This summer Nice Ride Minnesota came to St. Paul with its unmistakeable green Nice Ride bikes. Better yet they put a station right in front of the Department of Natural Resources building where I work. After passing the station daily as I walked from the bus, I finally got to use it today. Mission: Meet a friend/colleague in Minneapolis for Happy Hour
Trip challenge: get some work done to compensate for my early departure
Leg 1: Work to Town Hall Brewery
3:00 pm Walk from 6th floor office to Nice Ride station at Lafayette and Grove
3:04 pm Depart Nice Ride station
--Enjoy bike ride--
3:11 pm Arrive at 10th and Robert Nice Ride station
--walk one block (and start this blog)--
3:23 pm Catch 94B Express Bus
--work on bus (editing report) while the bus passed much traffic--
3:53 pm Arrive at Metrodome Mpls Nice Ride Station
--Enjoy bike ride (Washington Ave. wasn't too bad)--
4:00 pm arrive Town Hall Brewery
Leg 1 Summary:
Total time: 1 hour
Travel time: 50 minutes (30 mins bus, 14 mins bike, 6 mins walking)
includes 25 minutes of productive work on the bus
Waiting time: 10 minutes (I started this blog!)
Leg 2: Town Hall Brewery to Home
5:33 pm Head home on Nice Ride bike
5:51 pm Arrive at neighborhood Nice Ride station (about a 2 mile ride)
5:59 pm Walk 6 blocks to home, for the first time a little sweaty. Ready to change into shorts and a t-shirt.
Before Nice Ride this journey likely would have taken me 50%+ longer due to less than ideal bus connections. Here's to the fantastic bike-walk options that Nice Ride has brought to the Twin Cities. Here's to Bike-Walk Twin Cities and their many partners for the great improvements they have brought to bike-walk infrastructure. Here's to many, many more who are making the Twin Cities an even better place to get around without a car.
