Gary Sjoquist has been a professional bicycle advocate for 20 years, long enough to accumulate a rich trove of stories that put him in the middle of some of the most significant advancements in recent bicycle history. Hired in 1998 by Quality Bicycle Products, Gary says he was given a “long leash” to do what he could for the promotion of bicycling in Minnesota and across the nation. His fingerprints are all over the $25 million federal grant to promote bicycling in Minneapolis, he was a founder and early executive director of Bikes Belong, now People for Bikes, he was instrumental in Safe Routes to Schools, Cayuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails and most recently the NICA High School Mountain Bike League. He’s been inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in the Marin Museum of Bicycling.

Gary told his story this weekend at the last of the 2018 SpokesPeople series at the Cycling Museum of Minnesota. His entertaining talk was rich in anecdotal information and creative tactics for getting everyone from powerful congressmen to local business leaders on board with bicycling programs. He makes bicycle advocacy sound like fun.

Thanks to Gary for his tireless advocacy on behalf of bicyclists and to the Cycling Museum of Minnesota for their wide ranging SpokesPeople series of talks.

The 2018 Twin Cities Bike Map is in stock and ready to ship. The updated map reflects the last three years of research into the best and most scenic trails and bike friendly roads in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the entire Twin Cities metro. This is the twelfth edition of the Twin Cities Bike Map and it’s the most up to date and accurate map you’ll find in the Twin Cities. New roads have been added, some roads that no longer qualify as bike friendly have been removed and many trails have been added, tweaked and aligned to meet the changing bike environment of the Twin Cities. use the paper Twin Cities Bike Map to plan your next ride, then download the mobile Twin Cities Bike Map to your phone and use it to track your route, make adjustments on the fly and add your favorite points of interest directly to the map.