About a year ago, a small handful of community-minded citizens gathered in the basement of EastSide Neighborhood Services. On the agenda? The future of Northeast and priorities of the next volunteer-led projects.

The event was part of an ongoing “Northeast Futures” conversation, hosted by the the Northeast CDC. I led an hour-long brainstorming conversation, out of which we established some pretty clear (and some would say obvious, knowing Northeast) priorities for our community:

• Arts & economic development
• Environment / The “green” movement
• Cycling

Groups of 2-4 individuals split off into separate work groups, each of which has been making steady progress over the past year.

The last and perhaps most exciting is the cycling-focused committee, which has in the works an event for 2012 that encompasses all of the community priorities and then some.

Getting excited about bikes at the 2010 Northeast Parade!

The Northeast Ride!

The Northeast Minneapolis Ride, slated for June 2, 2012, will lead cyclists through all thirteen northeast neighborhoods with an artful stop in thirteen of the neighborhood parks. Groups of cyclists will take off set by set in the morning on led paths that highlight some of the best Northeast landmarks and quirky neighborhood features. The group wanted to do something that had a little bit for everybody – so families can take set off with a slower group led by a helpful volunteer with mad tire-changing skills while faster, more experienced riders will be able to hit the trail more aggressively. The ride is slated to end with an expo-style party at Sheridan Park, complete with live music, activity and information booths.

The Northeast CDC is a local neighborhood nonprofit hoping to make this an ongoing tour. The goal is to have each year’s ride end in a different neighborhood park, cycling around the neighborhoods every thirteen years.

The working partners so far (in addition to participating neighborhood organizations) include the Bike Walk Twin Cities Ambassador program, Altered Esthetics, Bicycle Theory – and yours truly here at MPLS Bike Love. We figure it’s about damn time Northeast had its own tour!

Do you have any interest in volunteering, partner-pairing, route-planning, or being otherwise helpful? The working committee meets monthly and the next one is scheduled for Wednesday August 10th, 5:30pm at SIP Coffee Bar in Northeast. (Of course Northeast. Where else?)

We’re also compiling a list of all our favorite local landmarks and we’d love to hear from you. What are your favorite spots in Northeast to bike past (or to?) Comment with your favorites and I’ll add them to the list.

Jamie Schumacher works for Bicycle Theory and is the founder of Altered Esthetics gallery in Northeast.