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  • Detroit Bike Shorts for the start of summer

    Put it in Gear

    Portland puts a bird on it. Detroit puts a fist. PassingLeft has an neat Detroit bike T shirt for sale on Etsy.

    Green Garage Update

    Final construction is underway with the Green Garage in Midtown. The Garage will make it easy for tenants to bike to work.

    The Green Garage added an indoor bike rack and a shower to their building plans as well. “If we are encouraging employees to bike into work here, it only makes sense that we give them everything they need to truly be green” Mrs. [Peggy] Brennan told me.

    Could they become another Bicycle Friendly Business in Detroit?

    Hostel Detroit Bike Pavilion

    We saw this interesting slideshow about a Detroit Bike Pavilion and we had to learn more. They were good enough to write a summary of the project:

    The Detroit Bike Pavilion is a Design/Build project run as a summer graduate studio as part of the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The project team consists of two professors and 9 graduate students, including myself. Our mission is to design, fabricate and install a (roughly) 300 sq/ft pavilion in Detroit which will act as a place to store bikes, hold concerts and other various community events.

    Our client is Hostel Detroit, which is a non-profit organization recently established in the corktown region of Detroit. In addition to serving as a youth hostel, they routinely rent out bikes and thus are in need of a place to store them.

    Detroit Bike City

    Jason Hall from Bikes and Murder posted this article entitled Detroit Bike City. It highlights some of the Detroit bicycle scene.

    We sometimes forget what the world is really like outside of our little bubbles. What I mean by that is when you’re in a car driving with your music up, it’s easy to forget to look around you and see what’s really going on. I had become a victim of that very thing. I would drive my car three blocks for a soda, a mile to see a friend. When I got on a bike I had to face realities and fears that keep us grounded. I saw neighborhoods I hadn’t EVER seen. Went places I had never even gone in a car. I soon became a converted bike rider.

    Suburban Critical Mass

    Yes, the Detroit Critical Mass is a great time. This Friday’s event already has 401 attending and 227 maybe attending on their Facebook page. It’ll be huge, but it’s not making much of a statement. It’s a city that’s already super bicycle friendly with city staff are becoming quite supportive of biking as transportation.

    It’s quite the opposite story in most of the Detroit suburbs. That’s where a Critical Mass ride could serve its original intent.

    So on July 22nd there will be the first Suburban Mass Ride starting at Royal Oak Farmers Market parking lot. It meets at 6:30pm and rolls out at 7pm. There is additional information on Facebook.

    New Pistons owner

    At a recent press conference, Piston’s owner Tom Gores noted the difficulty (Okay, near impossibility) of inner city families getting to the Palace of Auburn Hills without a car. He said he couldn’t see Piston games as a kid because he only had a bike to ride. Though Gores didn’t mention it, if the stadium was in Foxtown, those transportation hurdles go away.

    Chicago’s mayor wants more bike lanes

    Chicago’s new mayor, Rahm Emanuel is also a “bike enthusiast” and wants to add 100 miles of protected bike lanes in Chicago — the first of which just opened. He also wants Chicago to be the “bike friendliest city in the U.S.”. He cited bike facilities as an essential tool for quality of life and economic development.

    Mopeds are the “ultimate gas savers?”

    According to Tom Greenwood’s column in the Detroit News, mopeds are the ultimate gas savers. Really? More than bicycles, walking, electric vehicles, and public transit?

  • Ribbon cutting for the new Clinton River Trail Bridge

    Below is a press release from the Friends of the Clinton River Trail. Note that the directions are for those arriving via a motorized vehicle.

    Ribbon Cutting Event: Clinton River Trail Bridge over Telegraph Road

    After years of planning and design work, the completion of a significant asset to the Clinton River Trail is opening to traffic, the Clinton River Trail Bridge over Telegraph Road in the City of Pontiac. On Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 10 AM, the Friends of the Clinton Trail, Pontiac?s Mayor & City Council, trail enthusiasts, as well as a number of stakeholders will gather on the westside of the bridge to commemorate this momentous event. The public is invited to attend.

    A few short years ago, a bridge over Telegraph to carry non-motorized users in a safe & efficient manner along the Clinton River Trail was a pipe dream. This dream has come to fruition as a result of individuals who had a mindset and a commitment to making it happen. The bridge crosses Telegraph Road just north of the Orchard Lake Road crossing. For the ribbon cutting, take Orchard Lake Road westbound from Telegraph, an immediate right on Pontiac Drive and it?s approximately 275 yards ahead on the right.

    Great credit goes to the City of Pontiac?s foresight and initiative to accomplish this construction. With a shovel ready plan and engineering design they were awarded money from the American Recovery and Investment Act to accomplish the actual construction of the bridge. Official groundbreaking took place August 12, 2010.

    The Clinton River Trail is a 16 mile trail spanning five communities in Oakland County; Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Pontiac and Sylvan Lake. The trail has significant connections to the east with the Macomb Orchard Trail and to the west with the West Bloomfield Trail. It also has a northern connection through Rochester to the Paint Creek Trail. The Clinton River Trail and its neighboring trails are key links in a shore to shore system which will cross Michigan from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan.

  • Bike the Bridge 2011: Detroit to Windsor and back

    Over 300 riders from the U.S. and Canada rode in the 2011 Bike the Bridge event.

    Those starting in Detroit checked in at the Milliken State Park on the RiverWalk. The group rode to the Ambassador Bridge and over to Windsor. It was here that 90 Windsor bicyclists joined the group and rode back over the bridge to Detroit.

    Cyclists were reminded to keep moving and not stop. It’s not everyday that traffic across one of the world’s busiest international crossings is stopped for bicyclists.

    Once back at Milliken State Park, riders ate breakfast before heading out on either a 24-mile or 45-mile guided tours. The shorter tour included the Dequindre Cut, Eastern Market, Belle Isle and Indian Village.

    Perhaps one of the best comments on the event came from Tristan via Facebook.

    Wow! Yesterday’s tour was an amazing experience. I have a very different perspective on the City of Detroit. Thank you to the organizers and volunteers who put so much work into this. I can’t imagine how much time it must have taken. Looking forward to seeing everybody next year.

    More photos on Flickr: Ravenswift and OurWindsor

    At the start: Milliken State Park on the Detroit River
    John Zalewski climbs the Ambassador Bridge
    Detroit skyline from the Ambassador Bridge
    Short tour group photo on Belle Isle

  • Six bike rides this June in Detroit

    The number of group bike rides in the city of Detroit is rapidly increasing. Here are six interesting rides on tap for this month.

    Bike the Bridge on June 13th

    Registration is already closed for this event due to the customs requirements. That’s to be expected on an international bike ride. With nearly 300 registrants, this should be a huge success!

    Claytown Neighborhood Tour on June 16th

    Bridging Communities and the Detroit Collaborative Design Center are having an open house from 4pm until 7pm at their offices at 6900 McGraw. The open house is to review the recently developed Green Links for the Claytown Neighborhood non-motorized plan. Yes, more bike lanes and routes, but this time in the neighborhoods west of North Corktown and Woodbridge. They will provide light refreshments and a bicycle tour starting at 7pm.

    Collin Hubbell Ride on June 18th

    This ride is a fundraiser for the Hubbell Fund which provides grants in Midtown.

    Many of you knew Colin Hubbell, a dedicated Detroiter, midtown developer and community advocate! Colin passed away in 2008 after a long, hard-fought battle with cancer. We created the Hubbell Fund to carry on his passion for Detroit.

    The Hubbell Fund provides small businesses, entrepreneurs and community groups with grants in an effort to revitalize Detroit’s Midtown community.

    You can register at www.bikedetroit.eventbrite.com. More information is available on the Midtown Detroit web site.

    Critical Mass on June 24th

    Rainy weather dampened the turnout for May’s ride, which still attracted a few hundred bicyclists. Watch the Facebook page for more details.

    Conner Creek/Lakeshore Drive Ride on June 25th

    This 36 mile ride begins at 9am and is hosted by the Sierra Club. This may be a nice opportunity to check out the new additions to the Conner Creek Greenway on Detroit’s Eastside.

    Slow Ride to Slow James

    This ride occurs every Monday at 8pm and leaves from the Woodbridge Pub on Trumbull just west of Wayne State. It’s led by the Bikes and Murder crew, but don’t let that put you off.

    From their web site:

    No course is set and all skill levels are invited. The ride ends with the smooth sounds of Erno the Inferno and EastSide Jon – plus many special guests. We’ll be doing this every Monday till it gets too cold and maybe after that.

    The also host the Bikes and Movie night on June 21st at Peck Park, which is just east of CCS.

  • Complete Streets in Oakland County

    We just sent the following letter to Congressman Gary Peters asking his support for continued bike and pedestrian funding and HR 1780 — the federal Complete Streets bill.

    The fatality numbers for Oakland County, which Peters represents a portion of, are quite compelling. There have been reductions in road fatalities among motor vehicle operators, but far less so for pedestrians and bicyclists.

    For that reason, 29% of all road fatalities in Oakland County in 2010 are now pedestrians and bicyclists. This is an increase from 25% in 2009. The national average? Only 14% in 2009.

    And for 2010 Oakland County’s bike and pedestrian fatality percentage is higher than Wayne and Macomb County’s.

    Clearly something needs to be done to reduce bicycle and pedestrian deaths in Oakland County. Building Complete Streets needs to be a priority.

    [Data sources: Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]

    Here is our letter to Congressman Peters:

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