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Bloomington to Minneapolis Route?

Old 01-22-17, 09:21 PM
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illusiumd
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Bloomington to Minneapolis Route?

Seeing as how there's no Minneapolis specific bike forums any longer (wow that was a rabbit hole) - I thought I'd ask here about the best route/s from around Anderson Lakes Park Preserve to Downtown Minne. Thanks!
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Old 01-23-17, 09:38 AM
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How easily can you get to the Cedar trail? That would be the best route for two-thirds of it. Just for kicks I punched it into google maps and it looked a bit convoluted to get there. I'd assume it's weighted toward trails rather than good roads.

Yeah, MBL ended up being quite the cluster. Too small an audience and too big of egos, among other factors. I gave up my vested interest in it whenever I joined here--maybe 2010?
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Old 01-23-17, 09:57 AM
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I live west of Minneapolis, and don't ride in Bloomington much. So I can't share a route to help, but I'll share a tool I use a ton - Global Heatmaps on Strava's Route Builder tool. Here's a screenshot with the brighter red lines highlighting the popular routes for other bikers. This is a free tool in Strava.

Untitled.jpg

BTW - former MBL member too
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Old 01-23-17, 10:02 AM
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I hardly ride in Bloomington. The streets and drivers don't impress me as bike friendly. My only suggestion is to get to American Boulevard which has real wide shoulders and then head north on Portland which crosses over crosstown and will take you all the way.
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Old 01-23-17, 03:38 PM
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Originally Posted by MNBikeCommuter
Yeah, MBL ended up being quite the cluster. Too small an audience and too big of egos, among other factors. I gave up my vested interest in it whenever I joined here--maybe 2010?
Thanks, yes reading about the rise and fall of MBL was a fascinating waste of time the other night
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Old 01-23-17, 03:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Hypno Toad
I live west of Minneapolis, and don't ride in Bloomington much. So I can't share a route to help, but I'll share a tool I use a ton - Global Heatmaps on Strava's Route Builder tool. Here's a screenshot with the brighter red lines highlighting the popular routes for other bikers. This is a free tool in Strava.

Attachment 549995

BTW - former MBL member too
Thanks for pointing that out - I forgot about Strava - haven't used it in a while but should get back into it.
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Old 01-23-17, 03:44 PM
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Originally Posted by modelmartin
I hardly ride in Bloomington. The streets and drivers don't impress me as bike friendly. My only suggestion is to get to American Boulevard which has real wide shoulders and then head north on Portland which crosses over crosstown and will take you all the way.
Great thanks. We're going to rent in Bloomington for a while because that's where the wife will be working and our daycare is at her work - and I'll be working downtown. But I'm thinking that we'll likely settle somewhere closer to the Cedar Trail - probably Eden Prairie. If you load bike lanes in Minne on Google maps - there's a big dead zone south - but a ton diagonally SW. Plus it looks like there's a light rail extension headed to EP.

For now tho I don't see any good routes out of West Bloomington - so maybe I'll just have my wife drop me and the bike at the trail before she then goes to work. I'm too old and withered from years of commuting in Chicago to battle with cars on roads with no bike lane.
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Old 01-23-17, 06:37 PM
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Originally Posted by illusiumd
Great thanks. We're going to rent in Bloomington for a while because that's where the wife will be working and our daycare is at her work - and I'll be working downtown. But I'm thinking that we'll likely settle somewhere closer to the Cedar Trail - probably Eden Prairie. If you load bike lanes in Minne on Google maps - there's a big dead zone south - but a ton diagonally SW. Plus it looks like there's a light rail extension headed to EP.

For now tho I don't see any good routes out of West Bloomington - so maybe I'll just have my wife drop me and the bike at the trail before she then goes to work. I'm too old and withered from years of commuting in Chicago to battle with cars on roads with no bike lane.
Edit: Was able to make a RideWithGPS map of it:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18658615

You can take next-to-road bike trails to the southwest LRT, which brings you directly into minneapolis. (These are trails built next to the road for biking, but seperated from the road by a physical curb and usually a foot or two of grass).

Regarding living in EP, I don't know if this will change with the lightrail stuff that's several years out, but be aware that the trail is gravel between EP and Hopkins. It's not a good work transit route if it's rained in the last 24 hours for that reason. There is a big bus depot in EP that most of the people I know use for getting downtown that works well - priority service directly to downtown. EP is covered in beside-the-road separated bike trails, you have to wait at interections but don't have to ride on the street.

Last edited by PaulRivers; 01-23-17 at 07:05 PM.
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Old 01-23-17, 09:03 PM
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Originally Posted by illusiumd
Great thanks. We're going to rent in Bloomington for a while because that's where the wife will be working and our daycare is at her work - and I'll be working downtown. But I'm thinking that we'll likely settle somewhere closer to the Cedar Trail - probably Eden Prairie. If you load bike lanes in Minne on Google maps - there's a big dead zone south - but a ton diagonally SW. Plus it looks like there's a light rail extension headed to EP.

For now tho I don't see any good routes out of West Bloomington - so maybe I'll just have my wife drop me and the bike at the trail before she then goes to work. I'm too old and withered from years of commuting in Chicago to battle with cars on roads with no bike lane.
I grew up in the east Metro and don't know Bloomington too well. I have taken Cedar lake trail and LRT, Luce Line, etc. They are all great. I live near the U of M and can head out anywhere on trails and streets with bike lanes. Minneapolis has a ton of bike lanes and some "Bike Boulevards" which work out well. The Midtown Green way is excellent but that is just east-west. The light rail will take 3-4 more years to be finished. They haven't turned a shovel yet.

I would just suggest exploring which streets have bike lanes and wide shoulders out your way. I am sure you could stitch together a decent route with some experimentation! Welcome to the Twin Cities. We are pretty bike mad despite the winter weather!
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Old 01-23-17, 10:32 PM
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Originally Posted by illusiumd
Seeing as how there's no Minneapolis specific bike forums any longer (wow that was a rabbit hole)

Originally Posted by MNBikeCommuter

Yeah, MBL ended up being quite the cluster. Too small an audience and too big of egos, among other factors. I gave up my vested interest in it whenever I joined here--maybe 2010?
Originally Posted by illusiumd
Thanks, yes reading about the rise and fall of MBL was a fascinating waste of time the other night

Where'd you read about it? I've got some time to waste...
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Old 01-23-17, 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by gna
Where'd you read about it? I've got some time to waste...
I thought this was fun:
Topic: Seriously. WTF happened to this place? | MPLS Bike Love

This:
Mpls Bike Love creator Jeremy Werst's vicious cycle | City Pages
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Old 01-23-17, 11:42 PM
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Originally Posted by PaulRivers
Regarding living in EP, I don't know if this will change with the lightrail stuff that's several years out, but be aware that the trail is gravel between EP and Hopkins. It's not a good work transit route if it's rained in the last 24 hours for that reason. There is a big bus depot in EP that most of the people I know use for getting downtown that works well - priority service directly to downtown. EP is covered in beside-the-road separated bike trails, you have to wait at interections but don't have to ride on the street.
Thanks so much! Great advice
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Old 01-24-17, 12:50 AM
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Originally Posted by illusiumd
Thanks so much! Great advice
Thanks...no comment on the map though? I took me like...10 minutes to make that, lol. :-)
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Old 01-24-17, 07:22 AM
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Originally Posted by PaulRivers
Regarding living in EP, I don't know if this will change with the lightrail stuff that's several years out, but be aware that the trail is gravel between EP and Hopkins. It's not a good work transit route if it's rained in the last 24 hours for that reason. There is a big bus depot in EP that most of the people I know use for getting downtown that works well - priority service directly to downtown. EP is covered in beside-the-road separated bike trails, you have to wait at interections but don't have to ride on the street.
I worked in EP for 15 years, using the SWLRT when I could, roads are always crappy and side-paths are less-than wonderful. The limestone on the SWLRT is good most of the year (& always messy), but spring melt is total peanut butter. I was down in EP on Friday to meet some friends for lunch, rode the SWLRT with my fatbike, what a mess with this January thaw! Anything less than 4" tires would leave you walking.

My jeans and bike were clean before this ride:

IMG_20170120_145401.jpg

A couple friends just posted a new route option from Hopkins to EP, I haven't mapped it yet, but these were his note: K-Tel > Shad Oak > Dominic > Jorissen > Rowland > Baker. This doesn't help with the Bloomington route, but if OP moves to EP.

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Old 01-24-17, 07:24 AM
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If it'd work out for you to live more on the east side of Bloomington, you'd have easy access to the lightrail to downtown (southern terminus is the Maul of America) and also decent biking into downtown--trail all the way along the rivers, so there are very few intersections compared to normal city biking.
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Old 01-24-17, 07:32 AM
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Thanks for the City Pages link, I haven't seen this article.

Hypno Toad can still be seen in a T6 MBL jersey (2015 Westside Dirty Benjamin), also have a couple spoke. I'm slow to let things go...

11402804_10205325538612480_4383589519565317919_n.jpg
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Old 01-24-17, 11:54 AM
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I commented in the first link on MBL. I hoped there was a thread here on Bikeforums that had more info.

Last edited by gna; 01-24-17 at 06:56 PM.
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Old 01-24-17, 06:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Hypno Toad
I worked in EP for 15 years, using the SWLRT when I could, roads are always crappy and side-paths are less-than wonderful.
You mean during the winter? The side-paths are great during the summer, I couldn't imagine anything better short of a dedicated bike highway with bridges so you don't have to cross intersections lol. It's about ideal in my opinion.

In the winter they're a little more iffy, they do plow them though - but the priority is "streets first, then side trails". Depending on the weather they can be a bit bumpy because of packed down ice, but they do get plowed. You need some alternative transportation to work on the days when it's snowing that day.

Originally Posted by Hypno Toad
The limestone on the SWLRT is good most of the year (& always messy), but spring melt is total peanut butter. I was down in EP on Friday to meet some friends for lunch, rode the SWLRT with my fatbike, what a mess with this January thaw! Anything less than 4" tires would leave you walking.

My jeans and bike were clean before this ride:
Lol yeah, that looks practically clean compared to the day I biked it after it rained with a "I'm just going to make it through it" attitude.

Originally Posted by Hypno Toad
A couple friends just posted a new route option from Hopkins to EP, I haven't mapped it yet, but these were his note: K-Tel > Shad Oak > Dominic > Jorissen > Rowland > Baker. This doesn't help with the Bloomington route, but if OP moves to EP.
Sure, but I got the feeling that moving to EP might have been motivated by the "easy" access to the bike trail. You don't realize it's not paved from a map.

Last edited by PaulRivers; 01-24-17 at 10:21 PM.
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