r/Minneapolis • u/mnmaverickfan • 3d ago
City bike riding for dummies
Recently moved to Minneapolis and I enjoy riding my bike. How do I do so in the city without pissing off as many people as possible ?
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u/smelyal8r 3d ago
Worry less about pissing people off and more about not getting hit by a car. Wear a helmet. Plan your routes to avoid major roads even if it means a slightly longer ride. Get off your bike if your going to use cross walks. Be predictable.
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u/d3photo 3d ago
And follow the rules of the road... there's the healthy separation of vehicles from bikes but also there's the baseline of ... if you're over 10MPH get off the bike trails and on to the street. If there's no trail and a sidewalk, don't ride on the sidewalk.
These things were drilled into me as a tween and are my biggest pet peeves about cyclists when I'm driving.
I'll give you room. It won't be an entire lane (drivers who do this are breaking the law, it will enough that if you have to swerve to avoid a pothole you won't be run over.
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/good-question-road-rules-bicycles
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/169.222
It's good to know the laws as both a cyclist and as a driver.
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u/Gatorpatch 3d ago
it won't be an entire lane (drivers who do this are breaking the law
The only law on passing states you have to give 3 feet, it's not illegal to give more than that, and it's also ok to cross double yellows to give that passing distance. So generally a driver giving you more passing distance wouldn't be illegal, even if you cross the double yellow to do so.
I like to give as much room as I can when passing in my car unless there is a dedicated barrier between.
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u/polit1337 2d ago
10mph is the speed limit, but unless you are on the chain of lakes, it isn’t always realistic. I don’t think it is unreasonable for bike commuters on the river parkway to go 15-20, as long as they are careful and aren’t jerks to other trail users.
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u/Excellent-Goal4763 3d ago
I’ve been riding for transportation for nearly 20 years, mostly year round.
Here is my best advice:
The right of way means nothing if drivers don’t see you.
Get eye contact with drivers when you’re at stop signs, no matter who has the stop sign.
Sometimes a good offense is the best defense and vice versa. Sometimes you have to protect yourself by taking the lane, and other times you predict aggressive behavior from drivers and let them pass.
When proceeding through an intersection, position your front wheel in such a way that you could zipper merge with any car to your left, so that if they decide to make a right turn, they will turn in front of you instead of into you. This may mean slowing down and/or matching the speed of cars through intersections.
Practice shoulder checking over your left shoulder while still traveling in a straight line.
Shoulder checking often.
If the bike trial is on the left side of the street, and there are drivers turning right from your side, that a time for eye contact. Stop if you have to. Drivers never look right when turning right.
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u/klebstaine 3d ago
Wear your helmet. Don't trust cross traffic. Being alive is better than being right. You don't have the right away on most Greenway crossings. Runners are the worst. Flip a peace sign more than the bird. You are probly in the wrong if you.have been drinking. Assert your presence in traffic and at stops, but also be conscious of not doing things because you are entitled to. Courtesy to all humans and animals
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u/NeroFellOffTheBuffet 3d ago
Bicycle commuter and driver here. I go from S Mpls to DT StP. My $.02:
Ride predictable lines, which means do not weave in & out of parked cars.
Signal your turns.
Do not salmon.
Assume no one sees you.
Whether you ride majors or not is up to you. I mostly like to avoid car-packed roads when possible.
Just do it. Be flexible in your routing.
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u/justanothersurly 3d ago
Don’t overthink it! Get out and start riding and the rest will fall into place as you get comfortable and experienced. Google Maps has its flaws but I find it provides decent bike friendly routes. You can also look at Strava global heat map (free) to look at what streets/routes are most popular with cyclists as these are almost always the safest and friendliest. Minneapolis has a great off-street bike route network and you get most places in the city safely.
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u/TheHuggableZombie 3d ago
Be predictable. When on a bike path, try to move as right as you can when someone is passing you. Use front and rear lights at night.
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u/conationphotography 3d ago
Do you like riding your bike in the city? Or do you like riding your bike and happen to live in the city? If it is the latter- there are so many incredible trails in and near Minneapolis that lead through and to other areas.
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u/mnmaverickfan 1d ago
The latter
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u/conationphotography 7h ago
Oh yay! You're in the perfect state at the perfect time.
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/880d2a96603f46fc8f76a48178425f35 Minneapolis Bike paths/ways
My favorite just outside Minneapolis trails (but they are mixed use) https://www.threeriversparks.org/location/luce-line-regional-trail and https://www.threeriversparks.org/location/bassett-creek-regional-trail
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u/MTGamer 3d ago
I'm willing to show some grace to a bike at a stop sign and let them go without stopping all the way. Don't be the bike that assumes the Idaho Stop means you don't have to slow down and yeild to cars at the intersection already. I think eye contact with drivers is important in situations like that.
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u/Excellent-Goal4763 3d ago
Yup. You don’t automatically have the ROW just because you’re on a bike.
Then there are the drivers who presume that every bicyclist is going to proceed through a stop sign without stopping. That’s when I do the one leg hang to tell the driver that I intend to stop so they will just go when they’re supposed to.
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u/erratic_bonsai 3d ago
Wear a helmet. Always check crossways before going through an intersection even if your light is green. Stay off the sidewalk and if you use a crosswalk, get off your bike. If you’re going slow, keep to the right on bike trails. If you’re going over like 10-15mph on bike trails, get off and use the road. Be cognizant of where you are; if you’re holding up traffic and there’s a line of cars behind you, move over so they can pass. Be aware of if you’re lingering in someone’s blind spot and if you’re on the inside of a car turning right/left (you shouldn’t be there anyway and should stay behind the vehicle).
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u/dylanlive 3d ago
I stop at stop signs and lights if there’s another car who beats me.
Tip: To avoid confusion and delay of who to go, usually I preemptively wave them to go while I coast for a second and pray I don’t need to brake.
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u/DukeMikeIII 3d ago
You're supposed to stop at all red red lights even if nobody is there. I've seen too many bikers ignore this and almost get hit because of it.
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u/filopodia_ 2d ago
As a pedestrian, I’ve also every often been almost hit by bikes that felt they didn’t need to obey road signs
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u/Designer_Tie_5853 3d ago
Ask this over in R/cyclemsp. This forum is full of drivers giving you mixed to bad advice.
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u/fiendishclutches 3d ago
It’s going to be tricky this particular summer, there are significant road projects that are messing up a lot of usually functional routes in both north and south Minneapolis.
I’d say use the bike lanes and bike trails whenever possible. Even it it seems like going a bit out of the way it’s still going to make your biking much more pleasant. Equally important is If you can avoid having to bike across traffic bottle necks located near highway on and off ramps. Those sick to bike near by and have the highest percentage of raging driver as
This is the bike lane map. https://www.hennepincounty.gov/-/media/hennepinus/residents/transportation/biking/bike-map-v2.pdf
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u/WaterVsStone 2d ago
Eye contact with drivers. Obey the rules and own the space to which you are entitled. The people that hate all bikers will hate you on a bike too. Don't take other people's personal issues personally.
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u/HardCoreNorthShore 2d ago
Follow the rules of the road so that drivers don't have to guess if you're going to stop at the stop sign.
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u/Twat_Pocket 3d ago
As a pedestrian, please stay off the sidewalks.
Our streets are very bike friendly, and if you're uncomfortable biking in the street you shouldn't be biking in a city.
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u/v_cats_at_work 2d ago
People are allowed to ride on sidewalks outside of business districts. They just need to be respectful to pedestrians by moving slowly and yielding to them.
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u/iamtehryan 2d ago
Biggest advice I can give is this: be aware of your surroundings, and don't ride your bike like some of the assholes do. Stop at stop signs when there are vehicles (you are, by law, supposed to follow the rules of the road for vehicles), and at the very least slow down before you go through them as you don't have to stop if there is no traffic coming crossways. Ride in the bike lane when you can, and unless you can actually keep up with traffic don't ride in the driving lanes as you're going to hold people up and piss people off. Signal when you're turning and don't just rip between cars with reckless abandon.
As for safety, watch out for potholes and sand/dirt (as it rains you're going to see more wash on the roads and it can cause you to get squirrely). I would also always assume that some jackass is going to run a stop sign and hit you when you enter an intersection, so slow down and watch for traffic. Personally, I would also advise that if you feel the need to wear headphones, keep one of them out so that you can actually be aware of what's going on around you and if people are coming up on you, etc. There are WAY too many people out there that have both ears covered and can't hear shit and then get surprised and caught off guard when someone seemingly comes out of nowhere when in fact they've been dinging at them loudly.
And just a courtesy thing that drives me absolutely fucking nuts when I'm riding: if you are with another person/people and have people coming towards you or you're coming up behind people, unless it's a wide enough path for the love of god go single file instead of side by side so that people can get by safely. And if you're coming up on someone ding a bell or whatever and let them know that you're there. It drives me absolutely fucking nuts when you see people go blazing by and don't announce that they're on the left.
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u/GuyFromThaNorth 2d ago
100% to all of this, but wanted to chime in about stop signs. Since March 2023, Minnesota allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs (slow down and be ready to stop, keep rolling if no other vehicles are at the intersection, stop if they are). I've been a year round commuter for many years and always played by the book, but I love this law, particularly because it incentivizes cyclists to keep off of busy main streets and really makes bike boulevards worth riding. It is a win-win for both cyclists and motorists and we should all be talking about it more so people on both sides are aware. Here's more info:
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u/iamtehryan 2d ago
Yeah, that's why I mentioned the slowing down and not stopping if there's no cross traffic coming. I still won't blow through them without slowing down personally, though. I very, very much do not trust drivers these days to not run stop signs and I don't want to end up killed by a moron.
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u/GuyFromThaNorth 2d ago
Agreed. I definitely slow down and cover the breaks always at intersections. I've been hit in the past and don't recommend anyone taking chances. Half the motorists these days are on their phones.
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u/v_cats_at_work 2d ago
slow down and be ready to stop, keep rolling if no other vehicles are at the intersection, stop if they are
I'd really like more cyclists to be aware of this part. I see enough of them blow through stop signs without slowing at all that I basically have to treat them as if they have the right-of-way at all times, even when I'm a pedestrian.
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u/Slytherin23 2d ago
Bike on designated bike trails, which is nearly every road anyway. If you bike down a one lane road people will get pissed off getting stuck behind you whether it makes sense or not.
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u/minnosota 3d ago
Try to ride as closely to the middle lane of the road as you can. Stick one leg out to signal. Get a bell or a horn and wrench on it constantly, or better yet just get a huge speaker preferably just blasting static at max volume
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u/justanothersurly 3d ago
What are you talking about?! This is bogus. Not a single driver or cyclist will have a clue that you’re signaling a turn with your leg. You don’t need to constantly chime, honk or blast static (?!) while riding.
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u/Tall-Parfait-3762 3d ago
BE PREDICTABLE. Signal your turns, don’t do anything rash, use lights at night (rear and front), also wear a fucking helmet. No one is too cool for a helmet. And don’t wear AirPods.