Fred's Bike/walk Page
Selected bike related links - mostly Minneapolis related Fred's Bike Blog
City of Minneapolis Bicycle Program has many useful links. "Where to Ride" link goes to page with
maps - online and where to get printed ones including the great Hennepin County Bike map.
City of Minneapolis Pedestriain Program Similar resources for walking.
Nice Ride Minnesota public bike sharing system will start in Minneapolis in May of 2010.
Theodore Wirth Park Off-road Bike Trail
Transit for Livable Communities advocating for buses, light rail, commuter rail in Minnesota
Walkscore site calculates a number that reflects the distance to destinations within walking distance for an
address one enters. It is a fairly rough calculation using information from Google. Choosing where to live
in a location with most destinations in walking / biking distance greatly reduces the potential
environmental/energy transportaion impact. Of course routes to work destinations are very significant.
North Minneapolis Bikeways
Luce Line Bikepath from Douglas Drive in Golden Valley to Wirth Parkway is now open. A key link west from Mpls.
Major Taylor Bike Club is the premier African-American bicycling club in the state of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest
Links
Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) in North Minneapolis
is funded by a federal initiative to reduce obesity, a primary cause of heart
disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and cancer. Effectively addressing some of the key
behaviors that contribute to obesity -- lack of physical activity and poor nutrition
can have a significant impact on the health of a communities. The CPPW-MN project
does this by encouraging bicycling and walking.
Fred's
Blue bike lanes in Denmark which are used (only) at some intersections. 1999 picture.
Note in the foreground that bike lane has curb between it and vehicle lanes as well
as between it and sidewalk. BTW note that bus has 3 doors to speed stops.
Fred's bike design and recumbent bikes it evolved from. A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle which places the pedals
in front rather than below the rider. The rider's back is supported. Many recumbent riders find them easier
and more comfortable to ride.
FUS Earthday bike rides: 2007 (no ride) 2006 2005 2005,2 2004
.
Special Twin Cities bike shops - public workshops, used, coop, recumbent
Minneapolis
Calhoun Cycle Uptown area. One of the nations largest recumbent and folding bicycle dealers.
Freewheel Midtown Bike Center on Midtown Greenway. Storage, Rentals, Cafe , Repair Classes, Public Shop ($4/ 15 min)
Full Cycle is a bike shop based on a program to teach at-risk youth to repair bikes at 3515 Chicago Av S 612-824-7581.
Grease Pit Bike Shop Now located at 2750 Bloomington Ave. Public workshop (donations) Mon - Thur:6-9pm Sat, Sun: 3-6pm
Hub bike Shop Coop, two locations, Cedar Riverside; near Hiawatha & Lake (has used bikes and public shop ($5/hr))
Sunrise Cyclery at 901 W Lake Street has an extensive inventory of used bikes.
St. Paul
Express Bike Shop near on Sibley near Lexington. Community based used bikes / training.
Sibley Bike Depot 712 University Ave., St Paul Member based nonprofit advocacy and public repair/education
Edina
Edina Bike Shop NW of France Av and Hwy 62 Lower cost recumbents.
Craigslist Twin Cities bikes for sale is a good place to look for used bikes.
Local Bike/Transit links
Twin Cities bike/transit links at Twin Cities Streets for People
Bicycle Commuter Institute
Nice Ride MN Public Bike system opened June 19,2010
North Minneapolis Transit (Fred's page)
Fred's Bike Blog Fred's general blog
6-10-2010 __ Nice Ride MN Public Bike system grand opening ( expensiveniceride ) .
On Bike Walk day 2010 I attended the grand opening. It was threatening to rain but mostly did
not. It was interesting to see the southbound lane on Nicollet Mall clogged with bikes - many of
them Nice Ride bikes.
This non-profit high tech system (computer networked, credit card based) is partly funded with
cigarette lawsuit proceeds and quite extensive in downtown Minneapolis down to the Midtown
Greenway / Lake street and over to the University.
I have a few concerns. It appears that the structure of the system will serve some people's
needs but not others. I hope it serves enough people to be sustainable.
There is no provison for helmets - logistics to do so would be too complicated.
[Following section updated 3/21/2011]
Very Expensive for one ride
The price structure - a "subscription" for a day, month or year plus an escalating fee per 30
minutes after the first 30 minutes is clearly designed to encourage short trips. The people it
will serve best are people who get to downtown often by some means other than bike who can use
Nice Ride often to get around downtown from one station to another. A yearly subscription
($60) and first 30 minutes of each trip free make this very reasonable. ( $60 / (8 months x 20
weekdays = $0.40/weekday) Even a monthy subscription is comparable to one bus ride per day (
$30 / 20 weekdays = $1.50/weekday ). For a person who wants to spend a day exploring the area
covered by making many short tips using Nice Ride, it's very reasonable 24 hours for $5.00 and
the free 30 min per trip.
HOWEVER it seems to me that a person who wants to make one or two trips, the minimum $5.00 daily
subscription requirement is very steep. This would be $5.00 for one (or $2.50 for two) rides of
less than 30 minutes. Considerably higher than 40 cents or $1.50 per day with lomger subscription.
Clearly this pricing structure is limiting usage. In the first year of Nice Ride MN, I never
observed a station without bikes available. Tho useage was statistics were adequate to justify
the system. BUT the demand at WITH THIS PRICE STRUCTURE was not high. I am sure that a lower price,
and particularly would guess that a lower price for one or two rides would result in much higher
demand. The goal that I propose would be to have a price structure that got about 90% utilization
during dry daylight hours. (10% or some similar number or so would mean there some were bikes
available at most stations at most times.)
In support of my argument that a modified pricing structure would increase usage substantially,
I cite my direct observation: In 1999 I used the Copenhagen public bike system. It was free but
required small ($2-$3) deposit in a system that resembles the shopping cart deposit system at Aldi
grocery stores in the US now. There were seldom bikes available after early morning until evening.
Clearly there was very high utilization.
Note that they did not have the 30 minute free aspect which would bring bikes back to stations
more promptly and muddies my comparison. Bikes were supposed to only be parked at stations
which with the deposit was incentive to return them. Also bike useage generally was already
very high there in 1999. And Copenhagen has many tourists who could use bikes. But I think the
argument still is valid.
Pictures of Copenhagen city bike #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
I think Copenhagen is implementing a new system, I hope they do not implement a pricing structure
that needlessly limits useage.
Another situation where Nice Ride MN pricing is high: if you wanted to take one 125 minute trip
(outside the service area maybe around the lakes), would be $21.50 which seems to me excessive.
But the system was not designed for this type of use.
See also Wikipedia: Bicycle sharing system
[end update]
We'll see how much use this pricing structure draws. I think the argument recently made that
parking should be priced so there are SOME free parking places could apply here. That is, price
the use so most but not all bikes are in use as much as possible. This might mean some time of
day factor in the pricing. Maybe weekends could be priced lower. Since the system is already
computer / network based a more flexible pricing system should not bee too difficult.
The Niceridemn.org web site has a Station map (use link on the right down one screen on home page).
It is a zoomable Google Map. Clicking on station icons on map give real time information on
number of bikes and "docks" available. This could expand to include the current price if
there were experimentation with prices.
10-05-2009 __ Used Sun EZ-Speedster CX Recumbent Bike .
Yesterday I bought a used Sun EZ-Speedster CX Recumbent Bike from Jory in Carver, MN
which I learned of from the Craigslist TC bikes for sale area.
(Only a few 'bents show up here; I searched for "bent" back about a month periodically. BUT...
In May 2011 I found a better way... Use Google alerts which sends an email message when
a search finds new results to get notified when a used 'bent is for sale on Craigslist . )
Sun EZ Speedster CX Recumbent Bike Higher resolution Fred on the Sun bent Nov 2009
On 10/7 I studied the bent closer. Some observations:
1) the front "Promax" disk brake's rotor is not centered in brake and is rubbing
on one side. Red knob does not seem to alter centering (it does on back).
(Later, it needed lubrication .)
Seat slides about 8" . For Fred about 6" from back of square tube to seat
bracket seems about right
Seat back braces has minor deficiencies. Width at seat back is different
than lower tubes. Length adjustment is minimally adequate and awkward.
Where braces attach to frame near rear hub should allow tubes to pivot
while being secure.
Recently installed rack was only loosely attached in front (to seat back braces
with wire ties). Tight attachment there would inhibit seat adjustment. Plan a
tube from front of rack down to frame by "down tube". Done.
Update 11/29/09. I've ridden the bent a fair amount thanks to the good weather we've had
including a long ride on bike trails out to Lake Minnetonka. I'm quite pleased with it.
10/08 __ This year I've been biking to Roosevelt High School (RSH) to help with an inovative
installaltion of computers in a science classroom (see GCOS ).
It's about an 8 mile ride across Minneapolis. One day in Sept. when I got close to RSH I noticed my front tire was
going flat. I got to RSH ok - walking a few blocks. I thought the leak was quite slow so I decided to try and limp
home with it as is. I made stops for air: (many bike shops have a loaner bike pump to use on site)
Hub Bike on Minnehaha for air
Hub Bike on West Bank for air
One on One Bike just N of Downtown for air (curiously it had not lost
much if any air since the west bank ). I got home in about an hour.
This route followed the LRT/bus routes so I could bail out and
ride transit with the bike if the leak was too fast to keep inflated
enough to get home. All Minneapolis city buses now have a fold down rack for two bikes.
They are used a lot. (Some bikes get forgotten on the rack :)
If I have a suspicious tire, I'll take a pump and maybe a patch kit.
There are enough resources in the city that I don't carry them routinely.
10/07 __ This image, 4 bike vertical rack , is a mockup that attempts to illustrate an idea for a bike
rack that holds bikes vertically and overlapping side to side by having alternate bikes higher
thus allowing bikes to be stored more densely. This is probably more dense than realistic since
the bikes are all the same. I expect that only with experience will it be possible to arrive at
a practical density. Maybe some racks set up at different density for different bikes -- mostly
touring bikes vs mountain bikes and maybe different style handlebars. I would hope that the
rack could be used for short wheelbase (about 40" between axles) recumbent bikes. These
would only be used where there are many bikes parked like around dorms. There will be need for
some conventional racks for bikes and riders for whom these racks don't work. Bicyclists can be
given incentive to use them such as availability of space, proximity, maybe reserved spots,
maybe shelter from rain. Note that in some ways bikes are actually more maneuverable when they
are walked vertically than walked conventionally since one can walk behind the bike and thus
maneuver in a narrower space. I often walk my bike into the garage on end (where I have a
vertical rack).
In this image:
o red by the front tires represents hooks
o longer red line by the stem represents the top of a loop tub which
the bike can be locked to and which stablizes the bike side to side
( see crude attempt at a side view of bike in vertical rack )
o lower red is a channel where the rear tire sits.
o Not shown is a ramp for the raised bikes to roll up into position.
Note that Dero Bike Rack Co. (here in Mpls) has a bike rack something like this
Dero Space Saver which is used mostly indoors that stores bikes 16" apart.
Also their Track Rack has hooks suspended from trolleys that allow you to push neighboring bikes
apart when hanging or removing a bike so bikes can be stored about 8" apart.
7/07 __ Today I picked up a large yellow Schwinn bike from a friend with an adaptation to the
trailer I use haul water and supplies to the garden. I mounted a "tray" that is normally used
on a car top rack on the trailer - the kind that keeps both wheels on and has a brace that clamps
on the down tube. Bike on trailer
6/07 __ pondering conversion of a used aluminum "women's" frame with 7-speed hub and internal brakes
to a recumbent... Replace forks with those for 20" bike for a 20" wheel. Mount a strong tube to
support cranks out front and seat (red line in picture): Yellow aluminium bike
Compare to this 29 pound Volae with 650 C wheels
Compare to this to this Vision VR-50 USS Short WheelBase with Underseat steering recumbent
bike for sale in Aug '07 for $695 (It was sold before I saw it) Note that it has Full Suspension
This page is maintained by Fred H Olson email: fholson at cohousing.org
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