out of traffic in downtown Minneapolis, sporting rolled-up 501s and too-tight caps. It exists in the spate of recently opened bike shop, café hybrids, places like The Bikery in Stillwater and the Angry Catfish Café in South Minneapolis. And it feels right at home in our fashion and art scenes, which boast cycling fashion designers like Twin Six and bike-themed art exhibits such as ArtCrank, an annual poster show at One on One in Minneapolis, which is, naturally, a bike shop/café.

This “it” in question is a paradigm shift of how area residents view the humble act of bicycling. Today, we embrace biking as more than just exercise, transportation or fun (although, at its core, it’s mostly about having fun). In the Twin Cities, cycling has become a lifestyle. Minneapolis, especially, has seen its renowned biking infrastructure—much of which was built or expanded in the 1990s—spawn a passionate biking culture. Travel + Leisure Magazine recently hailed Minneapolis a “paradise for pedalers,” counting it among Paris, Portland, Amsterdam and others as a scion of global biking culture:

“Minneapolis has built an infrastructure that promotes bicycling on many fronts. From bike lockers and designated street lanes to recreational trails and snowplows dedicated to clearing off-street paths, a system exists to make transportation on a bike efficient, safe and hassle-free.”

To elaborate: The Twin Cities are equipped with more than 85 miles of off-road bike trails and 43 miles of dedicated bike lanes, some on congested urban streets (80 by the end of 2010). We’re also home to Nice Ride Minnesota, an innovative public bike share program that launches in June, and will boast 1,000 bikes at more than 80 kiosks around Minneapolis. The driving force behind this infrastructure? An educated and increasingly green biking public led by such bike advocacy groups as Minneapolis Bike Coalition, Bike Walk Twin Cities, Transit for Livable Communities, Midtown Greenway Coalition and Sibley Community Partners Bike Library, not to mention vocal online forums like mplsbikelove.com—nearing 200,000 total posts and 3,600 members.

Unsurprisingly, a large number of riders take advantage of our bike-friendly streets. According to the City of Minneapolis, nearly 4,500 Minneapolis residents regularly pedal to work (in the U.S., only Portland, Ore., has a higher percentage of bike commuters). And the number of cyclists—commuters or otherwise—appears to be growing. In September 2007 and September 2008, the Minneapolis Public Works Department conducted bicycle counts at 30 Minneapolis locations, noting that in that year span, the number of cyclists increased by 15 percent. While this is just an anecdote wrapped in scientific method, it does prove that there are a lot of bikers on our streets, many of which have formed distinct cultural tribes. 

For example, Minneapolis’s bike messengers have their own bike brand of choice (Surly, founded in Bloomington in 1998), races (the Stupor Bowl, an annual city-wide bar crawl on two wheels) and hangouts (One on One). Twin Cities road racers gather at St. Paul’s Grand Performance bike shop and around clubs like the St. Paul Bicycle Racing Club. Speaking of clubs, the metro area boasts an organization for every stripe of pedaler, from the Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Minnesota, serving the area’s African-American community (it’s named for the world’s first black cycling champion), to the Twin Cities Tandem Club.  

As cliquish as our bike culture can be, many local shops, cafes, galleries, clothiers and races appeal to the every-cyclist. The crowd at the Angry Catfish is a melting pot of road cyclists, messengers and general bike lovers. Same goes for the Bikery and shops like Freewheel and Erik’s. Custom frame builders such as veteran Chris Kvale will design and build your dream machine regardless of which two-wheel tribe you fall into.

The moral of this cycling as lifestyle story is that the more culturally engrained biking becomes in the Twin Cities, the more cycling infrastructure you’ll likely see in coming years. We think that’s a good thing. In fact, we predict that someday soon we’ll be the number one cycling city in America. That’s right, Portland, we’re coming for you—and we can pedal pretty damn fast.

—Drew Wood

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Best bike shop that doubles as secondhand store (or is it the other way around?)
Capital Deals
Here’s a shop so serious about recycling it doesn’t even have a garbage can. Modeled after Japanese secondhand stores, which are generally cleaner and better organized than those on this side of the Pacific, Capital Deals stocks a variety of used and restored bicycles and a slew of bike-related odds and ends. Even if you don’t find the wheels you’re looking for, you can always snag that old amplifier, film camera or Nintendo system you always wanted. [710 Smith Ave. S., St. Paul; 651.222.8380]

Weirdest Bike Sport
Bike Polo
Invented in County Wicklow, Ireland in 1891, bike polo is exactly what it sounds like, substituting Huffys for horses, so to speak. Rules vary from city to city, but Minneapolis cyclists tend to play hardcourt, which is more like street hockey on bikes. [mplsbikepolo.com] (Left: Photo by Bjorn Christianson)

Best shop inside a shop
Shockspital
Shockspital hides in a small room at the back of The Alt, the landmark bike shop in Uptown’s Lyn-Lake area. Only a hand-painted sign on the door marks its inconspicuous alleyway entrance. Owner Brian Rose, or “B.Rose” as he's typically called, specializes in tuning, suspension and disc brake repair, as well as tangential political commentary. [The Alt; 3013 S. Lyndale Ave., Mpls.; 612.374.3635]

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1. Stupor Bowl XIV
A frigid, mid-winter race from one Minneapolis bar to the next. The catch: you have to swig booze at each stop.
[Mpls.; 2/5/11]

2. Minnesota Ironman Bike Ride
Lance Armstrong devotees clad in skintight attire race 30, 65 or 100 miles from Lakeville to Le Sueur, making pit stops along this colossal route. [Lakeville; 4/25]

3. Almanzo 100
Unsupported and unsanctioned, the Almanzo is a hardcore gravel road race that circumnavigates the rolling hills and unpredictable weather of Southern Minnesota. Only the serious need apply. [Rochester area; 5/15]

4. All City Championship
The ultimate race for the fixed gear crowd, this alley cat race, a form of urban bike racing started by bike messengers, meanders 30 miles through Minneapolis from point a to z, forcing the bikers to navigate the best route. [Route and specific date TBD; August]

5. Minneapolis Bike Tour
A family-friendly tour of Minneapolis. Tikes with bikes (and their parents) can ride 14 miles of the pristine Grand Rounds, while cycling fanatics chart a course around 37 miles of the scenic byway.  [Mpls.; 9/19]