Announcing the 2025 Winners of BikeMN’s Community Awards

From the nomination:
Pacha was trained as an LCI by BikeMN in 2021/22 and since then has been doing a lot of work to engage community through bicycle education. She teaches Learn to Ride classes to youth and adults across the state with patience and care. She is BikeMN’s go-to recommendation for folks looking for learn to ride instruction.

Other nominees: Mary Edmunds and Southwest Regional Development Commission

From the nomination:
The SRDC covers nine counties in SW MN including: Cottonwood, Jackson, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, and Rock. The SRDC actively promotes bicycle-friendly communities in SW Minnesota by developing active living and trail plans, facilitating Safe Routes to School projects, and offering grant writing and technical assistance. They support local infrastructure, including trails and sidewalks, to create healthier, more accessible communities in partnership with the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP). They are instrumental in our region developing Safe Routes to School Plans, Active Living Plans, and support the construction of trails, sidewalks, and bike paths to connect places where folks live, work, and play. Their impact has been seen not only in the nine counties they serve, but also the 80 Cities, 162 Townships, 32 School Districts, one Tribal Nation, and over 117,000 residents that call SW MN home.

Other nominees: Red Lake Schools, The Bike Cave

From the nomination:
Laura is the founder and head librarian of the Minneapolis Cargo Bike Library and league certified cycling instructor. She is the out-going board chair for Our Streets (having just completed a 3 year term) and is a tireless champion for safe streets initiatives and community building work. She has an extensive platform on social media with over 12,000 followers and uses it with conscious intention to lift people up rather than shame or blame. Her approach to advocacy for cycling and walking encompasses the entire community in that she sees the bigger picture of how the built environment affects all aspects of life. She’s involved in the policy, advocacy, and innovation aspects of making cycling safer and more accessible to all. Laura uses her position of authority and privilege whenever possible to center equity, accessibility, inclusion and fun in everything she does. As the Our Streets board chair, she oversaw the transition of the Executive Director position and worked to ensure that it was an equitable hiring process. As the founder of the Minneapolis Cargo Bike Library, she made sure that all abilities cycles were included in the library so that differently abled people could benefit from what the library offers. Outside of her bicycle advocacy work, she’s been a fierce champion for protecting her neighbors in several different ways during Operation Metro Surge.

Other nominees: Eugene Standingcloud – Red Lake Community Member, Lyndale Elementary PTO, Cindy Winters – GMBWA, BikeMN Advocacy Chair and BikeMN Board Member, Angry Catfish Bicycle Shop, Patrick Schwinn of Grease Rag, and Brandon Bruyette of the Minnesota Cycling Federation.

From the nomination:
Eugene Standingcloud was an incredible advocate for our Greater MN E-bike program in Red Lake, Minnesota; due to his leadership at Oshkiimaajitahdah, many staff and program participants were able to utilize e-bikes in 2025, many for the first time! Eugene is deeply invested in equity and justice work, working tirelessly on behalf of tribal and community members.

Other nominees: Kato Bike Fall Fest Planning Committee, Southwest Regional Development Commission, Paul Claus of We Bike Rochester, Cindy Winters – GMBWA, BikeMN Advocacy Chair and BikeMN Board Member, Patrick Schwinn of Grease Rag, and Laura Groenjes Mitchell.

From the nomination:
After Alex Pretti was murdered by ICE in Minneapolis, Angry Catfish organized a memorial bike ride in his memory. The bike ride drew thousands of bikers in the metro and inspired multiple rides across the country..

Angry Catfish Bicycle Shop is more than just a bike shop, it is an important platform for community support particularly in the past year. The shop leverages its partnerships with community groups throughout South Minneapolis and the city more broadly to give back to and lift up the communities that support its business. During the 2025 fall federal government shutdown, Angry Catfish worked with Bonesaw Cycling Collective to organize early Cranksgiving Ride to help provide food for a local foodbank needing additional support due to SNAP benefits not being issued. Several months later, and perhaps most notably, in response to the murder of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and the height of the federal occupation of the Twin Cities and the state, Angry Catfish mobilized thousands of people who ride bikes and care about their communities to ride in memory of our murdered neighbors and in opposition to the federal occupation. In a single week, staff mobilized volunteers to lead the ride in collaboration with friends and family of Alex Pretti, and turned a memorial ride into a worldwide action in solidarity for Minnesota and communities across the U.S. being terrorized by federal agents. In total over 150 rides all over the world helped shine a spotlight on the injustices occurring in Minnesota and helped amplify the movement to resist the federal occupation. In addition to organizing a massive ride, staff concurrently organized another huge supply drive, serving as a drop-off point for groceries and other household supplies to distribute to community members in need. The outpouring of support filled their garage with items bound for organizations able to distribute these items to where it is needed most. The shop is a supportive neighbor, lending aid to their neighbor business Flag Foods and Burritos El Patron through organizing direct monetary mutual aid to help pay their rent, and provide additional observation to protect staff in these businesses potentially targeted by federal agents. These are but a few instances in the past months where I feel Angry Catfish as epitomized that being a bike shop is not just about selling bikes to customers, but about caring about the people in one’s community and living these values through acts of service that go above and beyond retail and bike maintenance. The shop is an institution within the community that is well recognized for its presence and contributions to supporting its neighbors and in my mind deserving of the Advocate of the Year Award. A particular shoutout to Josh, Jarrod, Nick, Elena, Chancellor, and Sarah for their dedication and involvement in the above described actions – though I know the entire team at Angry Catfish is behind the magic that they bring.

Angry Catfish has increased their number of FTW classes and has been an important community staple during the federal occupation. Additionally, the ride that they organized drew an unprecedented number of bike riders to reclaim our city and celebrate the life of fellow bike rider, Alex Pretty. The ride inspired other organizers across the country to facilitate rides, making the ride accessible and inclusive to many different types of folks across the country.

As a shop that largely caters to a more specialized and expensive bike tastes, Angry Catfish integrates equity into its work by using the privilege is has in the form of monetary contributions and well-established networks within the biking industry to support members of the community in need through mutual aid work.

From the nomination:
There are people in the cycling world who show up for the love of it, teaching with the goal of passing on knowledge and selflessly working to keep more people on bicycles. Calvin Jones is one of those people. Calvin, who recently retired, spent 29 years as the Director of Education at Park Tool Company, helping to make the work of make bike maintenance and repair less intimidating and more joyful for professional and home mechanics around the world.  As the author of Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair, he created a trustworthy companion in the shop, garage, or occasional kitchen table, the kind of book that gets greasy and dog-eared because it’s actually used. He actually did write the book on bike repair!  The four editions have become a testament to Calvin’s gift for explaining the complicated with clarity, patience, and frequent updates. That same spirit carried over into his instructional video work, where he helped build what has become one of the most watched and trusted libraries of bike repair content in the world. Whether you’re a first-time rider fumbling through a flat tire or a seasoned mechanic brushing up on a bottom bracket, chances are Calvin’s calm, steady voice and iconic moustache have been there to walk you through it. Millions of riders having followed along as Calvin guides them through hundreds of repairs and maintenance tips.

But perhaps what speaks loudest about Calvin’s character is what he does away from the cameras and the keyboards – coaching high school mountain bike riders and mechanics in Stillwater, helping out at Minnesota Free Bikes 4 Kids, and as a current board member of Project Bike Tech, an in-school national program that teaches high schoolers modern day mechanic skills. He shows up for kids. He teaches them that struggle is part of the trail, that a bike is a machine you can understand and care for, and that the community you build on two wheels can carry you a long way. Calvin Jones has given this community something rare: a lifetime of generous, patient teaching. He deserves this honor not just for what he’s built, but for how he built it – with kindness, humility, and a whole lot of love for the ride. With respect, Eric Hawkins President, CEO and Chief Mechanic Park Tool Company.

Other nominees: The Bike Cave, Carol Andrews, PE