Active Living 

Bike Cannon Falls Rolling Forward in 2021

Bike Cannon Falls has hit a few bumps in the road with the coronavirus in 2020 but will be rolling forward in 2021 beginning with activities, programs and social rides during May to celebrate National Bike Month. The initiative, sponsored by Live Well Goodhue County, is hoping to offer social rides beginning in April and running through October. Another goal is to recruit more bicycle advocates to join their team.

“We want to continue to work with the city, county and state to make road improvements so that it’s safer to bicycle throughout the Cannon Falls area,” said David Anderson,co-coordinator of Live Well Goodhue County. “We began by recruiting bike advocates in 2018 and meeting monthly to figure out how to make it safer and easier for Cannon Falls residents to bike,” he continued. The group had three goals:
1) Increase the number of students biking to and from school
2) Increase the number of children teens, adults and seniors biking to and from community destinations
3) Increase the number of residents and visitors biking to and from local businesses

During 2018, the group decided to learn what keeps people from biking and to try to learn what needs to be done so more people would bike. A survey of 3rd – 8th grade students was taken during lunch. Parents and children were also surveyed during community events. The group decided to offer activities to encourage biking including Bike to School Day, Bike to School Week, Bike to the Cannon Valley Fair, and offered social rides.

In May of 2019, the advocates hosted a Bikeable Community Workshop. They also recruited more bicycle advocates, city staff, school staff and others to participate in a day long workshop organized by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minnesota Department of Health and the Bike Alliance of Minnesota (Bike MN). With the mindset to continue to offer encouragement through activities, a Bicycle Safety Campaign called “Watch for Me Cannon Falls” was developed and implemented.

During 2020, Bike Cannon Falls applied to become a Bike Chapter with BikeMN and developed a website and a Facebook page. They planned to celebrate National Bike Month in May and sponsor a variety of activities including social rides. These included: Moms Bike Cannon Falls, Bike to School Day, Bike to Workday, Kick off the Bicycle Benefits Program, Cannon Valley Trail Challenge and more. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus most of the activities were postponed or canceled. Residents were recruited to join the team for the National “Love to Ride” Challenge, the group promoted “Bike Anywhere Day” and recruited 7 businesses to participate in the Bicycle Benefits Program. Last fall, Bike Cannon Falls applied for the Bicycle Friendly Community Designation with the League of American Bicyclists.

Moving forward in 2021, Bike Cannon Falls plans to work with the city, county and state to make road improvements, so it is safer to bicycle throughout the Cannon Falls area. For more information, or to become a bicycle advocate, contact Megan Roschen, Live Well Goodhue County Coordinator, by phone at (651)385-6140 or email.