morethanabicycle-blog

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RE-CAP: GLITTER DANCE RIDE!!

Glitter. Dance. Ride. 

Pretty simple, really - and we mean that in a good way. 

Riders were greeted by a glitter and crop-top station, KESHA-radio, and of course, by all of the other wonderfully fabulous folks who had already arrived! And despite an uncharacteristically cool and overcast morning, at around 12:15 our rockin’ dance moves and glittering bodies pushed the clouds away for good. 

Or at least that’s probably what happened.

We kept the parking-lot dance party going until about 1:00 pm, when Brian (Recovery Bike Shop’s resident glitter king) went over ride etiquette - including a zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy, how to signal turns, and the Social Sundays sobriety policy. 

And then we were on our way! 

Routing the GLITTER DANCE RIDE was almost shockingly easy. We wanted to go from Recovery Bike Shop to Lake Nokomis, a 10 mile trip, and thanks to the fantastic Minneapolis bicycle infrastructure we were able to do the entire route on bicycle facilities (minus about 2 blocks).

The first leg of our trip went along the Northeast Minneapolis Bicycle Boulevards, including 5th Street NE - potentially the best bicycle boulevard in Minneapolis. It has everything - roundabouts, a bicycle traffic signal, and connectivity to commercial hubs (and other bikeways!). 

From 5th Street, we connected to the protected bike lane on 8th Avenue NE and took a short dance break under the Plymouth Avenue bridge to regroup. Once the group was back together we took the West River Parkway down to Gold Medal Park. There we picked up a few extra riders, applied more glitter, and had another dance break.

From there we connected to the Hiawatha Light Rail Trail, which connected to the Midtown Greenway - but we exited almost immediately onto 17th Avenue South (another contender for best bicycle boulevard in Minneapolis). We took a quick snack and water break at Panaderia San Miguel and then headed south on 17th Avenue all the way to the Minnehaha Creek Trail. 

And finally, 10 sweaty, glittering miles later we arrived at Lake Nokomis, where the water was warm and the company was cool.

If you’d like to keep up with the rest of our #RECOsocials, check out the Facebook Event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/467434430075838/

August 30th is our STATE FAIR RIDE and on September 27th we’re hosting BLACK TIE BRUNCH. 

See you there!

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Open Streets Minneapolis: Northeast Spark Notes

Open Streets Minneapolis creates miles of car-free streets and opens them to people on bikes, skateboards, scooters, roller blades - whatever! - and “allows people of all ages to experience their city in a new way.” 

This year the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition is hosting 8 separate Open Streets, including one right here in Northeast Minneapolis! 

And the really exciting part? This year’s Northeast Open Streets is getting the star treatment. Because instead of just opening up one street, it’s a whole 5 mile route!

“But Recovery,” you say, “that’s pretty spread out - isn’t there, like, a spark notes version of this?”

“KINDA!” we say. 

We wrote up a list of fun activities to experience during Northeast Open Streets, but we’re hiding all of the locations to keep it interesting. So if you’d like to see all the incredible stuff we’re doing up here in Northeast Minneapolis, it looks like you’ll just need to explore the whole route! 

Free bike repair and (limited) free bike rentals!

Okay - you caught us. We put ourselves at the top of the list, this one is totally Recovery Bike Shop. Very un-Midwestern, we know, but we think you’ll forgive us when you get those sweet, sweet free bike repairs and free bike rentals during Northeast Open Streets. It probably won’t be too hard to find us, either...

Photo Credit: Sarah Jane’s Music School

Free music lessons!

Sarah Jane’s Music School is a newcomer to Central Avenue, but Sarah has been teaching music in Northeast Minneapolis for over 6 years!  During Northeast Open Streets, she’ll be performing and teaching music somewhere along the route. Bring the kids!

Photo Credit: http://www.mexican-folk-art-guide.com/

Papel Picado! 

The Sheridan Neighborhood Organization is putting together a community-created Papel Picado art installation! It's a style of Mexican Folk art - intricate patterns cut out of tissue paper, the same way paper snowflakes are made, and they’re hosting a series of workshops for those interested in helping them fill the streets with art! 

If you’d like to help them create some Papel Picado, they’re hosting an open workshop at Eastside Neighborhood Services (1700 2nd Street NE) on July 9th from 7pm to 8pm. Supplies will be provided, so just bring yourself and a smile, and help us make Northeast beautiful!

PUPPIES!

We really don’t have anything else to say about this one. There will be puppies in the street, and you can play with them. Yeah, we know.

Live Art!

JAO will be creating some amazing art during Open Streets!

Pop-Up Protected Bike Lanes!

Photo Credit: Kristina Perkins for BikewaysForEveryone.

Yeah, we know that every Open Streets has a protected pop-up, but Northeast is getting TWO! And just in time to get people excited about the forthcoming protected bike lane on 8th Avenue NE, extending from the Plymouth Ave bridge all the way to 5th Street! 

We feel safer already.

AND SO MUCH MORE

Open Streets Northeast is going to be incredible. Sure, we’re a little biased, but it’s hard not to be when you’ve got such an amazing community.

So drop by on July 12, from 12-6pm, and see for yourself. 

(Don’t worry if it’s a hot one, we’ve also heard rumors of a water balloon station...)

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Welding Dreams

It starts with a dream. 

No, scratch that. 

It starts with a book. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And then the dreams start. Wizards, giants, Dumbledore, Voldemort - we know the words, we know their stories - they are etched into our brains. They become a part of us, and their stories become a part of our stories. 

This past weekend, for Art-A-Whirl 2015, Recovery Bike Shop used our mass-collection of scrap bike parts to help one of those dreams become a reality.

They found the parts, they worked as Artistic Directors, and together we started to create a recycled, Bike Art version of the Deathly Hallows symbol.

We’re pretty selective about the bikes we refurbish at Recovery Bike Shop, and that means a lot of bikes just can’t be salvaged. But we’re also pretty conscious about our waste - if it’s not something we can refurbish, we look for other ways to utilize bikes, and that leads to a lot of creative uses of bike parts. Sometimes it’s donating wheels to Full Cycle, a non-profit bike shop in South Minneapolis that works to empower and engage homeless youth. Sometimes its donating tires and tubes to local artists. 

This time, it was the very talented Caleb Belleveau cutting, welding, and working with our friends to create amazing works of art. 

Caleb has been doing collaborative welding projects for years, and he works in a focused chaos - the only way to make any sense of the piles of scrap in our garage. 

And in the end...

We do our best to support the arts at Recovery Bike Shop - whether it’s through fun community events like this, by sponsoring Spinning Stories, by donating to the Mayday Parade, or our collaboration with Northern Spark to host a Guided Bike Tour of Northern Spark on June 13. 

In fact, we recently started a small, rotating Art Gallery in our store! Right now we’ve got work up by Fiona Avocado, Lybra Ray, Brenda Taylor, and The People’s Library - and we’re looking for new artists all the time! 

So let’s keep the dream factory going!

Full picture set here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.954202074601052.1073741840.118790511475550&type=1

#art #mpls #mpls bike #bike #bikes #minneapolis #recovery bike #recovery bike shop #nempls #fullcycle #northern spark #nspk15 #hobt #spinning stories #fiona avocado #welding #weld #weldart #bike art #harry potter #deathly hallows #harry potter art

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The Yoga Crawl Ride II

On Sunday April 26th, we kicked off our 2015 season of SOCIAL SUNDAYS with The Yoga Crawl Ride! More than 60 riders split up into three groups and did yoga all across the city, with classes lead by our friends/sponsors/yogi-bears at Nordeast Yoga, Yoga Sol, Yoga Garden, and Healing Elements.

Because we split up into three groups we only have 1/3 of the group in our pictures, so just multiply the fun you see here by three and you’ll be all set. 

Groups one and two rode a loop between Nordeast Yoga, Yoga Sol, and Yoga Garden, doing a short yoga session at each studio. Because those studios are all super close together (Northeast Minneapolis, represent!), we took the long way around - weaving along St. Anthony Parkway, the 22nd Avenue Bicycle Boulevard, the 5th Street Bicycle Boulevard, the Stone Arch Bridge, and more - lengthening what could have been a two mile ride into 13.

Group three was curated entirely by Healing Elements, riding past their studio for Mate Shots, and then heading south along the Diagonal Trail, to the Dinkytown Greenway, the Hiawatha Trail, and the Midtown Greenway to Powderhorn Park where they did an hour of Vinyasa Yoga in the sunshine. 

Leading group rides through Minneapolis is always a great reminder of our fantastic trail system. Groups one and two rode 13 miles and stayed on designated bicycle facilities almost the entire time including numerous bicycle boulevards, St. Anthony Parkway, and the West River Parkway. Even more impressive, group three rode 8 miles from Northeast Minneapolis into South Minneapolis and rode almost the whole way on four separate (but connected) off-road trails. 

All three rides ambled along at a slow pace, accessible for riders of all skill levels. We regrouped at the top of each hill, after each stop-light, and focused more on having fun than making good time. 

You can view the full photo set here, and make sure to join us for the next #RECOsocial on Sunday May 31st - The Museum Crawl!

#recosocial #recovery bike shop #mpls #mplsbike #bikempls #nempls #soberride #yoga #yogacrawl #yogacrawlride #minneapolis bike #minneapolis #bike #social rides

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So You Decided To Join A Social Ride...

So you decided to join a social ride. You’ve seen people around town with spoke cards in their wheels, you’ve become accustomed to their presence on the greenways, and your curiosity has been thoroughly piqued. 

But big groups aren’t your thing. And you don’t know anyone else on the ride. And what if they all judge your bike? 

Those concerns are totally valid! We hear them all the time.

The biking community can often feel hard to access, so we made a list of five easy entry points into The Minneapolis Social Ride Scene to help you get out there and meet some new friends!

All of these suggestions are for accessible, free, and slow paced rides. Groups that don’t care what kind of bike you’re riding so long as you enjoy yourself. Groups specifically focused on making social rides welcoming for all riders. Groups like...

1) Recovery Social Sundays

Recovery Bike Shop doesn’t just blog about social rides, we also host them! This summer, we’re hosting a monthly series of six free social rides designed to help you go cool places, do cool things, and meet cool people on your bike! 

We’ll be creating separate event pages for each ride as the summer goes on, and we’ll be posting those to our Social Sundays page. So if you want to keep up with all the action, join the event, and follow #RECOSOCIALS on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.

Each ride falls on the last Sunday of the month between now and September, starting with The Yoga Crawl Ride. Unlike the rest of our #RECOSOCIALS, the Yoga Crawl was a (free) ticketed event - because yoga studios only have so much room, y’know? And - bummer alert - The Yoga Crawl Ride is currently sold out. BUT we’re so close to announcing a solution, so if you’re into it, but didn’t get a ticket, stay tuned. We got you.

And in May, we’re crawlin’ museums.

2) BIKEFUN!

“BIKEFUN! is a hub for group rides and bike crawls in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Everyone is encouraged to create and host rides, and use this group as a place to ask for suggestions and support.” 

If you’re on Facebook they’re a super good resource for learning about social ride opportunities AND for promoting your own rides. Last year they hosted PEDALOPOLIS - a crowd sourced social ride extravaganza - and helped facilitate over 20 social rides in one week! 

So if you’re itchin’ for a social ride, check out BIKEFUN! 

3) Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition

Because the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition does so much bike advocacy work, you might not be aware of their weekly Joy Ride series - but make no mistake, they’re serious about hosting fun social rides!

They describe the Joy Ride series as a slow roll, no drop, all inclusive, family friendly, and fun ride!

The Joy Ride series meets at 5:00 every Friday afternoon at the top of Gold Medal Park in Downtown Minneapolis, and helps you explore and discover many of the bike-ways and destinations in our beautiful City of Lakes.

4) Grease Rag Ride & Wrench

“Grease Rag's mission is to encourage and empower women/ trans/ femme (WTF) cyclists in a collaborative and fun learning environment through rides, discussions, shop nights and educational seminars in a safer space.”  

Sounds rad, right? Right.

A lot of Grease Rag programs are WTF-only affairs, like open shop nights, and Babes in Bikeland - so if you identify as a WTF but haven’t seen your identity well-represented at other bike events, you might find Grease Rag is exactly the group you’re looking for!

And other Grease Rag events are open to folks of all genders. Stuff like their Full Moon Rides, which are slow-paced social rides for people of all abilities to come together and howl at the moon. They happen almost every month, so join their Facebook group if you’d like updates on when to howl with them.

5) 30 Days of Biking

“30 Days of Biking is a pledge to ride your bike every day in April — any distance, any destination — and share your adventures online. Hashtag #30daysofbiking.” They’re changing thousands of lives every year, including that of Minneapolis resident Brandon Sullivan.

And here in the Twin Cities, they’re a lot more than just an online pledge!

Because 30DOB is based here, they coordinate a whole smorgasbord of events all month long. All of the rides they promote are different, but some of them include a Weekly Saturday Pastry Ride by Calhoun Cycle, moderate paced #ThursdayRides, The Yoga Crawl Ride by yours truly, and The Joy Ride - the 30DOB end party to end all parties.

We’re lucky here in Minneapolis to have so many groups throwing these incredible social rides - and we’ve probably missed some good ones.

What are YOUR favorite social rides?

#recovery bike shop #minneapolis #NE Minneapolis #minneapolis bike #minneapolis bicycle coalition #30dob #30daysofbiking #grease rag #greaserag #socialrides #socialride #bikefun #pedalopolis #babesinbikeland #babes in bikeland #yoga crawl ride #RECOSOCIALS

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5 Easy Rides for 30 Days of Biking!

Have you made the 30 Days of Biking pledge to ride your bike every day in April? Are you having trouble thinking of places to ride? We totally get that.

For lots of folks riding your bike every day can be a challenge, but that’s what we find so exciting about 30 Days of Biking! It’s all about finding new ways to enjoy your bike! And for some folks that could mean going on a fast-paced group ride for the first time. For others that could mean your first bicycle grocery trip. We’re in love with 30DOB, and so we’re CRANKING (sorry) out a couple of ideas to help get your gears turning (sorry again)!

1) Go on a Group Ride!

Group rides are a great place to meet new friends, and go new places. Looking for a slow paced ride to a bakery? Our friends at Calhoun Cycle have got you covered. What if you’re more into Yoga? Well then have we got the ride for YOU.

What if you’re more into fast paced riding? Or, if you’d like to try it out? Check out some rides on the Twin Cities Bicycling Club calendar!

However you want to group ride, there are people out there with the same idea - and, like you, they’ll be out there every day in April!

2) Bike to the Coffee Shop 

Biking every day doesn't have to be A Big Deal. If you don’t have the time for a longer ride, try biking a few blocks to grab a cup of caffeinated goodness from your favorite local coffee shop. Don’t worry if it doesn’t feel long enough, because it’s about having fun on your bike, not SWEATING the details. (See what we did?) 

Sometimes it’s the little things that make life wonderful - like biking to your coffee shop of choice! We’re partial to Anelace Coffee just down the block from Recovery Bike Shop, and if you happen to head over there, tell em’ who sent ya!

3) Bike to a Bike Shop

Bike shops are often more than just what they sell - the employees can give you fantastic tips on places to ride, people to meet, and things to do on your bike. They can also tune up your bike, help you pick out a lock, or any number of other things to help you get the most out of your 30 Days pledge. 

At Recovery Bike Shop, we’re really invested in making Minneapolis a better place to ride your bike - so even if you don’t need anything, feel free to stop in and chat us up. We’re great listeners. Promise.

4) Bike to the Park

The Minneapolis Parks system is ranked #1 in the nation, and there’s no better way to get there than your bicycle!

Bring your tennis rackets and serve up a good time. Or head to one of the city’s many basketball courts and play a game of pick-up. 

Looking for a good way to bike with kids? Stop in to Recovery Bike Shop to check out our selection of bicycle trailers. Then have fun visiting one of the many playgrounds, soccer fields, lakes, and bike trails boasted by our parks.

5) Bike The River Parkway

Most of our suggestions focus on destination rides, but sometimes the journey is the destination, and there’s nothing like a ride on the Mississippi River to help you appreciate the journey. 

See you on the trails, and happy 30 Days of Biking!

#30 Days of Biking #30dob #biking #mpls #NE MPLS #minneapolis bike #minneapolis #recovery bike shop

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Soak up the Snow

We all knew it was coming. The late Spring snowfall. 

And every year we pretend like it doesn’t exist, like the sunny weather is here to stay for good. Like the past twenty years of Spring were just some silly fluke, an anomaly, a goof. 

So when the inevitable snow does come down, it can feel like a personal attack - although it’s hard to say who we’re fighting, exactly. The Midwest? Climate Change? Ourselves? Whatever it is, it’s not worth getting upset. Anger doesn’t melt snow. But what else can we do?

We say - embrace the snow! 

This is your last chance to enjoy winter until next year! Embrace the thrill when you hit a patch of loose snow and your rear tire slips out just a little. Build a fire, eat some soup!

Soon this will all be a distant, melted memory. But the cold rush of air in your lungs at the top of a hill, and the smiling friends who rode there with you? Those are winter moments worth remembering. So embrace it! Seek out those last fleeting winter moments. 

Oh, and don’t forget your gloves. 

#mpls #NE MPLS #minneapolis #bike #minneapolis bike #mplsbike #recovery bike shop #winter #winterbike #winterbiking

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Five Tips for Spring Bike Commuting in Minneapolis

Spring is an exciting time of year at Recovery Bike Shop. 

The weather jumps from 0 to 60 like a sports car (see above) and makes finding the right clothes challenging. Bike lanes are flooded with road debris formerly pacified under many months of ice. Mud and ice and water run together in potholes, making them more hidden and dangerous than ever.

And despite those challenges, spring is still the perfect time to ride your bike to work. 

And whether you've been bike commuting all winter long, or if you're starting up with the spring, we've got five tips to help you get the most out of your spring bike commute. 

Coast through the break to find out what they are.

1) Embrace The Rain

Rain storms are a unique and beautiful part of spring weather, at least in the Midwest. They remind us of nourishment, and rebirth, and innocence - but without the right mindset rain can also be a huge deterrent on your bike commute.

Riding your bike through rain storms looks different for everyone. Some people use specific rain gear, designed to breathe and repel water. Other people pack a spare set of clothes in a garbage bag and change at work. It takes all kinds, and none of those methods is the right method. 

If you're someone with a short commute rain gear can make a lot of sense - because if you're not riding for a long time, changing clothing can be a disproportionate use of your time. If you've got a longer commute, maybe you're more interested in having the rain keep your body temperature down. 

Again, there is no right way to do this.

But however you choose to deal with it, accepting rainstorms into your heart is the first step to a happy spring bike commute. 

2) Balance Your Time

As you transition into bike commuting, don't feel like there's any correct number of days to ride per week. People tend to over-categorize things, separating the Real Commuters from the Fake Commuters with lines in the sand. 

Bike commuting takes time, and that can be a limiting factor for some of us. Not everyone is privileged enough to live close to work, and not everyone feels comfortable with an hour long commute. And if that's you, we hear ya. 

So if you feel like bike commuting every day is out of reach, balance your time accordingly. Do you only have time to bike commute once or twice a week? Well then you do you, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. 

3) Ride Together

Does anyone else at your office bike commute? In Minneapolis about 5% of the population commutes by bike - higher than almost any other American city - so the chances are high that you're in good company. 

When you ride together, everything from the office disappears. Titles, responsibilities, deadlines -  and instead of being X from department Y, you're YOU, and they're THEM, and both of you love to ride bikes. 

It's a beautiful thing.

4) Plan A Safe Route

As you get ready to ride to work, it's helpful to think about your route beforehand. Minneapolis has a diverse system of bikeways that can safely connect you to where you're going, so you may find bike commuting possible even if you're uncomfortable riding on busy roads.

One idea that helps make bike commuting less daunting is to take some time on a day off to scope out your potential routes ahead of time. Oftentimes our city bikeways are hard to find without a bit of foresight - so by checking out some of those routes in person, without time constraints to make you nervous, you might end up with a more enjoyable ride into work the next day.

5) Have Fun

If this one seems easy, that's because it is!

Riding your bike to work can often seem challenging, but once you get past all the advice and questions, you'll find that bike commuting is just good old fashioned fun. 

And you're gonna love it!

#recovery bike shop #mpls #NE MPLS #bike #bikes #bike commuting #bikecommute #advice #bike advice #commuting #list #spring

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Spinning Stories II - Ride Re-Cap

Like everything else in life, a good story is all about context. Things happen and you're left with a series of pieces waiting to be put together in just the right way. What happens first doesn't matter without what happens last, and the final words of a story only carry weight if they've been set up properly. 

This is a key concept behind Spinning Stories, our storytelling series that brings authors and audience back to where each story first happened. Context matters. In the story, in the performance, and in the city - context matters. 

And there's something powerful about contextualizing a story through its physical place in the world. Fleshing out a story with all the million little details that could never really be captured in words. A storyteller can't tell you how the water ripples or how the popcorn smells - as an art form, storytelling can only bring you so close to a fully fleshed out world - and that's what makes Spinning Stories so exciting. Because we can take you the rest of the way. 

For this edition of Spinning Stories we had performances by Anna Kunin, Paul Canada Nemeth, and Ifrah Mansour. We rode a muppet-paced 13 mile route that travelled from Northeast Minneapolis, to Longfellow, and then ended in Seward. 

Anna Kunin's story, A Chronic Return, brought us to Boom Island and was both completely unique and universal. It makes you wonder about the etymology of those words. 

A Chronic Return speaks to the many ways that a place - Minneapolis, in our case - can change based on context. How a person can define a neighborhood, how an injury can define your life, and how everything ties together to become so much more than just people and places and limbs. Returning to a place you've known so well, but with all of its details just slightly tweaked. These are universal concepts, and as Kunin performed the audience nodded their heads in unison at the many insights her story unearthed. 

Using these universal themes, Kunin played with the mechanics of storytelling in a truly one-of-a-kind way. Experimental cabaret storytellling is probably the best way to describe it, complete with musical numbers (above), clown make-up, and audience engagement. As she moved through the story, Kunin's playful movements forced the audience to run after her as she took full advantage of the open space provided at Boom Island. 

As rider Mike Beck put it, "I never expected a story that touched everyone in some way." And with that, we were off to South Minneapolis to hear our next story by Paul Canada Nemeth. 

Nemeth's story took us into Longfellow, to the Riverview Theater, where he was waiting with buckets of movie theater popcorn to share. Unsurprisingly, as a nationally award winning poet, Nemeth tells his stories like he is reciting poetry - with carefully thought out intonations, beautifully crafted phrases, and a rhythmic heartbeat that throbs throughout every line.

His story is about his relationship with a closeted, Evangelical boy, and the pervasive shame they both shared - although, not about the same things. The Evangelical boyfriend, predictably, felt ashamed of his own desires; a conflict that comes to fruition when Paul wakes up next to him in bed only to hear a whispered prayer for forgiveness.

Paul's shame, however, has less to do with queerness than it does with popcorn butter. If you'd like to know just how that works, stay tuned for our audio upload of Paul Canada Nemeth's story, coming soon. Without going into any detail, you'll never look at popcorn butter the same way again.

The real beauty in Nemeth's story is that he sets you up perfectly for a comedy and then ends with a drama, just like in real life. It's something that many storytellers strive to achieve, but for a prime example look no further than Paul Canada Nemeth. 

Finally, we headed back up the West River Parkway and to the Seward Cafe for Deer Stew, a story by Ifrah Mansour. 

Mansour's story took place in an apartment building right behind the cafe, and so prior to her performance she lead the group back to the spot where her story happened. Because people still live there, we had to be quiet. 

After showing us the building, Mansour sat in the Seward Cafe's Greenspace and told a story about a deer's suicidal leap through a glass window and into her living room, and about the way her family dealt with the situation. 

Deer Stew was the most conversational piece in this edition's line-up, driven less by narrative than by the charming way Mansour told the story and drew us into her family's world. She has a gift for putting the audience at ease and for bringing out the joy in a somewhat traumatic experience. We could feel her frustration as the police ignored her phone calls, and later, when they did arrive, we felt her father's disappointment as they took away his fresh deer meat. And through it all, we could laugh.

We saw the apartment, we touched the window, and we heard the laughter of children living there now. It gave context to the story in a way that would have been otherwise impossible, and now this space holds new context for those of us who listened.  

But it's not just stories that gain context from Spinning Stories - the city itself gains new context from the stories we've heard. Like a good story, the city is a living thing, and with each new perspective you gain it becomes a little more full. 

The next Spinning Stories takes place on Saturday September 27, 2014. 

Every story happened somewhere. We'll see you there.

#mpls #mpls bike #minneapolis #minneapolis bike #spinning stories #storytelling #storyteller #story #stories #minneapolis storytelling #mpls storytelling #recovery bike shop

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Spinning Stories II

We're less than a week away from the next installment of Spinning Stories, our storytelling series that happens to take place on bikes, and it's time to go over some details!

Date and Time: Saturday July 19 at high noon (roll-out around 12:30 or 12:45)

Place: Meet at Recovery (2504 Central Ave NE), ride around the city.

Distance: 10-ish miles

Pace: Muppet

Bring: Snacks and water

Cost: Your Saturday afternoon

This month, our featured storytellers are Ifrah Mansour, Anna Kunin, and Paul Canada, all of whom are incredible in their own ways. You can see their full artist biographies on the Facebook event page. 

This month's edition of Spinning Stories is a part of the social bike ride festival Pedalopolis. Check it out for more free events like this one!

#spinning stories #mpls bike #NE MPLS #NE Minneapolis #pedalopolis

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Open Streets!

Open Streets MPLS is growing. In 2011 there was one Open Streets event. This year they're hosting six. 

We think that's pretty cool.

Open Streets is pretty basic at heart - it's a block party. Except in this case it's a block party that stretches for two miles, "to promote healthy living, local businesses, sustainable transportation and civic pride in Minneapolis." 

They celebrate changes in perspective. They showcase the many benefits and joys that an open street can bring to our communities. 

And aside from all the idealistic stuff, they're really fun too!

We'll be at every Open Streets event this year wrenching on bikes for free, and doing free bike rentals.

This year we're partnering with our friends at Full Cycle for all six events. Full Cycle is a non-profit bike shop in South MPLS that, "employs, trains and supports homeless youth, teaching them bike repair and hands-on business skills including resume writing, interviewing skills, sales, customer service and overall professionalism."

The next Open Streets is on Sunday July 27th on Central Ave NE, our home turf, so you can bet we're excited. 

Additional dates can be found here.

See you soon!

#open streets #open streets mpls #minneapolis #minneapolis bike #bike #bicycle #mpls bike

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The 2014 Northeast Ride was a huge success, even with rain storms all day long. Lots of smiling faces, good music, and all to support the Northeast CDC. 

More pictures here.

#minneapolis bike #northeast #ridenortheast #NE MPLS #NE Ride

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Spinning Stories Ride Re-Cap!!

All good bike rides inevitably lead to stories. They're an integral part of the bicycling experience, in my mind.

You ride past a park, or a store, or a house, and it triggers a memory. Everything is so immediate from the saddle, and sometimes the smell of bread wafts out from a bakery and reminds you of the way your mother used to bake her own. Threads connect everywhere, and on a bicycle you're going slowly enough to see them.

This past Sunday we hosted the first Spinning Stories, a series in which storytellers ride us to the places where their stories first happened. And because of the way storytelling and bicycling are so intertwined, it felt completely natural to meld those two communities into something new. 

Three storytellers joined us for our first edition of Spinning Stories, Taylor Tower, Tristan Jimerson, and Amy Salloway. 

Our first storyteller, Taylor Tower, performed a piece called The Huck Finn Fantasy, fittingly told on the banks of the Mississippi River. Like Huck Finn before her, Taylor's story revolves around a child in the Deep South with a mind for adventure. Tower weaves quiet poignancy and rollicking humor together like only the best storytellers can, and although the story ended on a down note spirits were high as we left for story number two.

Tristan Jimerson's story took us into St. Paul, but only just barely. The story took place at Midway Books, which is at the busiest interesection in all of Minnesota, and so it was told in a park nearby. 

Like many of the best stories, Jimerson's drew on the worst parts of his own life to improve the lives of his audience. Different smaller stories weaved through the narrative - late nights at a lonely book store working as what mostly amounted to a pornography salesman; informing widows of just how little their departed's books were worth; dismissing an elderly fellow on his birthday, and for what? 

Jimerson's story made no final statement about his experience at Midway Books. It didn't neatly wrap up, and there was no grand catharsis. Instead, we were left with three small snippets of life in the bookstore, like flipping through pages in the stacks.

Our final storyteller was Amy Salloway, with her piece Real Actor. 

Real Actor is a raucously funny story about Amy's first acting gig out of theater school. She is cross-gender cast as Brutus in Julius Caesar, which in itself seems like a fairly standard affair, but the real fun comes when Salloway is informed that this particular production takes place in the Paleolithic era. And that Brutus, betrayer of the throne, and her first acting gig as a Real Actor, is in fact...a dingo. "As in, ate your baby," she says.

Real Actor speaks to the insecurities we all feel when taking on a new persona. In Salloway's case she felt like a fraud because she wasn't able to really get into the head of her cross-gender, Paleolithic, Dingo Brutus. And for the rest of us, it could be anything. The new job that you feel you don't deserve. A jacket that makes you look trendier than you feel. The collector's item that you never intended to collect. We all tend to feel like frauds at one point or another, and in this way Real Actor is both immediately recognizable but also completely unique. 

Spinning Stories has always existed, and I'm just lucky enough to have given it a name. Wherever people are riding bikes they'll be telling stories, too. 

So keep telling your stories, keep riding your bikes, and mark your calendars to join us for the next Spinning Stories on Saturday July 19. 

#spinning stories #recovery bike shop #mpls #minneapolis #bike #bikes #minneapolis bike #mpls bike #storytelling #stories

[morethanabicycle-blog]

Bike Week Wrap Up

You're one of our favorite signs of spring, Bike Week. With each passing year you set new records, break old ones, and help the Minneapolis bike community grow even larger and stronger - and this year was no different. This was the biggest, brightest Minneapolis Bike Week ever, and we couldn't be prouder to have been so involved. 

And so although we're sad to see you leave, Bike Week, we're also excited to see what's in store for us next year. How many more friendly faces will have a brighter morning at the commuter pit stops? Which record breaking numbers will you shatter again in 2015?

So goodbye, Bike Week. We're so proud to know you, and to do our part in making you so special. See you soon.

#mpls #mpls bike #minneapolis #minneapolis bike #minneapolis bike week #bike week #mplsbike #mplsbikeweek

[morethanabicycle-blog]

Spinning Stories

A storytelling series...on bikes!

We're proud to present Spinning Stories on Sunday May 25th. With multiple award winning storytellers on the bill, and with y'all in the saddle, we know that this event is going to be something special. 

I would say it's unique, but since we're planning to keep putting on Spinning Stories events that doesn't seem right.

So instead, I'll just say it will be amazing. And awesome. Oh, and also side-splittingly hilarious. And probably heart-breaking at some points, too.

RIDE PACE: Muppet

IDEAL RIDER: You

COST: Your Sunday Afternoon

#spinning stories #story #stories #storyteller #storytelling #bike #bicycle #bicycling #mpls #minneapolis #minneapolis bike #mpls bike

[morethanabicycle-blog]

Basic Bicycle Maintenance with Caleb // Recovery Bike Shop // MPLS Bike Week 2014

We're doing really cool stuff all week long, including commuter pit stops at Father Hennepin Bluffs AND the Bryant Greenway ramp, parties at both shops (15% off all new bikes!), and a Mother's Day Family Ride (free ice cream!). 

If you want to get involved, check out Minneapolis Bike Week and see how!

#minneapolis #minneapolis bike #bike week #bike #mpls #mpls bike #repair #bike repair #greenway #midtowngreenway #midtown greenway #mothersday #ice cream #icecream

[morethanabicycle-blog]

Bike to Local Businesses Saturday!

This Saturday, May 10th, as our contributions to Bike to Local Businesses Day, we're throwing parties at both of our bike shops, and we want to see YOU there!

At Re-Cycle, our Uptown MPLS shop, we'll have free pizza provided by Red Savoy, and a rotating cast of musicians playing all day long. 

And at Recovery Bike Shop, up in Northeast MPLS, we've got Thai food from Sen Yai Sen Lek, hard (and soft) apple cider from Sociable Cider Werks, and Old Time music by Spoke Too Soon. 

Plus all day at both shops, we're discounting safety equipment by 10%, and all new bikes are 15% off.

You can't afford NOT to come down and party!

#bike #minneapolis #mpls #mpls bike #minneapolis bike #bikeweek #mplsbikeweek #pizza #thai #cider #hard cider #old time #old time music