For me, the first day of winter is when I can get on my bike and ride on Thief River. The tricky part is knowing when the ice is thick enough to be safe. A friend said that he walked across the river yesterday on his way home following a snowmobile path. I figured that if the ice would hold him, it would hold me on my bike.

My wife Linda and I have these great country touring bikes, racks and panniers that had never been used for their intended purpose. They are made for fully-loaded bike touring where you carry your camping gear with you. We’ve done plenty of cycling with a truck hauling our gear, but never a self-sufficient ride.

A hundred years ago people took the train from the big city to the countyside for a break and in from small towns for a big city adventure. It is time to revive that tradition on the Northstar line.

The mighty Mississippi, a world-renowned river with a rich history and literary heritage, can be explored on a bicycle route that follows the entire length of this iconic river through the middle of the U.S. The Mississippi River Trail is a mostly on-road bicycle route roughly tracing this great river from its Minnesota headwaters in Itasca State Park all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. In Minnesota, the route winds downriver to the state border and is about 500 miles long, with additional miles in alternate routes.

Summer time is cycling time.  Time to get out the bike and ride.  It’s also vacation time.  It’s the season to plan special getaways doing your favorite things - like biking.  And Minnesota is just the place to combine the two, with lots of opportunities to bike on your vacation.