By Nora Allen

Here it comes! Warm weather, bright skies, dry roads and with it comes something just as exciting. Those notable bright green cycles scattered throughout the streets of the Twin Cities are back for their eighth season!

Nice Ride MN, the organization responsible for the popular bike rentals Twin Cities natives and tourists know and love, come back for another successful season this Monday and we can’t wait.

“Nice Ride Minnesota is excited to announce our eighth successful season! Bikes hit the road April 3, providing more fun ways to get from A to B. Let’s ride, it’s Nice Ride season!,” reads a post on their Facebook page.

In 2010, Nice Ride MN had their inaugural ride with 65 stations and 700 bikes, and the biking movement hasn’t stopped growing since. This year, the organization clocks in with 1,700 bikes throughout the Twin Cities, making it one of the main modes of transportation for residents and visitors alike.

How did Nice Ride MN become so popular, you might be wondering? Well, for any city dweller, it isn’t hard to remember those grueling parking spot searches that seem to last hours in downtown. Not to mention the very Minnesotan urge to soak up the sun in order to stock up on vitamin D for those cold, dark winters. Luckily for us, there are more than ten Nice Ride stations in downtown Minneapolis alone, and with the many bike lanes and paths in this city, it’s easy to get from here to there while working on our farmer’s tans.

Nice Ride bikes come equipped with a basket for carrying a briefcase, purse or groceries, space on the frame to carry bigger items, comfortable, adjustable seats and multiple gears to adjust as you need. These bikes are equipped for the long haul, and we’re ready for it.

The Nice Ride stations will be open 24/7 from April to November for everyone to use. Take three of your friends on a biking tour of Minneapolis, and since four bikes can be rented with one card, it can be your treat! This is also great for your sight-seeing escapades:  take a bike to save money and the environment!

With summer just around the corner, and Minneapolis’s rank as one of the top bike-friendly cities in the United States despite our cold winters, now is the perfect time to rent one of those light green bikes for yourself, and don’t forget your helmet!