Great Lakes - St. Paul, MN - How's the riding? Might move there for a job.

I'm thinking of moving to St. Paul, MN for a job... how's the riding out there? Obviously the winters are much worse in MN than in DC where I am currently. But I don't mind putting on the layers or staying in on the trainer.

I race, so I'd want to find a team immediately. I'm really into longer road races, am hoping those are big in MN.

Also, I currently don't have a car and commute by bike... how is bike commuting in Minn/St. Paul?

Cycling in MN is a big factor in my decision to move from DC... so everything you can tell me is appreciated!

Also don't mind taking up a winter cross-training sport if necessary.... I've been told I'd enjoy cross-country skiiing.

I think that you'd enjoy living in MN as there are plenty of well-groomed trails both within the metro area and throughout the state. I've included a link for your review which includes plenty of information about race teams, trails, maps, gear, etc.

http://harpoval.com/Tcbc/bike.link.htm

Twin City Bike Club is a large riding club and I'm sure that some of them race as well.
I don't race but I do ride a lot of the metro area trails and have seen quite a few riders who appear to be in training. The trails are always in very good shape, I can easily ride into downtown Mpls if I want to. All city lakes have separate paths for biking although they are a bit busy in the summer months. A number of the old railroad lines have been converted into riding trails.

If you will be commuting to work and haven't made a final decision yet, you may want to look at some of the bike maps for routing information.

I wish you luck with your decision,

- Vmax

Welcome. Pretty vibrant scene here. TCBC (http://www.pdwebworks.com/tcbc/) is huge and has riders of all flavors. The 'A' groups are usually about half licensed, half not.

MCF (http://www.mcf.net/) is your source for racing. We have a pretty good scene for that as well and fields are rarely filled IMO.

I'm a year round commuter as well and so are many others here, so ask away.

Welcome. Pretty vibrant scene here. TCBC (http://www.pdwebworks.com/tcbc/) is huge and has riders of all flavors. The 'A' groups are usually about half licensed, half not.

MCF (http://www.mcf.net/) is your source for racing. We have a pretty good scene for that as well and fields are rarely filled IMO.

I'm a year round commuter as well and so are many others here, so ask away.

THANKS! This is exactly what I was looking for.

Any particular teams stand out? Who are serious? Who are nice? Who are the troublemakers?

I think it is perfect for commuting. You can get between Minneapolis and St. Paul pretty easily by bike, or by bus. Maybe some day by light rail. :rolleyes:

I don't know much about the teams because I just started getting involved but others that come to mind are the Hub bike co-op, Grumpy's/LGR, Birchwood, Flanders, Nature Valley, Gopher Wheelmen, Grandstay, Loon State, Ridley Factory....there are tons. Some of the teams might have more of a focus on CX, track or mountain than road, but I think most are a mixed bag.

The season is a nice mix of long rides and crits with a few TTs.

Nickel, do you think a car is necessary if I were to live in the city? I make do just fine without one in DC... but we don't have bad winters.

I can't comment too much on teams as I ride UA. I've no problems with any of them. Some are tiny and some huge. You can ride with pretty much any of 'em to get a taste.

Going car free if you live in the center of the city is quite reasonable (I'm sans car, my wife isn't) depending on your lifestyle. I'd suggest having a serious slop/winter bike and a winter ridable second bike.

I live car-lite. I do own a car, but it was purchased before I lived here. I keep it around for getting to mountain bike trails and for the occasional trip. The TC offers two options for renting cars short-term: hourcar and zipcar. I think it is pretty easy to bike anywhere, including the suburbs for the most part. I get my groceries in my trailer and I go to my indoor spin class pulling my trailer with my trainer in it. The lightrail makes it really easy to get to the airport. The only thing I wish could be changed were the bus schedules to the suburbs as it would make it easier to get to mountain biking (the buses tend to follow a commuter schedule so I could get out there with the rush hour home but couldn't make it back).

The only thing I might think about is getting to races but I've always been able to car-pool so I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem, even if you were unattached.

See this old post
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=319936
Lots of good info.

If you enjoy racing and the race crowd and are going to be in St. Paul (and not Mpls) take a long hard look at the St. Paul Bicycle Race Team aka the Grand Performance Team.

Don't let the harsh climate fool you. It really is a bike town. It's no accident that QBP, Park Tool, Hed Wheels, World Cycling Productions, and Cycle America are all Minnesota companies (and where's Jim Oberstar from????)

Scot

We just put on this event last Friday at a bar in downtown Minneapolis:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=coldsprints&w=all

There are plenty of teams out here. You should have no problem finding any one of several teams here.

Thanks so much everyone! I'll be up there for my first visit next weekend. Looking forward to it!

Well.... I'm making the move in TWO weeks. Really looking forward to this.

Also looking forward to the challenge of riding at low temps... but I'm still not really sure I want to be commuting between Minneapolis and St. Paul during the winter. Darkness and below freezing temps sounds very dangerous to me in the event of a flat tire.

Preparation and adaptation. Lots of folks do it. We'll work with ya.

Most of the major commuter trails are on a bus line so it wouldn't be a problem to hitch a ride in the event of a flat. I would even imagine some businesses would permit you to come inside and change the flat.