Late Summer Slow Roll Series - Ride 2: Parks, Place and the People

An evening ride through the story of the Minneapolis parks — four parks, the people, and how we became the land of bike trails. Free.
About this Event

We ride on some of the best bike trails in the country, and most of us have no idea how they got here. This ride is that story — told through four parks, the visionaries who dreamed them up, and the neighbors who lived their lives around them.

This is a slow roll, not a race. We ride together, we stop together, and we finish together. Come as you are, on whatever you've got. Need a bike - we got you!

Four parks, one story:

1 · Farview Park. We start on the North Side at one of the city's very first parks, established in 1883. Climb the hill for the "far view" that is named it — a panorama of the downtown skyline — and hear how a green hilltop became a gathering place for the neighborhoods of the near north.

2 · Theodore Wirth Park. Next, the giant of the system — the largest park in Minneapolis, named for the superintendent who nearly tripled the city's parkland. This is where the Grand Rounds and the miles of trail beneath your tires took their modern shape, and where the oldest public wildflower garden in the country still grows.

3 · Sumner Field. Here, the story turns from place to people. This is where Minnesota's first public housing opened in 1938, in a Near North community that had long been a home for those the rest of the city pushed to its edges. We tell the fuller story — belonging and community, segregation and displacement, and the long fight over what came next.

4 · Loring Park. We finish where it all began: the park board's very first acquisition in 1883, and the home ground of Charles Loring, the "Father of Minneapolis Parks." His idea was radical for its time — that a fast-growing industrial city should hold green space in common, as breathing room for everyone.

The details:

• When: Thursday, August 6 · gather 6:00 PM, roll shortly after
• Where: Gaviide YMCA Main Floor Mall Level 651 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis MN 55402

• Pace: Relaxed and social, with frequent stops
• Cost: Free
• Bring: A working bike, a helmet, front and rear lights, and water

Reserve your spot so we know how many to expect — then just show up ready to ride.

Part of the Late Summer Slow Roll Series, hosted by Venture with the 2035 Transportation Subcommittee. Earlier: A River Runs Through It (July 23). Coming up: Culture Club (Aug 13) and Black Women to the Rescue (Aug 27).

Who it's for: Anyone who lives in or near downtown and wants to know the ground under their feet a little better — new neighbors, longtime residents, families, solo riders. No history buff card required.

Reserve your spot so we know how many to expect — then just show up ready to ride.

Part of the Late Summer Slow Roll Series, a set of Thursday-evening community rides hosted by Venture with the 2035 Transportation Subcommittee. Next up: Parks, Place & the People (Aug 6), Culture Club (Aug 13), and Black Women to the Rescue (Aug 27).

Agenda

🕑: 05:00 PM - 05:45 PM
Bike Reservations and onsite sign-up.
🕑: 06:00 PM - 06:15 PM
Slow Roll Roll-Out
🕑: 07:45 PM - 08:30 PM
Community Meal, Music and Conversation
🕑: 08:30 PM - 08:30 PM
Return to 6th and Nicollet Mall by 8:30