Cyclists share the love to pedal

Wheels spun, pedals turned and chains cranked at the third annual Bike-in at the Bell on Saturday at the Bell Museum of Natural History.

The event celebrated all things bike. The Bike-in had numerous bike-related booths, including a decoration station, a do-it-yourself repair tent and a popular smoothie booth - with a bike twist.

The smoothies were blended on a special stationary bike that allowed thirsty participants a chance to enjoy a bike-blended beverage.

The Hub Bicycle Co-op provided the bike blender and also held a bike scavenger hunt, which took participants around Minneapolis.

Participants searched for a pirate flag, a fortune from a fortune cookie and a golden gopher, among other things.

Amber Schmidt, a University alumna who works at the Hub, organized the scavenger hunt.

"I would like to go on (a scavenger hunt) next year," Schmidt said.

Microbiology senior Liz Horn participated in the hunt.

"It sounded like a good time," she said.

Calvin Jones, lead bike mechanic from Park Tool USA, educated people on how to fix bikes.

"They come in, we diagnose, they fix it," he said.

Park Tool had spots open for bike riders to prop their bikes up and get to work. Jones said bike repair is simple physics.

"It's mostly thinking, patience and a little bit of knowledge," he said.

Other booths included those maintained by Metro Transit and the Sierra Club. John Siqelvand of Metro Transit said his company participated because bikers and bus riders share a lot of common values.

"It's about getting people out of driving," he said.

Sierra Club volunteer Kristi Papenfuss promoted September's Tour de Sprawl, an annual bike ride traveling through different areas of the metro.

During the ride, bikers brake for special speakers to talk about people-friendly development,

including green initiatives like renewable energy and alternative transportation.

Papenfuss said the emphasis is to show the Twin Cities can be easily traveled by bike.

Two special bike travelers also stopped by the Bell Museum.

David Kroodsma and Bill Bradlee of Ride for Climate USA both took breaks from their cross-country ride. Ride for Climate USA is a bike trip across the country that promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy as solutions to global warming.

Kroodsma also presented slides from a similar trip he made through South America, during which he traveled nearly 16,000 miles.

"We're all in global warming together," Kroodsma said. "As Americans, we're in a great position to fix this."

Kroodsma, who grew up in Boston and attended Stanford University, said he was excited to see all the different cities on his journey - which is scheduled to take the duo from Boston to San Francisco.

"I'm really impressed with Minneapolis bikeways," he said.

on the web

For more information on Ride for Climate USA and to support the riders, go to:

www.rideforclimate.com/usa

To learn more about the Tour de Sprawl, contact Joshua Houdek of the Sierra Club at:

(612) 659-9124 ext.307

Joshua.houdek@sierraclub.org

The evening concluded with a bike fashion show, live music and a screening of the '80s

cult hit, "Rad," a movie about biking.

Shanai Matteson, event coordinator at the Bell Museum, said more people showed up in the evening as the weather cooled.

The bike-themed movie culminated the cyclist celebration. Matteson said the crowd seemed to enjoy the outdoor show.

"The movie was great to watch together," she said.

"Everyone cheered."