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JJ’s Bike Trail Review
Приєднався 12 сер 2020
We have an amazing number of bike trails in the Twin Cities! My mission is to ride them all and review them through the eyes of an average rider to help promote biking and being active in Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding communities!
Biking the Bryant Ave. Bike Lane in Minneapolis
I biked along the Bryant Avenue Bike Lane from Midtown Greenway to Minnehaha Creek. This is a model for commuter bike paths as streets are narrowed to make space for more bikes. Biking Minneapolis! Biking Twin Cities.
Переглядів: 476
Відео
Biking from Inver Grove Heights to St. Paul
Переглядів 165Місяць тому
Join me as I bike along the Misissippi River Regional Trail from Heritage Village park in Inver Grove Heights to Kaposia Landing and then the Robert Piram Regional Trail from Kaposia Landing to Harriet Island. Biking St. Paul! Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the Trails of Chaska, MN
Переглядів 2142 місяці тому
Join me as I ride from the riverfront in downtown Chaska up the Ravine Trail along lakes and through developments and then loop back down the ravine into downtown Chaska and back along the levy and to where I started. Biking Twin Cities!
Biking Lake Rebecca Park Reserve
Переглядів 3184 місяці тому
Join me as I ride the loop around the Lake Rebecca Park Reserve. This is a great winding trail that goes around a lake and through forests and meadows. It also connects the communities of Delano and Rockford. Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the Vadnais Lake Trails
Переглядів 4285 місяців тому
Join me as Kathy gives a tour of the Vadnais Snail Lakes Regional Park and the Vadnais Sucker Lake Regional Park. This trail winds along the water most of the way and feels as if you are miles away from the metro. Biking Twin Cities!
Cedar Lake Trail Construction Update 6/7/24
Переглядів 5485 місяців тому
See the progress on Cedar Lake Trail as the final stretch west of Blake Road was just paved. Also, see the new bridge over Beltline Blvd. and the remaining detour near Lake Street.
Biking from St. Paul to Stillwater
Переглядів 7705 місяців тому
Join me as I ride the Gateway and Brown's Creek state trails from St. Paul to Stillwater. This trail weaves through mostly wooded areas from an urban to an almost rural area and is a popular destination in the east metro. Biking Saint Paul! Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the Big Rivers Trail
Переглядів 3916 місяців тому
Join me as I bike along the Minnesota River Greenway and the Big Rivers Trail from Eagan to Mendota Heights. This trail runs along the MN River, past the confluence with the Mississippi River and along steep limestone cliffs. Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the River to River Greenway
Переглядів 6156 місяців тому
Join me as I ride this trail from Kaposa Landing in South Saint Paul, up Simon's Ravine and across South Saint Paul and Mendota Heights before the quick descent to the Saint Paul Yacht Club and the Lilydale trail. Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the Carver Park Reserve
Переглядів 4646 місяців тому
Join me on this ride as I go from the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail, through the Carver Park Reserve and back. This trail loops through forests, meadows, swamps and along multiple lakes. Biking Twin Cities!
Biking Along Hwy 81 From Minneapolis to Elm Creek
Переглядів 6727 місяців тому
Join me as I bike along this busy commuter line from Minneapolis to Elm Creek Park Reserve. This line connects several regional bike trails and is also along much of the route of the future light rail extension. Biking Minneapolis! Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the River Bottoms - Cedar to Lyndale
Переглядів 2547 місяців тому
I biked the River Bottoms trail from the Cedar Avenue trailhead to the Lyndale Avenue trailhead and back. See the crossing over the old Cedar Avenue bridge and the trail winding along the Minnesota river. Also, hear an update on the paved trail that is coming to the area. Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the St. Paul Grand Rounds Trail
Переглядів 400Рік тому
Join me on this ride from downtown St. Paul to the Ford Bridge. Biking St. Paul! Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the MN River Valley from Chaska to Bloomington
Переглядів 929Рік тому
Join me as I ride along the Minnesota River from Downtown Chaska, through Shakopee and back across the river into Bloomington. This trail flows through the wooded floodplain and feels like an escape from the metro area that surrounds it. Biking Twin Cities!
Biking the New Sections of the Cedar Lake Trail - July 2023
Переглядів 580Рік тому
Biking the New Sections of the Cedar Lake Trail - July 2023
Biking the Luce Line Trail - Part One
Переглядів 1,1 тис.Рік тому
Biking the Luce Line Trail - Part One
Biking the Bassett Creek Regional Trail
Переглядів 212Рік тому
Biking the Bassett Creek Regional Trail
Biking the Cedar Lake Trail Detour Options
Переглядів 3642 роки тому
Biking the Cedar Lake Trail Detour Options
Biking Up and Down the Mississippi in North Minneapolis
Переглядів 3592 роки тому
Biking Up and Down the Mississippi in North Minneapolis
Biking the Medicine Lake Regional Trail
Переглядів 5962 роки тому
Biking the Medicine Lake Regional Trail
Cedar Lake & Kenilworth Trail Construction Update
Переглядів 3022 роки тому
Cedar Lake & Kenilworth Trail Construction Update
What a fantastic city! I checked on Google Earth, and the images haven’t yet been updated. It looks so much better than the old design. There are no cycling lanes where I live in suburban Texas.
Thank you for watching. I hope this is a model that will be used in other places.
Keep going my bro ❤
1:12 keep going left following the trail, that is still the bike path. you dont gotta turn right.Ive biked it many times
Yes, that was extended in the last couple of years, but when I made this video, it hadn’t been connected yet. I’ve thought about doing a short with that included. Thank you for watching.
this is really cool that they did this
Thanks the video and review. I really like the Bryant cycle track but I think what remains missing is an intuitive way to both get onto the minnehaha Ave trail to go east or west and the fact that the crossing over minnehaha Creek on a "must walk bikes" way too narrow too bridge that ends at the bottom of a super steep hill (for Minneapolis) and a stop sign is just poor planning with no change in sight. Continuing the trail a block east to aldrich and routing to the bollards where the trail connects would've made a lot more sense to me.
Thank you for watching. Yes, I think the trail design is good and likely part of future planning, but both ends lack a well planned junction with regional trails. Hopefully this is addressed in the future.
Great video as always! That goofy bike lane impeding structure 6:36 is ridiculous. I'm referring to the handrails they installed which force the trail users to go around them. Meanwhile, the road right next it has no such structure?? Why is it that cyclists and trail users are treated as though they have different intelligence than the vehicles traveling right next to them??
@@zoeymelf8924 That is an odd structure. Someone must have thought it would force cyclists to look for trains, but there’s another crossing with no rail. Very strange.
@@jjsbiketrailreview9608 It seems like infrastructure design for cyclists done by non-cyclists.
I used to live across the street from that lane and I love it. I've moved from that address, but still use that bike lane. I don't own a car, so I know I'm in the minority (and even the bike community seems split on it). For me, it feels safer than when Bryant was just a pothole-riddled "bike boulevard" with traffic (including buses) traveling both ways down that street.
It’s an interesting concept to reduce capacity for cars to increase it for bikes, but if it funnels bikes from multiple blocks in each direction for a safer option and then allows cars to have fewer cyclists interfering with traffic on surrounding streets, hopefully it’s a win for everyone.
Last time I visited Mpls, I rented a bike from Tangletown Bikes on 50th & Bryant. Nice folks. Had a great time riding the city lakes and the Dakota Trail!
@@ppeterson9359 I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it here.
Great job as usual JJ.
Thank you, Vic!
Love your trail reviews. Thank you!
Thank you for watching!
Very enjoyable to watch! I was surprised to see the culvert tunnel. Are there many like that?
I’m only aware of one other culvert tunnel in the Twin Cities.
Thank you for the nice ride. I have ridden some portions of that trail.
@@ericwerner9605 it is a really unique trail and I would definitely go there again to do more exploring.
Nice views my friend. Was that strange looking structure @ 9:15 really a water tank? I couldn't place the song 'til I heard the chord changes in the chorus... Stuck in the middle with you?
Thank you! I’m not sure if that’s a water tank. I wish I had time to stop and do more research on some of these things I see, but I’m always in a hurry to finish the ride and miss some details. You are correct that I played “Stuck in the Middle” for the soundtrack. UA-cam also caught it and flagged it as copyrighted song.
JJ, is there an app that shows all the bike trails in the Twin Cities that you know of? How about GPS's?
Unfortunately, there isn’t one that shows a complete list. When combining state, regional and municipal trails, there is no place I’m aware of that lists all the data. The one I use most is Google maps satellite view and add the biking layer and it is a pretty complete map of all the trails.
Nice review. Looks like a lot of street crossings.
@@nomadicnewbie Definitely a lot of crossings, but also a really cool urban trail. I think the Bloomington section has been improved since I did this review.
would be a good route to bike pack for a weekend getaway
@@prolfinator yes!
If you're looking for a long ride, try the Hardwood/Sunrise Prairie Trails from Hugo to Harris currently at 60 miles round trip with these Trails eventually hooking up with the Vento Trail which has a first phase expansion this fall, with future expansion to the county line near Bald Eagle Lake.
Interesting. I’ve been looking at that trail, but thought it ended in North Branch. Maybe I’ll be able to do a video on that whole ride someday. Thank you for watching.
You went the wrong way… Go over the 36 Bridge first then you get the down hill into Stillwater
I’ve wondered about riding that direction, but I assume the climb over the new bridge would also be a long one, although not as steep.
This video is perfect. Just what I've been looking for to help prepare me for my first ebike ride from the Lake Phalen area to downtown Stillwater. Thanks.
I appreciate that. It is a beautiful trail. Enjoy the ebike.
Watched while on stationary bike!
We started at the Trail Head on 7th Street and rode our bikes to the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary. It takes you through a large homeless camp. There is garbage, tents, homeless milling around and the stench was not good. Pretty scary place and I would not want to be there after dark.
That can be one of the challenges of trails that go into the heart of the city. I probably wouldn’t ride there at night either, but it’s also important to keep a consistent presence of cyclists coming through and not be scared to ride there at all.
I road through that camp as well 6:02 I where the camp is
Gateway ends in Pine Point Regional Park and the ride through right now is like the enchanted Forest!
Beautiful ride!
Excellent team effort on this review. Thanks for sharing.
Good job on the video. I have two questions for you. I believe you ride a trek fx as I do. Did your bike come with the ergo grips and did you change them out? Once in a while I get pain in the palms of my hands, and I think it's due to the ergo grips.
Yes, it does have the standard ergo grips. I haven’t had any issues with them, but switching them out is probably a good place to start.
Lovely ride! I'd love it if you'd review the Hastings 10 Mile Loop Scenic Circuit or the 30 mile trail that connects the Circuit, the Vermillion River Greenway, the Point Douglas Trail, and The Mississippi River Greenway.
Thank you! I am planning on doing two videos on the ride from Harriet Island to Hastings and my understanding is that there is one more section being completed this fall to get the entire ride off of the roads. I was not aware of the Hastings 10 mile loop, but I looked it up and added it to my list.
I've been on it a couple times in the past week. Also now completely open going west through Hopkins and under Shady Oak Rd. Wish getting across Excelsior was a bit easier. Cheers.
Yes, I look forward to the day the whole River Bluffs trail is completed.
Go Gophers!
Do you have a video of the nine mile creek regional trail?
Yes, here it is. ua-cam.com/video/WLB2YfueEa0/v-deo.htmlsi=6vZzBjTcIc27CXtH
Nice ride!
It looks like a a scenic ride! Thanks!
The tunnel is crazy narrow. It will probably stay like that until they need to do major repair on the roadway above.
Pretty decent looking viaduct. (Blake rd.)
You might find the tunnel at 2:00 interesting in this video: ua-cam.com/video/x0LLHRq4-ZI/v-deo.htmlsi=vCAvRrcohjKeOQSZ
Did the video get cut off early?
Unfortunately, I didn’t spit out my last sentence in time, but that is the north trailhead of this trail. You can watch the River to River Greenway and Biking Up and Down the Mississippi in St Paul videos I’ve made if you’d like to see connecting trails.
Thanks-Please include the gps route info. I've enjoyed that on your other videos
SO, TELL ME HAVE YOU SEEN THE 1979 MOVIE ''BREAKING AWAY''?
I haven’t. Is it worth a watch and is there a parallel?
I’d like to take this one from maplewood to Stillwater. Not sure on that ride back though, gotta be a lot of uphill coming back. 😬
Yeah, it definitely would be. It’s not very steep, but would be a consistent uphill climb. You could stay on the Gateway trail the first time and see how that goes as it doesn’t go down in the river valley.
@@jjsbiketrailreview9608I made it out to Pine Point Regional Park and back to the parking lot by 694. Just over 18 miles. It’s a really nice ride! Just no ice cream shops out in the middle of nowhere 😂
Great! I’d like to do that ride in the future.
Way to go! Look at you! From doing shorter sections to biking through multiple cities!
It looks like a scenic ride between the river and the cliffs! Very nice review!
Love this spot. Your videos are good vibes
Thank you for watching. I appreciate the support!
Beautiful ride!
Hi JJ, this is Kathy. Met you in Stillwater today. How can I direct message you ? Would love to show you the trails around Vadnais and Sucker lakes.
Hi Kathy, thank you for reaching out. Feel free to email me at jarad.jackson@outlook.com. I would love to see how you navigate Vadnais and Sucker lakes.
What a beautiful trail, I am so envious! Keep up the great work.
Thank you! I’ve been enjoying your content too and I hope you have a good break.
Nice video, well put together. Thanks for sharing!
I appreciate that. Thank you for watching.
These are great videos! Thanks so much for making them! If you haven't already done it, I'd recommend the Spring Lake Park Reserve trail. It is fabulous! I've done it several times as a ride from St. Paul (from around Kaposia landing) to Hastings. It's a great ride, and you end up in sunny Hastings with many options for a snack or a beverage. The Spring Lake Park Reserve section has incredible views from the bluffs along the Mississippi and Spring Lake. I think there is also a herd of Bison in that park system. Great stuff!
That’s a great suggestion! My understanding is that there is a final section of that stretch being completed this year. My plan is to do a video of the Robert Piram trail from Harriet Island to the Rock Island Swing Bridge and then a second one from there to Hastings. Thank you for watching and I appreciate any suggestions you have.
Awesome!
What kind of bike are you riding?
I ride a Trek FX2 on most of the videos I record.
Looks like a great trail!
Very nice review!
Thank you!
I have a suggestion of riding the Lutsen 99er bike trail. Not necessarily the race, just the track the racer's travel on. Never been on it, but it does sound exciting and challenging.
Yes, that would be something! I’m not sure my fitness level would qualify me for that, but it would make for a good video.
@@jjsbiketrailreview9608 You don't need to race. Just a nice relaxing ride through Superior National Forest. Your video's are very good. Thanks.
Thank you for watching. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
I would love to see the whole grand rounds tour. Along Minnehaha creek is very nice.
I’m planning to do that this year. I do have a separate video on the Minnehaha Creek portion.