1869
Minneapolis’s first velocipede—a fancy French term for a 50-pound human-powered two-wheeled land vehicle—is demonstrated in front of the opera house by Professor Sexton, a “scientific velocipedist.”
1892
On a track in Independence, Iowa, Minneapolis’s John S. Johnson becomes the first man to break the two-minute-mile barrier on the bicycle. Johnson goes on to become one of the very first American celebrity bicycle racers.
1896
Bicycle use booms, with some 30,000 riders in Minneapolis alone. The city responds by paving the first of Lake Harriet’s bike paths, paying for the new amenity by selling mandatory 50-cent bike tags. Fine for noncompliance? $1 ($25 today).
1903
Henry Ford strikes a deal to sell his “Fordmobiles” out of Stephen Tenvoorde’s bicycle shop in St. Cloud. After a decade, Ford opens a state-of-the-art factory in St. Paul, the automobile becomes widely available, and Minnesota’s first cycling boom ends.
1956
Howard Hawkins and Art Engstrom buy Hazel Park Cycle Center on St. Paul’s East Side. As they expand, they change their name to Park Tool, which goes on to become the biggest bike tool manufacturer in the world.
1967
As a benefit for youth hostels, 27 people start the first 100-mile Ironman Bike Ride in a parking lot near what was then called Lake Calhoun. Only seven finish.
1974
The Minnesota DNR converts an unused railway into a paved bike trail. The almost 50-mile Heartland State Trail is the first rail-to-trail conversion in Minnesota.
1989
Former BMX racer and bike courier Gene Oberpriller opens One on One Bicycle Studio in a Washington Avenue basement in downtown Minneapolis. When the city closes the massage parlor upstairs, One on One expands, becoming the first of many coffee/bike shops in the Twin Cities.
1990
After his third Tour de France victory, Greg LeMond moves to Minnesota to be closer to his wife Kathy’s family. The LeMonds invest in a new restaurant in Edina called—wait for it—Scott Kee’s Tour de France.
1992
As train traffic on the 29th Street rail corridor slows, a handful of bike weirdos begin sharing ideas about converting the corridor into a paved cycling trail. The grassroots developers start calling themselves the Midtown Greenway Coalition.
1999
Louis Moore and Walter Griffin train three Black women for the 500-mile AIDS Ride from Minneapolis to Chicago. They have so much fun doing it that Moore and Griffin found the Major Taylor Bicycling Club, the first Black bicycling club in Minnesota.
2002
The Stupor Bowl, the annual city bike courier race, adds a degree of difficulty by making all the check-ins at local bars and suggesting that the maniacal riders down a drink at each one.
2005
Steve Flagg’s Quality Bicycle Products, manufacturer of the Surly line of bicycles, makes a handshake deal clarifying naming rights with an upstart craft beer company. Surly Brewing delivers its first free keg to Flagg’s shop to uphold its end of the bargain.
2007
The third phase of the Midtown Greenway is completed with the grand opening of a $5.1 million suspension bridge dedicated for bicycles. The bridge is named after the bridge’s champion in Congress, Rep. Martin Olav Sabo.
2010
Nice Ride Minnesota debuts in Minneapolis, with 700 rent-able bicycles available at 65 solar-powered kiosks.
2016
Mounds View’s Kelly Catlin, who began life as a triplet with underdeveloped lungs, wins a silver medal in team pursuit at the Olympic Games in Rio. That same year, Catlin and her team win the first of three consecutive world championships.
2016
A few days before his death, Prince is photographed for the last time: dressed in purple, riding around Paisley Park on his bicycle.