The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Hmm. My spelling is ironic, as well.

SPOILER ALERT: We have a winner.

Totally need a boat on the Mississippi in this race!

Unaware of Bike Week, I biked today. Does anyone else cycle in from the west on the Cedar Lake Trail? Have you noticed the tiny little section, just west of Brownie Lake, where you can hear hundreds of frogs? It is so cool!

Photos from the event.

As a recent graduate to bike commuting, there's no question that it's the most efficient travel method available. Cars are not.

Those baskets on the back of the Mayor's bike don't look very aerodynamic, do they?

Private Note to Hizhoner: Next year, take off the helmet before the news conference, eh?

Brownie Lake is a secret lake; you either know where it is or you don't. You can't see it from Cedar Lake Trail unless you know where it is. You can only get to it by canoe, via a secret tunnel. I'm actually not kidding!

So anyway, the frogs are in a large puddle, basically a mini swamp, that is all reedy, but very small, like 8 feet by 25 feet. It runs right along the trail, and it is west of Cedar Lake by maybe 1/4 mile. I suspect the frogs only ribbit in the mornings; I'll see if they are ribbitting on my way home this afternoon.

I bike, bus and drive from SLP to DT, and some how door-to-door, each one takes about the same amount of time.

Wait, is it on the north side of the trail where there's that bridge over the "creek" just west of the Cedar Lake over pass? I don't remember if you can you see it from Cedar Lake Parkway (I do that a lot too, if I bike down Victory/Wirth to the trail).

According to this article, Brownie Lake is fun in the winter, too!

I wonder if it's scattered with the shoes and clothing of Target Corporate Credit department heads. Google Maps shows that the Target Credit operations oversee the lake.

Unaware of Bike Week, I biked today. Does anyone else cycle in from the west on the Cedar Lake Trail? Have you noticed the tiny little section, just west of Brownie Lake, where you can hear hundreds of frogs? It is so cool!

I bike that route everyday jane. I wonder if we've passed each other. Like two bikes on a path...

I know the frog pool you're talking about. I usually listen to music on my path portion of the commute (but not downtown). The other day my battery was out, so I was biking along and was struck by the sound. It is remarkable.

In my own commuter challenge, for me to get from 394/100 to Nordeast, it's the following:

Car: 20 minutes
Bus: 35
Biking: 25

But biking is completely Zen whereas the commute by car makes me insane. I've gotten to the point where sitting in traffic really makes me go out of my mind.

BTW - Brownie is also a hidden spot for crappies and bass...

Nateek, I ride a gold GT with black panniers, and am going to DT usually between 7:30 and 8:00 am, returning between 4:30 and 5:00.

I strongly encourage you to not listen to headphones. The birds in the morning are amazing, and the wind, etc. really adds to the whole getting- out-in-nature-before-work-grind thing. You know, the best revenge is living well.

But... but... that bike doesn't have pedals! You must be one hell of a cyclist! I'm a wimp and need pedals. Clip-in pedals, no less.

Biking is way quicker for me because of the parking situation on campus. Biking along river road is nice this time of year, it smells like a sewer. Ah nature!

I happen to have access to a locker room.

Most people that don't, use baby wipes or something similar.

The loser speaks: A footnote from Foti.