rails
to
trails
◆
winter.13
13
m
),
where the beer menu is as impressive as
the pizza.
WHERE TO RENT BICYCLES:
Pick up a
bike at
(612.238.4447;
).
If you’re visiting April through November,
you can also rent a bike at any of the
dozen-plus
(877.551.6423;
for a
maximum of 24 hours; when you’re done,
return the bike to any Nice Ride station.
For more information about the Midtown
midtowngreenway.org
.
You can also
explore an interactive map, user reviews
and photos, and loads of other trip-
planning information for the Greenway
at
Rails-to-Trails
Conservancy’s free trail-finder website.
to waft through the air, as the trail runs
parallel to Lake Street, lined with busi-
nesses, shops and restaurants. “There are
spots where you get whiffs from many
of these restaurants, which is one thing
I love about the Greenway,” Puzak says.
One of his favorite places is the Midtown
Global Market, an ethnic culinary center
filled with shops and eateries. And he
often stops for coffee at Freewheel.
Jensen hopes more people will real-
ize that the trail is not just a commuting
highway. “We want people to slow down
and enjoy the green spaces, art, businesses
and restaurants,” he says. “Rather than
something to bike through, this trail is
something to bike to where you could
spend the day.”
To boost awareness of the trail as well
as Midtown Greenway Coalition mem-
bership, which helps fund the trail (last
winter, the coalition had more than 500
members, and it hopes to double that in
the next year), the coalition sponsors sev-
eral annual events. There’s a winter walk/
ride event, for example, and this year’s
activities included bike-powered skijoring
and obstacle courses. In June, the coali-
tion hosted the first annual Greenway
Glow, where participants decorated their
bikes with lights—competing to see who
could get the most and the most creative
lights on their bikes—and rode the trail.
The trail is doing its own growing,
too. Public transportation along the
Greenway in the form of light rail, rapid
bus or streetcar is currently being evalu-
ated by Metro Transit, the transportation
resource for the Twin Cities and one of
the country’s largest transit systems. For
years, the coalition has been advocating
for a streetcar as the best green alterna-
tive, the idea being that the tracks of the
streetcar would be embedded in grass and
the route designed to minimize impact
on the Greenway. Developers are also
constructing more apartment buildings
along the trail.
By the time I return to Freewheel, I’m
covered in snow. But Macaruso was right:
I’m so warm, I feel like I’ve just been run-
ning in the Sahara. Who knows? After my
snow biking experience in Minneapolis,
my own bike may make its winter debut
this year. I might even have to cart it to
the Greenway to join the ranks of winter
cycling diehards.
Freelance journalist Karen Asp specializes in
travel, fitness, health and nutrition. She’s the
co-author of
Understanding Your Food Allergies
and Intolerances
(
St. Martin’s, 2012) and con-
tributing editor for
Woman’s Day
.
She writes
regularly for numerous other publications,
including
Runner’s World
,
Delta Sky
,
Self
,
Real
Simple
,
Redbook
,
Glamour
,
O
,
Health
,
Eating
Well
,
Prevention
and
Whole Living
.
-
cialty shops, you’ll find more than a dozen
restaurants where you can sample eclectic
fare. In the downtown area, try
(612.333.9953;
)
for
Mexican tapas;
(612.904.1000;
,
a hopping Irish
ak-
fast (try the Mahnomin porridge and
cookie samples at the front door). Stop
in at
(612.746.4537;
for a cocktail at the
bar (it’s rumored to have tasty hamburg-
ers). Grab incredible pizza (or a salad, hoa-
gie or pasta dish, with numerous options
Midtown
Greenway
Trail Watchers
ELLIE KINGSBURY
ELLIE KINGSBURY
KARL STOERZINGER
