Health and environmental benefits will be pitched next week as good reasons to spend more time walking or biking, when Bike Walk Week is celebrated in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
(It actually runs June 2-10, so you can enjoy more than a week's worth of pedaling and hoofing.)
Folks are urged to replace at least one car trip with a biking or walking excursion during the week. Thursday is the Bike Walk to Work Day in both cities and some suburbs.
And on Monday in St. Paul, there'll be an official kick-off of the expansion of the Nice Ride Minnesota network of rental green bikes into downtown St. Paul.
The events begin June 2, with bicycle events in both cities:
- Tour de Cure at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis
- Northeast Ride in Northeast Minneapolis
- Bike Walk Move Jingle Contest Concert, Ritz Theater, Northeast Minneapolis
- Confident Cycling Course at Freewheel Midtown Bike Center, Minneapolis
- Bike Walk Parade & Rodeo at Hamline Midway Heartwood Festival
Events the rest of the week are listed on the Bike Walk Week website.
Jennifer Harmening of Transit for Livable Communities notes that St. Paul has a big role in the event this year:
"Minneapolis is often deservedly recognized for being very bike friendly, but St. Paul is also increasingly bikeable & walkable (including new bikeways coming by end of summer, expansion of Nice Ride bike sharing to downtown St. Paul on June 4) and we’re excited to see these events."
Two Cities blog, which covers Minneapolis and St. Paul City Halls, is made possible in part by grants from The Saint Paul Foundation and the Carolyn Foundation.