Some people pedal purely for passion. Others need incentive. Like beer. Here are just a few of Minnesota's many choices for bike trails with easy side treks to local breweries. It's a cool, frothy way to chill out after a hot summer ride:
• Take the 5.9-mile Brown's Creek State Trail into downtown Stillwater where two breweries (Joseph Wolf and Maple Island) and views of the St. Croix River await. Joseph Wolf and Maple Island Brewing sit within a block of each other on Water and Commercial streets.
• Rent a bike near Bemidji's visitor center and take a 17-mile loop around Lake Bemidji with a short detour to downtown's Bemidji Brewing. Brews range from traditional to sour ales
• Take a 14-mile ride on the Lake Wobegon Trail between Avon, Minn., and St. Joseph with a detour into St. Joseph for some suds at Bad Habit Brewing.
• In Mankato, Kiwanis Mountain Bike Trail and Skills Park sits just more than two miles from Mankato Brewery on Center Street (reachable via Rex MacBeth River Trail and city streets). Other biking loops, from easy and paved to gravel distance routes winding by the Kasota Prairie, can be substituted.
• Duluth Experience Tour offers a guided bike ride that covers 28 miles from the city's Canal Park Brewing to Two Harbors with Castle Danger Brewery.
• Winona designates 10 loops into its scenic bluffs along the Mississippi River with two breweries — Island City and Wenonah Brewing Co. offering cold brews as a reward. Wenonah's seasonal choices may include lemon blueberry shandy or smoked cherry porter.
LISA MEYERS McCLINTICK
