Editor’s note: Walk the Talk is Streets.mn’s carefully curated, highly partisan collection of both serious and fun-loving events, community meetings and opportunities for engagement that we think will interest our readers. Email your ideas to Managing Editor Amy Gage at [email protected].
BAM! Register for Bicycling Around Minnesota — ongoing
This annual four-day tour sells out every year, with promises of “bucolic scenery,” visits to charming small towns, an exploration of Minnesota’s “hidden gems” and, most inviting, a fully supported ride — with meals provided, luggage transported, yoga and massages available at the end of a 55- to 70-mile day and showers at the campsite. (Sounds like my kind of roughing it.)
The nonprofit Bicycling Around Minnesota, which aims to promote both biking and Minnesota tourism, became a chapter of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota last year and has offered its four-day annual bicycling tours since 2006.
The 2025 ride runs from Thursday, August 21, to Sunday, August 24, and will start and end in Pequot Lakes with additional overnights in Pine River, Emily and Aitkin. Registration opened yesterday (March 10) at 6:30 p.m. and is limited to 350 people. If the $645 fee is in your budget ($685 for e-bikers), sign up soon!
Demystifying Carshare in the Twin Cities — Wednesday, March 12, noon to 1 p.m.
You’ve likely seen HOURCAR economy-sized cars or the white Evie Carshare electric vehicles throughout the Twin Cities. Carshare services can help car-free individuals to get around and offer options for car owners who want to travel more sustainably.
Move Minneapolis (note its redesigned website) and HOURCAR are teaming up for a lunch-hour webinar on March 12 from noon to 1 p.m. that explains how carshare services work. The free event is intended for individuals, multi-family residential property owners and businesses. Click here to register; and learn more about Evie Carshare and HOURCAR through past stories on Streets.mn.
Central Avenue Feedback — Survey Open Through March 16
Central Avenue (also known as Highway 65) between University Avenue Southeast and I-694 is being redesigned to accommodate more multi-modal users. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) promises to work closely with Metro Transit to integrate the new F Line BRT, and a goal is to “improve safety for people walking, rolling, biking and riding transit,” as well as driving. (Look up the term “design speed.”)
All virtual and in-person public meetings are past, but the project website provides detailed information and studies. Best of all: You still can submit feedback through a survey that closes on Sunday, March 16.
Racial Housing Covenant Online Events — March 19 and 22 (intro, March 12)
An optional Q&A session on Wednesday, March 12, from noon to 12:30 p.m., will introduce “Black and Brown community members” (the primary audience) and others to a two-part online series that explores the history of housing discrimination and racial covenants.
Mapping Prejudice and Render Free are partnering on the free series, called “Our Histories Are Healing,” on Wednesday, March 19, from 11 a.m. to noon and Saturday, March 22, from 10 to 11 a.m. University of Minnesota community members and the public may register and get series details here.
Walk Indoors for Recreation & Health — Mondays, March 17 and 24, 9 to 11 a.m.
The Sierra Club North Star Chapter is keeping accessibility in mind with these indoor walking events at the Mall of America, designed to “promote good health or healing.” An activity that I might have mocked in my younger years now looks appealing during a climate-induced freeze-thaw cycle and at an age where bone-density issues mean I can’t afford to fall.
Comfortable walking shoes and a water bottle are encouraged, and registration for the free events is required. Click here to register for March 17 and here to register for March 24. You can park in the third-level Florida lot, take the Blue Line train directly to the MOA Transit Center or map a trip through the Metro Transit website.