On a recent trip to the Midwest, we had the opportunity to try out Minneapolis’s new bike share program, Nice Ride, and the awesome Midtown Greenway. As out-of-towners, all we needed for a one day subscription was a valid credit card. The bikes were comfortable and easy to ride, with adjustable seats, three gears, fenders, and a front basket complete with a built-in bungee cord. We rode around the city for about two hours and saw at least twelve Nice Ride stations, some just a few blocks away from each other. Had we wanted to use them, all had available docks for our bikes. And after our ride, we had a delicious brunch at the bike-friendly Birchwood Cafe. Yum!

Some other highlights:

• The high-tech kiosks utilize fun bike-related sound effects (like an electronic bike bell) to help users figure out when their bike has been released from the dock.
• An internal hub powers the front and rear lights.
• More than 60 kiosks with 1,000 bikes throughout the city.
• Many of the stations are along the light rail line.

Some drawbacks:

• The bikes are heavy. Carrying them down a very short flight of stairs on the University of Minnesota campus wasn’t fun.
• It was hard to figure out how much had been charged to our credit card when we returned the bikes. We had to check our credit card statement a few days later to find out how much we had paid.
• A 24-hour subscription requires a $250 deposit on your credit card, but monthly and annual subscriptions do not.

Nice Ride is intended for short trips, which means the first 30 minutes of every ride are free after the subscription fee ($5/day, $30/month, $60/year). Since we kept our bikes for the full two hours, we ended up paying a bit more than the $5 daily rate. Had we been smarter, though, we could have returned our bikes to a Nice Ride station along our route every 30 minutes, grabbed new bikes, and continued to ride without paying anything more than $5 each. Next time!

The bottom line? Our vote for Nice Ride is an enthusiastic two thumbs up.