I Like the Tall Bike

Winter Riding

Here are a few shots of Alex and I goofing around in the driveway.

Family Fun

Family fun, compliments of Susan Reid.

Mother Died

Here is the obituary for my mother. Pictured below are my mother and father taken at my wedding in March 1993. You can visit the family wiki for my mom.

Johnson, Lois M. (Beamer) age 77, of Green Valley, AZ (originally from Minnesota), passed away 11/29/07. Survived by loving husband, Logan Johnson, sister Shirley Beamer and brother Richard Beamer; and also 4 children, 9 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren: Daughter and son-in-law Karen and Keith Kersten and family; daughter and son-in-law Barbara and Greg Peppersack and family; son and daughter-in-law Bruce and Tricia Johnson and family; son and daughter-in-law Kirk and Lisa Johnson and family. Memorial service will be held Saturday, January 26th at 4:30 p.m. at Colonial Church in Edina (952-925-2711).

Cool Logo

Source

Paint the Pavement

News byte from Community Design Group: "Out in St. Paul, a project to calm traffic, increase pedestrian and bicycle safety, and connect neighborhood residents with each other. First two intersections are Englewood Avenue & Syndicate Avenue, and at Van Buren Avenue & Pascal Avenue" (pictured below).

You might also enjoy viewing 40+ images at this Flickr account I found thanks to Kevin Hendricks.

Fall Photos

Here are some things our family has been up to, including Uncle Slurpy.








Plus a photo taken a bit later at mom's memorial service:

Bike Plan Presentation

This is a message I sent to members of the Bike Edina Task Force. I'm posting it here because the accomplishments and possibilities truly represent what we can accomplish as citizens, as volunteers, as government officials, and as members of a society that better walking, biking, and transit options.

Hello friends, I have some great news to share with you about last night's Edina Transportation Commission (ETC) meeting. Also I have a recap of recent and next activities that are helping us make prpogress on our Bike Edina mission statement.

First of all, there was strong bike plan support expressed by the comissioners at the ETC meeting last night. Dwaine, Alice, Matthew, Antonio, and I attended on your behalf. Last night's presentation that Antonio gave included several core concepts and striking visuals depicting current roadways before and after bikeway treatments. Comments such as "this is a wonderful plan" and "this is one of the best plans I've read" were just a few that you can hear for yourself if you watch the meeting video. After the meeting, I actually got a high-five from one of the commissioners! What impressed me was that the questions reflected thoughtful considerations of what the possibilities are. I am truly optimistic that the Bike Edina community, the ETC, the City Council, and the Planning Commission are already demonstrating genuine interest in our new comprehensive bike plan. Tactically, Mr. Sullivan suggested a mid-December ETC workshop to go through the bike plan, and so this is one of the actionable items where we can make a positive difference as we partner together. More to come on that later.

Second, apart from our specific bike plan presentation: We observed considerations, questions, and comments about bicycling while talking about transportation in general. Specifically, during the other agenda topics, the Chair (Les W.), the other commissioners, and the other presenting consultants (we heard from the Northeast Edina Traffic Study Implementation, the Edina Gateway - Pentagon Redevelopment, and comments about the roundabouts) were doing things such as showing photos of bicyclists, talking about bicyling experiences, addressing bicycle safety at an initial level, reducing the carbon footprint, and other bicycle aspects. I believe this is a remarkable indication that our collective efforts are making a positive difference already. This will be reflected in the upcoming plans and decisions that our community will make regarding transportation options.

Our Transportation Commission is a hard-working, thoughtful group that is addressing a vast amount of issues and projects. Dwaine and I will continue to be your bike representatives to develop relationships with the ETC. We will partner together constructively, and we always welcome more particiaption when you can regarding our link with the ETC. Others in the bike group are doing the same thing with City Council and the Planning Commission.

Our collective efforts will increase the quality of life in Edina in health, safety, environmental, and social aspects--you have made a difference already! Thank you for your efforts to get us this far! I am so thankful to Steve for starting the BETF. I'm grateful for everyone's contributions during the past months, and CDG has been wonderfully supportive.

In closing I think that if you are not already very proud of our group's results, and proud of our City staff, commissions, councilmembers, Community Design Group, citizens, and others for what has been initiated...well gosh we can definitely feel that way. The proof is in the November 5th City Council meeting, this ETC meeting last night, and the various efforts underway. We still have a lot of work to do. I hope that this message offers some helpful information and will motivate you and your network to stay engaged.


--
Kirk (Logan) Johnson
Kirk.johnson@LoganLogic.com

When Road Diets Don't Consider Bike Vehicles

Here is a recent roadway change on Cornelia Drive in Edina that did not take into consideration how bicyclists might best navigate through the streets. Because bicycles have the same rights and duties as motorists on our roads (MN St. 169.222), it is important to consider biking when building and changing roads. Bikers have a risk index of injury that is 5 times greater when riding on sidewalks; additionally, it is against the law to ride a bike on some business district sidewalks and wherever posted.

Photo courtesy Barry Hans

Barb's Bike Bonanza

Today we (Alex, Artem, Barb, and I) had an AWESOME day biking along my bike commute route to downtown Minneapolis. From there, we explored on the Heritage trail while also visiting Mill City Ruins park, the Stone Arch Bridge, and the new Guthrie Theater. We then headed through Seven Corners then south along Hiawatha to the Midtown Greenway. Stopped at Ben & Jerry's. Encountered a refreshing rain and then enough wind to get mostly dry before returning home. Barb did great...muscle power! We covered 22.3 miles and here is the Bikely map.

Critical Mass Minneapolis

Some photos from the Strib's photo gallery. Here is one, photo credit to Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune:


This was a well-attended event. Reports say 600 but I am certain there were more than 1,000. Based on the interactions I experienced with people watching and participating, it was overall very positive. This is the first time I've ever seen residents come out on their balconies and front yards on Franklin and Lake to cheer and jump up and down. Lots of friendly comments and smiles from pedestrians and even motorists.

Below is a short clip from youtube:

Downtown Girl

Aliya and I took the morning to goof around downtown and at the U. Camera battery went out, so here are some other memories that didn't make it in the photos below...Walker Art Center invisible floor and long escalators, open market Honey Crisps, Bridge Number 9, 35W bridge view, Washington Avenue Bridge, Bell Science Museum (Bicycle Film Festival), Dinkytown.

GnomeTown

The kids have some gnomes and fairies in the backyard. Here is our garden project to make it a better place for imagining, playing, and being a kid again no matter what your age is.

Freeride 2007

It was a fun afternoon and evening. Fun to ride with friends. Met at CRC on 34th and Lyndale, then to the Alt, then Peace Coffee, then The Nomad, and then One on One Bike Studio.

All-City Championship

Here is our route. Scott had GPS. I've had a busy week. Summary: THIS RACE WAS A BLAST! Here is a note I wrote to my sister:

"Hi, the alleycat race was awesome. Incredibly excellent! The neat part was that the organizer had a manifest (list of trips to make) that no one could see until the beginning of the race. It had things like: Go to 1724 Kenwood Pkwy and get the year the brick water tower was built. Count the window panes at the Lake Harriet bandshell. Buy a banana somewhere and eat it at the tent in Powderhorn Park where you'll put your manifest in a sealed envelop to deliver to Grumpy's bar in Northeast Minneapolis...and so on it went. At some of the stops there were free socks, bike parts, or drinks. And some were like get the number from the blue hat in the mural at such-and-such address and use that number for the missing number in the next address on the list. It was about 35-45 (?) miles total zipping around all the "burrows" of Minneapolis (plus one cross-town stop in St. Paul). There were bikers all over the place because no one takes the same course unless you are riding with a few friends, which is pretty common.

The night before the race there were crazy contests like track stands (balancing without moving on the bike...some people did it for 10 - 12 minutes), sprints (pairs of people going full blast for a block or two for mini races) and skids (seeing how long you can skid the back tire...all on fixed gear bikes with no hand brakes or coaster brakes). Those contests started at 10 p.m. after registering at a bar (pay $10 and get a spoke card for the race) and were only halfway done at midnight...I had to bike home and miss some of it. Lots of drinking, music, and a little mayhem but all respectful fun...

You know, some of those race ideas (the alleycat race with the surprise manifest before the beginning so that no one can prepare) might be suitable for a horse event. I guess it is sort of like a scavenger hunt in a way.

I actually think horses are more interesting than bikes in many ways. I'm sure that if we compared history, contributions to society, culture, etc. that bikes and horses would go neck-and-neck. However, bikes don't poop! Your horses are so lucky! If only all horses could get the care you offer."

I'm ready for the next one! Here is one person's Flickr show. Scott S., we might have to split up next time to avoid jousting at the end!

Alleycat Comin' Up

Last night was the registration at The Nomad...about 60 (?) people were there and more people will register today. We rode up to the Hennipen Ave bridge, and then on the east side had trackstand comps, then rode to the warehouse district for paired sprints. So cool. Met lots of new people.

I left a little after midnight and they hadn't even started the skid contest. Got some zzz's and am looking forward to a rainy 3-hour race event today.

Edina Connections for Bike Plan

Today I photographed and labeled several access points to other cities plus some interesting roadway issues. This is for preparing the 10-year comprehensive bike plan. Click the photo album cover below and then you can see a slideshow if you click the option.

100 Mile Bike Trip

Here is an English century (going 100 miles on one day). Today I wrote Slurpy, my fixed gear bike. The group was Dublestylee, Philbilly, Atomkinder, Chelsea, and The Other Scott plus me. No one had any mechanical problems on the group ride, and we all pretty much rode the same speed. Averaged 16 mph. I hit 104 miles. I didn't get sore or any pains except the bottom of my feet. What a great accomplishment for everyone.

Dublestylee put together the map, which took us from the Stone Arch Bridge through White Bear Lake to Marine on St. Croix at the Minnesota/Wisconson border. We took a break there and had lunch at Roberta's. It was a good group. No incidents except an isolated pickup jerk, and a minor dropout wheel problem I had. This was all new territory for me, including the Gateway Trail on the way back. Good weather and a great day to complete this feat.

Biking 16 Miles with Kids

All 3 kids biked with me on a 16+ mile route. We stopped at a playground for our picnic lunch and played tag on the play set. We had so much fun that when we got to the bike shop, it was closed. Here is the gang.

Bridge Biker

Please view this powerful slideshow with audio commentary. I think the biker's name is Dan Schueller: http://www.startribune.com/slideshows/rich_media/1344505.html



Also, there is an account of this story, briefer and in text, in MplsBikeLove.

Dog Bite

So I was biking south on Yosemite in St. Louis Park last night and a girl had two dogs off-leash on the street. One greeted me with this bite mark. The intersting thing is that with a little imagination, it looks like an evil little face. The penetration is very deep in this wound although you can't tell by the photo. I have discussed with both a nurse, a doctor, St. Louis Park Police, the dog's neighbor, the dog's vet, and Animal Control. So far, the owner(s) have chosen not to communicate with me.

I filed a police report because there should be public record of the combination of a biting dog and an irresponsible owner. People that own dogs need to be responsible, and it helps if they are courteous, too.

8/5 update: Case # 07004761. Animal control: 952-924-2618. / 952-924-2125. Officer Bahe.
8/6 called Eric at this number to get a status...left a voice message 11:02.
8/7 called Eric again -- did not hear back -- left another message at 7:13 a.m. The neighbors are at 3929Called again 11:15 a.m. and Eric said he'd call back in 10 minutes. Result: He said I can call at the end of the week.

8/11: More Information:

MN Statutes:
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/getpub.php?type=s&num=347.50&year=2006
Subd. 3. Potentially dangerous dog. "Potentially dangerous dog" means any dog that:
(1) when unprovoked, inflicts bites on a human or domestic animal on public or private
property;
(2) when unprovoked, chases or approaches a person, including a person on a bicycle, upon
the streets, sidewalks, or any public or private property, other than the dog owner's property,
in an apparent attitude of attack; or

St. Louis Park
DOG OWNER RESPONSIBILITIES in SLP
http://www.stlouispark.org/residents/pet_owners.htm#150
City ordinance requires that Dogs be on a leash that is no more than six feet long when they are being walked.

DOGS NUISANCES in SLP
http://www.stlouispark.org/residents/pet_owners.htm#148
"Dogs may be declared a public nuisance and destroyed if a sworn complaint to a Hennepin County court judge indicates that the dog has attacked or bitten a person outside the owner's or custodian's premises "

ANIMAL BITES in SLP
http://www.stlouispark.org/residents/pet_owners.htm#105
After 10 days, a city staff member will contact you to confirm if your pet is still in good health.

Be sure to report any animal bite: call the St. Louis Park public safety dispatcher at (952) 924-2618.

Sauntercycling

Sauntercycling: Bicycle rides starting at your front door with no time limit, pre-defined route, or destination. Required packing list is water and a credit card. The purpose is to have a spontaneous bike adventure, returning anytime you want.

Jain: "Want to ride out to Bryant Lake Bowl for some beer?"
Axel: "Too much structure. Let's go sauntercycling instead...I don't need to work until tomorrow night."
Jain: "Dude that is sick. Spontaneous adventure. I'm in!"

Steve Gets Fixed

Today after lunch with Steve and Dave, we had a little fun on W 77th street. Steve was in an adventurous mood and gave Slurpy a little ride. Tentative at first, within seconds there were snickers. Then laughter. Grinning ear-to-ear, there was boisterous laughter altnerative with comments like "This is fun!" "I didn't expect this to be so fun," and "I get it now!"




Pictured here is my rear cog, served on ice. So pretty.

I would say that Steve's maiden voyage was one sweet ride. Next time, Dave?

Oops: 10 MPH Speed Limit

1. July 26th: Commuter path workers spray-paint dozens of "10 MPH" on the Kenilworth and Cedar Lake Trail bike paths which are heavily used by bike commuters that often hit 20 MPH or more including yours truly
   
   
2. July 27th: My friend Scot Gore posts a message on MplsBikeLove.com saying,

   Just did my commute ride in to work this AM and noticed new 10MPH stencils on the Kenilworth connector trail and the Cedar Lake Trail. It leaves us transportational cyclists 3 choices
   1) Break the speed limit all the time.
   2) Shift our routes out to Cedar Lake Road or Hennepin Ave
   3) Give it up and get back in the car.
   
   All bad options. I also think it a big deterent to new commuters. Makes biking the commuter trails as slow and frustrating as sitting in traffic. I've left a couple of messages this AM to see if I can learn more about the why's, the what for's, and the how do I make it go away's. Scot

   
   
3. July 28 to July 30: More than 1000 views from the MplsBikeLove community (just one forum example) and more than 60 active posts in the thread, covering the various government leaders and transit leaders (including biking and other) that were contacted. Let's just say that the proverbial phones were rattling off their hooks...
   
   
   
4. July 30th response that dozens or more received from Don P. from the City of Minneapolis:
   

   The MPRB did this by mistake. They are working to correct this. It was never intended to place a speed limit along our commuter trails.

   
   

I was impressed: Within a matter of a few days, the bike community organized itself without any leader and accomplished a very quick visibility and turnaround from the right people. I'm grateful for involvement in this from the Transit for Livable Communities (Steve Clark), the later involvement by the City of Minneapolis (Don Pflaum), the scores of others.

Hmmmm...very interesting you say? Whether this was really just a bone-headed mistake (Park board worker: "But those are our favorite stencils for around the Lakes!") or something more sinister ("Quick, Karl...how can we spin this awful mistake?"), I love how the collective understanding of these bikeways was reinforced to be COMMUTER facilities.

Yes, we have froot booters, dogs on really long leashes, giant unicycle riders reading novels (yup, it happens!), spandex-clad racers, and vegan utility riders hauling goods from Whole Foods...believe me, there is NO reason to start imposing arbitrary rules such as a flippin' speed limit.

Note to spray paint stencil workers: Please do not inhale the product.

Besides, since when were bicycles required by law to inform their drivers what speed is being registered? Unlike cagers, bicycles don't really go much faster than 20 MPH in most conditions for most riders. The important thing, dangit, is to PASS WITH CARE. Believe me, an idiot can do lots of damage at slower speeds.

If you don't believe me, try getting your ass hit by a 200-pound biker going at 9.5 MPH while you're strolling along listening to The Fray and smelling dandelions. Now, wouldn't you rather have a biker going 20 MPH that actually gave you 3 feet of clearance and also bothered to say "On your left" if you were walking like Captain Jack Sparrow?

Encouraging Biking/Walking to Schools

(Click to enlarge photos)


This morning my daughter and I rode our Schwinn tandem to Highlands Elementary to count the bike racks as part of a community project. There were 3 racks with a capacity of 37 bikes. We also measured the distance between the racks and the front door: 130 yards. Highland is an excellent school and we appreciate the talented staff, volunteers, and families that make the school a gem in our community. The improvement we'd like to see is related to the transportation infrastructure...there are opportunities for encouraging more biking and walking to for both children and adults.

My kids say that the racks are usually full on school days. We know of one adult worker that bikes to the school. My personal trips to the school are always by foot or bike. Why isn't that more common for other adults and children? Out of more than 500 students and perhaps 100 adult workers and volunteer on any given day, it is no wonder that there is a crammed parking lot full of cars and a congested traffic scene with buses and cars before and after school. Plus, parking for cars spills out into the streets for some after-school events.

Why might our community benefit by having a higher percentage of bikers to the schools? I'm not advocating that everyone bikes or walks to school, but imagine the outcomes if 80% would do that. Close your eyes and think about it for 15 seconds...what do you envision? Here are some points to ponder for encouraging more biking and walking to schools.

1. Did you know that 14 bikes comfortably fit in one average car parking space? Imagine your school parking lot being free of congestion, quieter, safer, and healthier.
   
2. If children (and parents) think it is important to be driven everywhere, even if it is less than 2 miles, what lesson are children learning about mobility? Instead, teach them safe riding skills, such as those we recently covered at the Edina Bike Rodeo. Get involved as parents for learning and teaching safe skills. And encourage more walking too.
   
3. Related to the above point: "Ninety percent of trips by children today are made as a passenger in a car. This low level of walking and biking impacts children’s health, independence and ability to learn walking and bicycling skills" (Transit for Livable Communities).
   
4. Child obesity: Children overall are more sedentary today than every before, leading to 17% being overweight.
   
5. Safe Routes to Schools is a popular program spreading across Canada and the U.S. designed to decrease traffic and pollution and increase the health of children and the community (reference). Check it out and consider integrating with you school's and your community's planning.
   
6. Ensure that streets near schools are exhibit the "complete street" features which are explanied very well by the Thunderhead Alliance. From the site: "Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and bus riders of all ages and abilities are able to safely move along and across a complete street." Ironcially, the streets near Highland have no sidewalks. Our community is working to correct this problem.
   
7. Offer a few minor adjustments in the bathrooms for commuters to clean up...or offer a changing/clean-up area for men and women. This can be accommodated in a number of cost-efficient ways.
   
8. Offer more and better bicycle parking options. Think of faculty, parents, and volunteers. What makes sense for these people for bicycle parking?
   

Efforts such as the above contribute to overall reduction in our nation's (and planet's) consumption of natural resources, reduces demand for oil, reduces greenhouse gasses such as CO2, reduces motorist traffic, reduces noise, reduces pollution, increases more social contact with others during commutes, increases exercise, decreases obesity, teaches important mobility skills that can provide lifelong value, builds muscle mass, increases heart health, and develops good thinking and reasoning skills for children that learn to safely navigate their bicyclces. Oh, and biking is fun.

Please contact me if you'd like to discuss further: Kirk@BikeEdina.org. And, I welcome comments posted on this blog. Thanks for your interest!

My Bike Was on TV!

Here is the KARE-11 news story, aired 7/25/2007 that included my bike! (Direct link to video.) Uncle Slurpy (my Surly Steamroller) was shown taking off, and then my interview at about 1:30 into the film.

I appreciate the positive press for bicycling. However, I wish the motivations cited were not so much on the gas prices. Anyway, someone asked me if this was planned or just being in the right place at the right time. I said it was the latter, which is always the case when being on a bike ;)

Uninformed Officer

I had an interesting encounter with an Edina police officer today. I was riding with my son and daughter east on Vernon and west of the Eden/Vernon intersection, a motorist came very close to my daughter's handlebars, less than 3 feet, and honked at us. It's not the honking so much that disturbed me, it was the choice of the motorist to "teach us a lesson" by coming to close and being positionally and audibly agressive toward us.

I immediately memorized the license plate and called the Edina police department. An officer was dispatched and met us nearby. He did not know about the 3-foot passing rule. I helped him look it up in his statutes book. He also made a comment about bikes needing to keep up with traffic, but I wasn't sure where that comment was going. A big part of the conversation was the officer lecturing my daughter to ride as "close to the curb as possible." Statute 169.222 does not include that kind of language, instead it is "...as close as practictable," which is an important distinction: It goes on to list exceptions, one of them being riding 2-abreast, which is what we were doing. Inside the fog lane, dangit.

My request was that he would contact the driver and educate the driver that bicyclists belong on the road and that passing needs to be at least 3 feet. The officer said he would do that, and he was saying that this is a learning experience for him, too.

The whole incident has left me wondering what education, if any, our Edina police officers have about bicycling on roads. And I also feel bad about it...bad that the officer was much, much more focused on restricting where the bikes ride instead of being informed and concerned about the traffic violation of the motorist. Heck, Vernon is a wide roadway where motorists speed at 50 mph or more and it is the worst road to bike on in my daily rides.

I feel 10x more safe in the downtown street grid in Minneapolis than Vernon Avenue.

The territorial and agressive attitudes of the drivers, which the officer didn't not seem initially concerned about until we uncovered the three foot passing law in his book, is what keeps some people from biking in Edina. It is what terrifies parents about their kids riding to soccer games and to school. And it is why some adults themselves don't ride, combined with a lack of education and infrastructure support in Edina.

I contacted the officer a week or so later to ask about the outcome and to suggest a few ways that the police department could get involved with education. I was being open-ended about that...both from a perspective of police getting bicycle education and also being involved with it in the community.

He returned my message and ignored the question about contacting the malicious and errant driver. He chose to respond only to my idea about bicycle education with officers and give me an internal contact.

I'd like to see the Edina police more involved in community biking. I'd suggest having them involved at the next community or kids event like the 2008 rodeo or something sooner. I also think it would be good to put together and offer a session for police officers on biking in Edina. I would like to do this with some support from some community leaders such as you and/or the BETF. T.J. suggested bringing in some of the bicycle cops from other communities to exchange info as part of the training.

I'm guessing that the offcer (I have his name) is not alone in a gap in bicycle education. WIth more people biking, officers need to be informed.

Cedar Ave Bridge Rally

Today was an awesome rally attended by several hundred (nearly 1,000?) people. Barry Hans and I rode over together. We are both on the Bike Edina Task Force. State Representative, Ann Lenczewski (rep.ann.lenczewski@house.mn) from Bloomington chaired the speakers, which included governors/mayors and other citizen groups from dozens of cities and counties around Minnesota. Below are just a few of the speakers and supporters. Interests ranged from bicycle transportation and recreation, bird watching, hiking, walking, and others.

Dave G. (Hiawatha Bicycle Club & Twin Cities Bicycle Club) with Ann Lenczewski. Friends from HBC John, Jim, Dale, Becky, Russ. Hans talks with some of the media crew. The crowd was huge...nearly 1000? Part of it is shown here. The bridge is shown with various closed signs. Mike Maquire (second to last photo, speaking ) of Eagan (mayor) and another leader (blue shirt)--I need to get her name.

My Daily Bike Commute

Here is my first attempt at being a photo journalist. Visit the damage here at my commuting article with pictures.

Who Rode Uncle Slurpy?

Who rode my favorite bike? In somewhat correct order, oldest first....

18. Steve M. 8/2/07
17. Dan K. 7/2007
16. Geno 7/2007
15. Justin at Erik's 7/2007
14. Scott S. 7/2007
13. Ted D. 7/2007
12. Alan J. 7/13/2007
11. Matty L. 6/2007
10. Hans G. 5/2007
9. Margaret 5/2007
8. Paul H. 12/2006
7. Carl S. 11/2006
6. Barb P. 11/2006
5. Shree 10/2006
4. Lisa 10/2006
3. Jake K. 10/2006
2. Jeff D. 10/2006
1. Me 10/2006

Zach and Anna

Here is another oil painting recently completed by my sister, Karen Kersten!

Edina Bike Rodeo

Here are some pics of the wonderful event, thanks to Catherine Elliott for her Gold Star award project for Girl Scouts plus several bike shops, community groups, and volunteers. For a more structured image set with text, visit Photos at www.BikeEdina.org.

More than 100 visitors attended at about 70 children received bike inspections, helmet checks, safety instruction, and navigated simulated city roads in a course marked on the parking lots complete with real road signs.

MS150 to Blaine

Self-photo shadow, Barb & volunteers hard at work, starting out in Hinckley, Erica, Lance, and friend at the finish, scene on my bike home from Blaine to Edina.

MS 150 Saturday Night

Setting up the tent, evening festivities, C.H. Robinson's team song, enjoying the GMAC ResCap tent.

MS 150 to Hinckley

This is Day 1. More than 3000 bikers! $2.2MM raised. A few shots show biking with Mike and David, finishing in Hinckley after riding from Duluth (75 miles).







Note: The "butts" are not real! They are rubber, just in case you were concerned.