She's taking a selfie! Quick! Wave, give two thumbs up, smile and say CHEESE!

Every summer I look forward to the Minneapolis Institute of Art's annual "Bike Night." When I saw the invitation, I marked my calendar and hoped for great weather... And then waited... The event was postponed due to thunderstorms... I waited some more and lined up a few friends to join me when it was rescheduled.

The new event date fell on a day with ideal weather, chilly enough to keep the crowd low without being too cold. To me, it was a glorious reprieve from high heat and humidity. This summer has been the hottest and most humid I remember in the Midwest. 80-90+ degrees Fahrenheit with over 70% humidity is not my kind of biking weather. I'm riding, because it's what I do, and my main form of transportation. But it's an excessively sweaty experience lately.

Approximately 75 cyclists met at Surly Brewing and rolled out on the OFFICIAL pre-ride. If other pre-rides are competing for this official title, I didn't hear about them... The group was large enough that we got separated at red lights, yet slow enough that we melded back together shortly after each stop. It was fun to experience a wide range of ages and variety of bicycle styles riding together for common causes: beer and art!

A couple friends joined the pre-ride and one met us later at the museum. Rolling through the entrance at Mia is not allowed, or at least frowned upon, most days. For bike night they advertise the privilege of riding on through to the main event space in the courtyard.

Rows of additional bike racks are added to the ones that are there year-round. It's so much more interesting to me than parking lots full of cars and trucks. Walking along the rows of bicycles, there are so many I want to test ride!

One of the activities involved adding string to bicycle art. The screws around each wheel were labeled with one word each. Participants could start by wrapping a string around the middle and then looping around chosen "pegs" to create a phrase or poem with words, and wheel spokes with string. The event was a few weeks ago and I'm not remembering the message I created. I appreciated the creative activity :)

The flock (What is a group of butterflies called? I googled it: "A collective name for a group of butterflies is called a 'Kaleidoscope'. However others have called it a 'Swarm' or 'Rabble'") Ok, let me begin again: A kaleidoscope of monarch butterfly bikes made their second appearance in my life this year. During winter, they were part of the Art Shanty Project and I rode one on a frozen lake. A fun, novel ride with a bit of danger. The wings reduced visibility and I was riding through a crowd on snow covered ice. I have a video somewhere...

As I wrote earlier, the weather was unusually cool compared to the previous few weeks. That seemed to keep the heat-lovers at home and out of my way ;) Perhaps the event being rescheduled caused a lot of people to miss out too. Whatever the case, I was happy not to be jostled around by a large crowd.

One of the information booths that piqued my interest shared a proposal for a new cycling center that will include a velodrome. Currently, there is a velodrome in a northern suburb and it will be closing soon (permanently). Opponents of a new space argue that if the suburban one couldn't stay open, there is no good reason to build another. However, the proposed plan would be built in the heart of the city, much more accessible by bicycle and public transportation. I'm intrigued and would like to follow the progress of this initiative.

Running (cycling) later than expected, I left home without dinner. A perfect opportunity to support this food truck that has a local brick-and-mortar restaurant with a unique meal offering. Once monthly, the owner offers a no-questions-asked, no-qualifications-needed, no-judgement FREE lunch to anyone who shows up. Donations can be accepted. Good people, good food :)

After enjoying the outdoor festivities my friends and I wandered around inside the museum for a bit. This exhibit is fun to view during various seasons. I remember gazing out the window during winter when huge, fluffy snowflakes were falling down. It was a very peaceful scene. The idea is that the Minneapolis downtown skyline is a work of art included in the museum's collection and an accompanying sign labels the significant buildings.

It was another enjoyable cycling-centric evening. I appreciated a casual post-ride with a friend to wrap up our night.

Bonus shot! Pre-ride group at the main museum entrance:

Where's Waldo? One of these days, I want to dress up in red and white stripes for a group cycling photo... I'm in here somewhere! Can you find me?

Photo credit: Joyful Riders Club social media page

More cycling stories!

Read my recent Ulogs, a three part series about the twenty-four hour bicycle event in Minneapolis, Powderhorn 24! We pedaled, we camped, we hammocked under a bridge...

Powderhorn 24: Part One

Powderhorn 24: Part Two

Powderhorn 24: Part Three

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