The Twin Cities have hundreds of miles of bike lanes, but cyclists say one key thing is missing

It’s never been easier to get around the Twin Cities by bike.

Hundreds of miles of lanes and paths facilitate two-wheel travel around Minneapolis, St. Paul and their suburbs. The cities themselves notch respectable scores in annual rankings for best biking.

But something’s missing, cyclists say: secure bike parking.

Even where there are standard bike racks, the availability of tools that make it easy to cut locks in seconds makes bike theft an everyday occurrence in big cities, including in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Brazen thieves even steal bikes in broad daylight, sometimes on busy streets. It’s common enough that even dedicated cyclists say they limit the places they bike because they worry there’s no safe spot to park.

“If I have to leave my bike unattended, I don’t care how many locks I carry, I’m not going to do it,” said Mike Vogl, a south Minneapolis resident and cyclist who recently chronicled the retrieval of his neighbor’s stolen e-bike on local transportation news site Streets.mn. “Either I keep my eye on it the whole time, it stays next to me the whole time, or I leave it at home.”

Cities and businesses have begun to take note of cyclists’ concerns and are looking for ways to make bike parking more secure by protecting bikes with more than just a place to lock them, but bike advocates say there’s still work to be done.

“I really do feel like this is one of the most under talked-about barriers to getting people to use bicycles for transportation,” said Ted Duepner, operations and supporter relations manager for the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, who said fear of his bike being stolen has led him to walk more.

Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have programs that help businesses install city-subsidized bike racks, which advocates say is a great and sometimes-overlooked step toward helping people bike.

Noting security concerns from cyclists, Minneapolis last year approved a bike parking pilot program to test more-than-basic bike racks.

At a council committee meeting, city staff stressed that bikes have become more expensive, especially with the rising popularity of e-bikes. At the same time, more secure bike parking options — such as bike lockers available in parts of the city — are limited. In addition, leases on those spots limit cyclists to just one locker in a fixed place, and the lockers don’t fit larger cargo or e-bikes.

Minneapolis is working with a company called Oonee to bring bike shelters and hangars to the city to test the potential for a secure bike parking network, according to city spokesperson Allen Henry. The city will test shelters from Oonee and hangars from Cyclehoop — products that protect bikes from weather and help deter theft.

Duepner, of the Bicycle Alliance, noted that businesses and cities already consider parking for cars and said they should do the same for bicycles. Some already do.

Target Field uses bike corrals, which are monitored by staff, for cyclists attending Twins games.

Matt Hoy, the Twins’ senior vice president of operations, said the stadium used to have hundreds of bike racks around it, with security patrolling during games.

But the bikes were so spread out that there were still a few bike thefts, so the team decided to switch course and have a free bike corral near Gate 6. It works like a coat check: Cyclists leave their bike, get a ticket, and then exchange it for their bike at the end of the game.

“There’s a lot of bikes out there every night,” Hoy said.

The Minnesota State Fair and some other large events have similar setups.

The downtown Minneapolis YMCA began allowing cyclists to bring bikes indoors after they started asking, said Jessica Wittwer, the branch’s operations director. The perk was popular enough that the branch bought a rack for them.

“There were a lot of bikes just leaning on things, so we just bought a bike rack just right up by our check-in desk,” she said.

Vogl, the south Minneapolis cyclist, urges cyclists to keep the pressure on businesses, whether coffee shops or boutiques, to allow bikes indoors by asking to bring them in.

“Make it a tangible part of the culture,” Vogl said.

Among the other things businesses can do? Put bike parking where it’s visible through windows, and advertise bike parking, so cyclists planning their trips know about it, said Chris Vaughan, program coordinator for the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly America Program and a Minneapolis cyclist.

“We do encourage businesses and agencies to advertise their bike parking on their website in the contact us or address section,” he said. “Making note of where that parking is is really important.”

As for theft deterrence, Mike Pavlik, of the Twin Cities Stolen Bikes Facebook group, has recovered more than 200 lifted bikes. He said there are a few things cyclists can do.

First, you need a good lock, not just a cable lock. U locks are better, but can still be cut in seconds with an angle grinder, he said.

There’s one lock Pavlik recommends: the $300 Hiplok D1000. It’s coated with graphene, which destroys blades on angle grinders, so stealing a locked bike requires blade changes and a lot more time.

Second, Pavlik suggests registering your bike on a bike registry like Bike Index. Keep track of its serial number.

If your bike is stolen, Pavlik said, file a police report to reduce the chance of it being pawned. And join the Stolen Bikes group, which helps people track down bikes pro bono.