On a crisp fall morning, Rep. Anquam Mahamoud, DFL-Minneapolis, was getting fitted for a mountain bike and a helmet.

She was giddy.

“I had biking out here on my to-do list,” she said. “So, I was very excited when Cal proposed this. I was like, ‘Yes, let's do it.'”

‘Cal’ is Rep. Cal Warwas, R-Eveleth. He represents a swath of the Iron Range in the heart of mining country, which includes a former taconite-mine-turned-mountain-bike-park near Chisholm.

Warwas was excited, too — even though he’s been biking there a lot.

"This will be amazing,” he reassured Mahamoud.

For the next hour-and-a-half, Warwas and Mahamoud biked through the woods just as the fall colors were starting to emerge.

This excursion is part of a new legislative swap. It’s like a foreign exchange program, but for the ad

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