My name is Tim Kramer.  I am an avid road cyclist, and I especially enjoy cycling in and around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.  The Mississippi River, the lakes, the tree-lined boulevards, and several outstanding trails make for many very scenic rides.  A couple years ago, I started looking for a poster showing a cycling scene that might include one of my favorite rides.  Unable to find anything, I then decided to ask my daughter Kjersten if she could help create a poster for me.  Kjersten is a graphic designer who at the time was living in Munich, Germany and had plenty of time on her hands.  Also an avid cyclist, Kjersten agreed and the father-daughter project was off the ground!  I made a list of some of the more recognizable and beautiful areas where I enjoy riding,  then started taking multiple photos of each scene. 

I started with one of the more recognizable cycling scenes in the Twin Cities, the beautiful bicycle bridge over Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis.  I probably took 50 photos of the bridge, then sent them to Kjersten so we could look for the best view.  Of course, the view had to include the downtown Minneapolis skyline in the background!  Kjersten picked the font for the Twin Cities Cycling title,  and chose the colors as well.  I wanted cyclists in the scene as well, and despite Kjersten spending several hours detailing each cyclist in the scene, I finally decided to go with black silhouetted cyclists to not distract from the scene itself.

Once we were both satisfied with the Hiawatha Bridge poster, we both agreed to do it all over again for a few of my other favorite areas.  Working with my daughter, although remotely, was very enjoyable, and very rewarding!   We didn't have any idea how many posters we would end up with, so we just continued until we had 8 separate posters, with beautiful scenes from both Minneapolis and St. Paul. 

Kjersten is currently living in Santa Monica, California, and is getting married to her boyfriend Alex in August!  Once the wedding is over,  I have a few more scenes I would like her to work on, so hopefully we will have some new scenes available soon!

You can contact me at:   mspbikeposters@googlemail.com

Here are some pictures of the two of us ... 

Me, Martin (Alex's father), Kjersten, and Alex after finishing the Gran Fondo 103 mile ride in Santa Rosa, CA in October 2009

Me and Kjersten waiting for the peleton to arrive at Stage 8 of the Tour of California outside LA in Februrary 2009

Kjersten and her favorite mountain bike, a Yeti 575

Me and my favorite road bike, a Trek Madone 5.2