Bike – Grease Rag Ride & Wrench / FTW bicycling in the Twin Cities Tue, 11 Nov 2025 15:31:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 /wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-Favicon-GR-1-32x32.png Bike – Grease Rag Ride & Wrench / 32 32 Winter Skill Share 2025 Recap /winter-skill-share-2025-recap/ Tue, 11 Nov 2025 14:48:53 +0000 /?p=3003 Continue Reading →]]> We had a great time at the 2025 winter skill share! We met up at Minneapolis Central Library for some great sessions, conversations, and an awesome gear swap. Jessie (they/them) did an excellent job keeping us on track and sharing announcements between sessions.

Grease Rag welcome table with flyers, candy, teddy bear donation jar, pens, colorful banners, and spoke cards.
Closeup of Grease Rag welcome table with hand-sewn banner, pens, stacks of zines, and colorful spoke cards.

Winter biking is joy! We loved seeing live feedback from members who shared their favorite things about winter biking.

What is your favorite thing about winter biking? Or, why do you want to try winter biking? Responses: fun, the mindfulness of it all, the sunrises and sunsets, quietness, staying active, so I can keep biking, exciting commute, quiet mornings, more time outside, the sunsets, cheap transportation, snow is pretty, access to nature, dark slow mornings, winter outside time, staying active in winter.

Our first session was Safety, Routing, and Handling. Amanda (she/her) has been commuting in the winter for a long time, and also has experience with bikepacking events in Alaska in the winter!

Stage with person presenting. Slide shows a person wearing warm winter gear and bright lights.

Amanda gave some great tips for staying safe in the cold, tips for keeping your bike upright on the ice, and things to keep in mind when choosing a route in the winter. The slides from her presentation are linked here.

Our second session was Winter Bike Maintenance. Lisa (she/they) has been a bike mechanic for over ten years, and she has been riding through the winter since 2011.

Stage with person presenting. Slide shows description of different kinds of chain lubricants.

Lisa gave us some suggestions for how to maintain your bike weekly, monthly, and seasonally. Their slides (linked here) are a wealth of information!

Our third session was What to Wear. Raven (she/her) and Jenny (she/they) both enjoy winter fat bike racing, and both commute on their bikes.

Stage with two people presenting. Slide shows ideas for things to wear to keep your hands warm, and a photo of a cute cat standing on a bicycle seat.

Raven and Jenny shared a long list of ideas for things to wear, and reminded us to start with what we have. It is also helpful to take notes on weather conditions, what you wore, and how you felt to get a better idea of what works for you. Raven and Jenny’s slides are here.

We loved seeing tips from people attending the event.

Tell us your favorite winter biking tip! Responses: Nourish your brain and body: snacks, warm beverages, stretching, and rest! Look at the sky for clouds/stars. I swear by my reflective safety vest! In winter it is dark during rush hour and having a reflective vest really helps cars see you. Front studded tire. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast! Florts! (fleece shorts). Being a little cold at the start helps prevent overheating once you're moving. size up on boots for extra toe space. Two pairs of liner gloves (one for the way home). Have an empty front basket to quickly unload layers and gloves without getting off your bike. Ski helmet and goggles. Use pogies on winter bike.

The event concluded with a gear swap. As always, first-time winter bikers selected items first, and no one was required to bring anything in order to participate. Thank you to our wonderful community members, as well as Angry Catfish, Free Bikes 4 Kids, and Express Bike Shop for their generous donations! And thank you to Seward Coop for providing snacks.

Table with various bike parts, water bottles, bike accessories, and clothing.
Angry Catfish gift card
Snack table with coffee, granola bars, hummus, fruit snacks, pita, and more.

If you missed the gear swap, remaining items are shared with the WTFNB trading post on Facebook.

A big THANK YOU to all of our volunteers who make this event happen! Grease Rag is an all-volunteer organization, and we could not put on these events without all of the amazing people who share their time, skills, and knowledge.

Happy riding!

Row of bike racks outside the library full of bikes.
]]> Camp with Grease Rag! /camp-with-grease-rag/ Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:29:25 +0000 /?p=2914 Continue Reading →]]> Grease Rag has been leading group bike camping trips for beginners since 2009. This year, the FTW* trip is Saturday to Sunday, August 2nd to 3rd, with an optional Sunday to Monday (3rd to the 4th) stay. Scroll down for details on the trip and how to sign up.
*Femmes, Trans, Women, Non-Binary, Two-Spirited people. FTW does not include cismen who benefit from cismale privilege.

Sketch of a bicycle. Text reads: August 2-3, 2025 (Saturday night). FTW Beginner Bike Camping Retreat. Grease Rag F/T/W. **Optional: Sunday to Monday stay (Aug 3-4). **not recommended for beginners - see survey for more details). Original art by IG user @ptaktc.

Accessible Bike Camping Trips

We aim to have our trips be low-barrier, fun, skill-building, safer spaces through:

  • Sliding scale suggested camping fee of $6-30
    If you cannot afford the fee, that is okay. We still want to provide a space for you to experience bike camping in a welcoming environment! The camping fee helps cover the cost of the campsite, basics of the group’s meals, gas reimbursement for the sag wagon, firewood for the campsite.
  • Dinner and breakfast
    We will provide basic building foods (e.g. rice and salad greens for dinner, granola for breakfast) and folks can bring an item to build upon the meal so we enjoy a communal potluck-style meal together. Note: this is offered only for the Sat to Sun portion of the trip.
  • Gear
    We can help folks find biking and camping gear if they do not have what they need for the trip.
  • Sag support
    We will have a sag wagon. A “sag wagon” is a car that can carry your more heavy equipment to the campsite and can aid if there is an issue along the biking route. Note: this is offered only for the Sat to Sun portion of the trip.
  • Clear expectations and establish a safer space
    Lots of encouragement! We will establish a safer space policy up front, provide a quiet area of the camp, designate people to help de-escalate conflict, and provide name tags with pronouns.
  • Biking, talking, eating, and being with each other is fun!
  • Skill Sharing
    We will share skills about building fires and setting up tents. Folks are welcome to provide additional skill shares on other topics!
  • The Route
    Our route is mostly flat, mostly on trails, at a casual pace (around 10mph, a slow “muppet pace” like our usual group rides) and we will have mechanical support on the ride. Come to a Grease Rag group ride to get your legs ready.

Schedule

Saturday, July 19th: Mandatory Planning Meeting

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Meet outside of Venture Bikes on the Midtown Greenway
Two weeks before the trip! At this meeting, we’ll do a trip overview, figure out volunteer roles, sort out any final gear shares, and answer questions. It will be a great opportunity to chat with each other before the big trip too! The Grease Rag community has a lot of communal knowledge, and we are here to ensure the trip is a success for everyone.

We will meet on the big hill that is next to Venture Bikes which is part of the 10th/11th Ave exit. If the weather is not good, we can move inside Venture Bikes.

Saturday, August 2nd: The Camping Trip

10:30 AM – Meet outside of Venture Bikes on the Midtown Greenway (same spot as the mandatory planning meeting)
We will have a few icebreakers and casual get-to-know-you activities before the ride, along with group stretching. This is when folks can put items in the sag wagon and use the bike shop for last-minute purchases. Bathrooms are located in the bike shop, and there is a cafe if folks need any food or beverages for the ride.

11:30 AM – Roll out

3:00 – 4:00 PM – Arrive at Carver Park

Sunday, August 3rd: Returning from the Camping Trip

10:00 AM – Roll out

2:00 PM – Return to Venture Bikes
The return trip will have similar stops as the departure trip, however, the Excelsior Library will be closed, so on Sun we will stop at a local coffee shop. The Hopkins Depot stop will be open. VB is closed on Sun but Midtown Global Market off of 10th Ave exit is open if you have any bathroom or food needs before going home.

Sunday, August 3rd to Monday, August 4th: Optional

Carver Park only allows people to reserve a weekend campsite if they pay for two nights when reserving between Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. Therefore, we do have the campsite available from Sunday into Monday. One of the camping organizers can stay behind for this option. However, we are unable to guarantee sag wagon support, and there will not be communal meals like on Saturday into Sunday. We can plan group meals together, but this option will be more independent overall.

This option is available for folks who would like to do two nights or folks who want to do the route themselves on Sunday and just do one night of Sunday into Monday. We can all ride together on Monday morning or folks can ride on their own time on Monday.

What You Are Responsible For

  • Having a bike in decent working condition
  • Getting your labeled gear to the meet-up (masking tape and a permanent marker works great)
  • Adhering to our Safer Spaces policy
  • Snacks, lunch (along the route to/from the campsite), and beverages/water
  • Having your tent, sleeping bag, and overall sleeping arrangement worked out before the trip
  • Bringing eating utensils, dishware, cups, water bottle
  • Contributing to our salad bar and breakfast bar
  • Yourself!

The Ride

Bookmark the Route!
The ride is 24 miles, almost all on trails with some on-road riding, and mostly flat. There will be ride leaders/marshalls, mechanical support, and up to 35 of us riding together. This will be a great experience! We will be rolling at 10-12mph, and no one will be left behind.

To get us to our campsite we will bike out on the Greenway, to the Hopkins Depot, where we will take our first break. We will continue on to the Cedar Lake Regional Trail, then follow the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail to the Excelsior Library, for our second break stop. There is a brewery, coffee shop/bakery, and grocery store nearby. We will continue on the trail until we reach our campsite.

Campsite

The campsite is the Zumbra 2 group site at Three Rivers Park District Carver Park. It can accommodate 35 people and 5 vehicles. The site has a large stone shelter (back up for rainy weather and can be used for bike storage), a fire ring, a water pump, and picnic tables.

The bathroom has a porta-potty style toilet and has room if you want to use the bathroom to change clothes. There are no showers at the site.

More information about the campsite:

What to Pack

In addition to what is listed above under “What You Are Responsible For,” you may also refer to these packing lists:

GR Bicycle Camping Packing List – a handy spreadsheet

Bike Camping Packing Pack List – a big list with tips and recipes!

CAMPING TRIP SIGN-UP!

Fill out this form survey to get signed up for the trip >

We will contact folks after the form is filled out with payment options. Questions? Contact: greaseragmpls@gmail.com.

After 35 folks (which includes organizers) are signed up for a single day, we will cap that day out due to campsite restrictions. We will have a wait list and keep registration live until a week before the mandatory meeting (closing the registration on 7/12).

Inspiration

Don’t let the whiteness and the cis-maleness of the outdoor industry deter you from enjoying the outdoors with us. For inspiration, follow these Instagram accounts dedicated to us outside:

@IndigenousWomenHike on Instagram

@TheBlackOutdoors on Instagram

@BrownFolksFishing on Instagram

@GreaseRagBikes on Instagram (That’s us!)

Read more about FTW bike camping and touring from Grease Rag.

]]> Grease Rag’s 12th Annual Winter Skill Share & Gear Swap /grease-rags-12th-annual-winter-skill-share-gear-swap/ Thu, 08 Oct 2020 01:04:45 +0000 /?p=1757 Continue Reading →]]> Join us in a two-part event to learn about topics such as choosing and maintaining your winter bike, riding safely, dressing your cold-weather best, and more!

Flyer for Grease Rag 12th Annual Winter Skill Share & Gear Swap. Saturday Nov 7th, 11-2 PM ONLINE. Sunday Nov 8th, 11-2 PM OUTDOOR. Free. FTW Only. Beginner friendly bike workshops. Open to all femme, trans, non-binary, and women riders. Online: Co-hosted with BikeMN. Outdoor route start/end at Powderhorn Park Tennis Courts - Masks mandatory. Event info: www.greaserag.org - #GRWinter

At the Winter Skill Share, our goal is to tap into the deep wisdom of our Twin Cities FTW biking community so that we can all have a safe, fun winter riding season. We will learn together by sharing our experiences of winter biking from our own unique perspectives.

This event is NEWBIE and BEGINNER FRIENDLY! Come with questions and leave feeling confident and ready to take on Minnesota’s most interesting season.

This event is FREE and open to all FTW (femme, trans nonbinary, two-spirit and women) riders! If you are a cis man who benefits from cis-male privilege, please respect this space and do not attend this event. Read more about WTF is FTW.

Online Skill Share – Saturday, November 7, 11am to 2pm

Co-hosted by BikeMN

Register for the event on EventBrite: tinyurl.com/y2duyaoo
We will share the Zoom link with registered participants. Capacity is limited to 100 people so register ASAP!

Workshops will be on self-care, bike maintenance, what to wear, and bike routing/handling. There will be ongoing raffle prizes during chats too!

Outdoor Skill Share & Gear Swap – Saturday, November 8, 11am to 2pm

Meet up for the in-person (but socially distanced) skill share and gear swap at the tennis courts on the southwest corner of Powderhorn Park. Masks are required!

We will do a stretch and go-around, then let people begin biking (or diving!) to the workshop stops. Each session will be 15 minutes long. The Gear Swap will happen at one of these stops so be prepared to bring home goodies! The skill share and gear swap ends at the Powderhorn Park near the picnic tables where we will have another raffle!

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