A literal approach to recycling

There's something about the way the sun slants through the windows in March. The rays become little promises of spring, a silent vow to light lovers that lilacs really will bloom again and that grass won't stay the color of Uncle Ernest's dirty blond hairpiece forever. It's a month of anticipation: You know the best is yet to come.

Personally, we can't stop thinking about dusting off our bikes and getting out on the Midtown Greenway. Thankfully, then, one of the best bike shops in town is opening a new shop and celebrating with a gigantic sale this Saturday. The Hub Bike Co-op is moving one building north of its old location to 3020 Minnehaha Avenue. The employee-owned and -run shop will have what they promise to be "rock-bottom" prices on 2006 closeout bikes, 10 to 40 percent off select merchandise, and free pedal-blended smoothies all day.

The employees also will put on free workshops all day, including a single-speed workshop for the bike hipsters who want to outfit their own cool mode of city transportation. And at 11:00 am, Ms. Butternut takes to the trapeze to celebrate the grand opening with swinging acrobatics.

If you're a new to the biking scene, this great shop won't make you feel like a novice. And they have the Sheila Moon wool-fleece hoodie for $92.99, which makes the winter-spring transition easier to bear as you're speeding down the Greenway, past that one guy's house with a yard built by the flora gods, around the paths to Cedar Lake, all the way out to Robbinsdale, and back to the Midtown Global Market again and then on to St. Paul, just because you can't seem to get enough of it.

The Hub: http://thehubbikecoop.org/
Midtown Greenway: http://www.midtowngreenway.org/

Two wheels good, four wheels bad

Have you noticed the proliferation of people on bikes all over our fair city? Even in the dead of winter? OK, so the globe is warming up and one of the upsides is year 'round cycling... well, some of us ride even when we get the weather we actually deserve here in Minnesota.

Biking is the new punk rock (with the added bonus of being cool no matter who you are, what you ride, or how you look). And if that's the case, then One On One is the New Punk Rock's Longhorn & Duff's rolled into one. Awesome vintage touring bikes line the walls next to the latest carbon-unobtainium euro-racers; boutique steel singlespeeds stand proudly next to Italian track bikes. Indie Fabs live harmoniously with Colnagos, commuters cohabit with free riders.

In the front at the bar, rumor suggests it may be the best cup of coffee in the city. In the rear is the gear and the full-service shop.

One on One is owned by Gene and Jennifer Oberpriller who--to carry on the punk rock metaphor-- are the Beej Chaney and Lori Barberri of the cycling world. But you don't have to be a chain-smoking, hard-drinking courier on a fixie to get treated like a regular respectable human being in this bike shop. One of our favorite things to do is hang out at the coffee bar and watch the steady stream of empty-nesters who have moved into the Warehouse district and haven't bought a bike in 20 years. The staff is never too cool for school, and serious bike activists and aficionados will know right away that One On One carries some of the most affordable, soulful bicycles you're likely to find anywhere.

One On One, 117 N. Washington, Minneapolis (Around the corner from Sex World), 612.371.9565