Club Activities

The Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Minnesota and its members have participated in many local, state and national bicycling events since its inception:

• Recreational rides around the Twin Cities metro area

• Twin Cities-Wisconsin-Chicago AIDS Ride - 500-mile fundraising bike ride from Minneapolis to Chicago to benefit AIDS services in the Twin Cities, Wisconsin and Chicago

• California AIDS Ride - 575-mile fundraising bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to benefit AIDS services in San Francisco and Los Angeles

• Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride - 575-mile fundraising bike ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage to fund research for an AIDS vaccine

• Washington, DC AIDS Ride - 330-mile fundraising bike ride from Norfolk, VA to Washington, DC to benefit AIDS services in Washington, DC

• Minnesota State Bicycle Conference, St. Cloud, MN - our members presented a seminar entitled "Cycling: Not Just for White Guys Anymore"

• Midtown Greenway Grand Opening Celebration, Minneapolis - members have participated in ribbon-cutting ceremonies for each new segment of the bike highway that runs throughout Minneapolis into Hopkins

• Minnesota State Fair Bike Presentation, St. Paul - our members along with other Twin Cities bike clubs made presentations ranging from bike comfort to bike safety at the Minnesota State Fair

• Minnesota Ironman Ride - annual bike ride that kicks off the cycling season with 30/62/100-mile routes throughout the Lakeville area

• Ride with Jim (U.S. Congressman Jim Oberstar) on the Paul Bunyan Trail, Duluth, MN - 25-mile annual bike ride hosted by former U.S. Congressman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota who is an avid cyclist and served as the Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in Congress

• Defeat of Jesse James Days Bike Tour, Northfield, MN - annual bike ride with 10/30/60/100-mile routes that raises funds for local trails

• Minneapolis Juneteenth Parade - participation in the annual parade and festival that celebrates the African-American holiday

• St. Paul Rondo Days Ride and Parade - 25-mile ride from Minneapolis to St. Paul and participation in the annual parade that celebrates St. Paul's African-American Rondo neighborhood after it was destroyed in the 1960s by the I-94 highway construction

• Great River Energy Bicycling Festival, St. Paul - members have presented the Major Taylor Award to winners of stage races during this five-day celebration of cycling in Minnesota

• Northwest Minneapolis Showboat Days Parade - annual summertime celebration

• Gitchi-Gami State Trail Grand Opening, Lake Superior, MN - 86-mile trail between Two Harbors and Grand Marais

• Minnesota Red Ribbon Ride - 300-mile fundraising bike ride through southern Minnesota to benefit HIV/AIDS services in the state including the African-American AIDS Task Force

• St. Paul Bike Classic - annual bike ride with 15/30-mile routes throughout St. Paul

• Minneapolis/St. Paul Tour de Cure - annual fundraising bike ride with 6/30/45-mile routes to benefit the American Diabetes Association

• Bike Expos - expos held around the Twin Cities

• Seagull Century, Salisbury, MD - annual bike ride with 62/100-mile routes that attract African-American cyclists from all over the country

• Track Cycling at the Velodrome at the National Sports Center, Blaine, MN

• Minneapolis Bike Tour - annual bike ride with 14/36-mile routes throughout Minneapolis

• Inaugural National Cycling Summit - National Brotherhood of Cyclists African-American bike conference and festival held in St. Paul

• One Love Century, Atlanta, GA - annual bike ride hosted by the Metro Atlanta Cycling Club that supports cycling opportunities for inner city youth

• Major Taylor Mountains Summit - 4-day bike event that is hosted by a different Major Taylor club each year and takes place in the mountains of their home state

• North Side Glide Ride - bike ride touring North Minneapolis and its biking amenities

• RiverLake Greenway Opening - members lead the bike parade on this new bicycle boulevard that provides a new east-west route from the Chain of Lakes (Harriet, Calhoun, Lake of the Isles) to the Mississippi River

• Bike.Walk.Move Campaign - members were media spokepersons and models for this campaign intended to raise public awareness of bicycling and walking as viable transportation options, and engage directly with Twin Cities communities and residents about bicycling- and walking-related issues, such as safety, health and economic benefits

• Nice Ride Minnesota - members participated in a focus group to bring the Nice Ride bike sharing program to North Minneapolis and also in the bike tour of the Nice Ride stations around North Minneapolis

• Mesabi Trail Ride - members represented KMOJ Radio in a 48-mile ride on the Mesabi Trail from Chisolm to Grand Rapids, MN

• Minneapolis Urban League Family Day Fun Ride - members lead a community bike ride around North Minneapolis in conjunction with the Minneapolis Urban League's Family Day

And we are proud that the Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Minnesota was named a 2006 receipient of a "Communities on the Move" grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield as part of their Prevention Minnesota long-term health initiative to encourage African-Americans adults in the Twin Cities to become more physically active.

Click here to see the press release