Biking to work

Today I biked to work.

This is not the first time this has happened. In fact, the past three years I've been biking to work. I work at a restaurant in Minneapolis, and parking in the city is ridiculous and never available and expensive when it is available. So therefore, bike to work, get some exercise, don't pay for gas or parking, save the environment!! etc. etc.

This job (unpaid internship) I currently have is Downtown, and is 5 miles further away then my other job, but I decided on biking there too (for all the same reasons). Obviously, I discovered several benefits to biking to work.

Most recently, I have discovered how awesome Minneapolis is. Didn't I know this already? Apparently not.

There is a bike trail that goes all the way from Hopkins straight through St. Louis Park, across Highway 55 along the light rail line and into the city like the string of a balloon. The bike path itself is nestled down beneath the city, unnoticed by the cars and busses crossing bridges overhead. There is a whole other community down there.

Along the trail there are murals, gardens, and little biker-friendly pit stops, even a bike shop with an entrance right along the trail. There are stop signs, little street signs and lane markers, benches and graffiti, groups of people playing guitars or smoking, picking up trash, waiting for the train. This whole little atmosphere I didn't even know about until I became a trail biker.

Biking this trail from the south side of Lake Calhoun into Downtown Minneapolis is like getting the grand tour of the city, from the poorer parts to the richest. Every few minutes, I feel myself entering a new part of town as I cruise by on wheels.

Uptown: hipster, coffee-shops, clothing stores, bars.

Lynn-Lake and Phillips: eat street, foreign foods/businesses, rich culture and rich smells.

Cedar-Riverside: Apartments, murals on every wall, warehouses emitting smoke, lots of people walking in work clothes.

Mill District and Downtown: where I get off the path. Construction, Metrodome, business suits, fast walkers, food trucks, etc etc

This city plays host to all types. This small but powerful cultural hub is bursting at the seams with uniqueness, I feel lucky to get to see it all from the "tourbus" I ride to work every day.