We noticed this Detroit cycling jersey at the Tour de Troit this year. We contacted them for more information and here’s what they said:

Thanks for you interest in the D Ride Cycling Jersey. We have a basic website set up. It is as follows:

www.thed-ride.com

The jerseys cost $95 plus $5 shipping and handling. We have a paypal link set up on the website or if we deliver in person then I can accept payment via square. The jerseys are limited edition. We are only going to make 30 total jerseys. The plan is to make a new limited edition jersey every 6 months or so. They are designed by me and a friend of mine who live in metropolitan Detroit. We are avid cyclists and ride in Detroit quite regularly. The jerseys are made by Pactimo out of Colorado. I am considering switching manufacturers but not for this edition due to development cost constraints. I currently have a medium, a couple of larges, and a couple of XL in stock. We will most likely be placing an order in the next week or two.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to give me a call at (248) 561-5207.

We were recently asked which party is better for bicycling. As you might guess, the answer is “it depends.”

Generally speaking, over the past decade, Democrats have been more supportive of bicycling at the state and federal levels. ?At the National Bike Summit in DC, you can usually count on a friendly welcome with Senator Carl Levin or Congressman Gary Peters.

There certainly are Republican exceptions, of course.

Governor Rick Snyder seems to be a strong supporter of cycling. He seems to recognize it’s value from a tourism aspect as well as a means for attracting and retaining young adults. We’ll probably know more as he fleshes out his urban agenda over the coming months.

But perhaps an even bigger Republican bicycle supporter is U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood. He’s really moved the conversation forward, tied it to livability, ?and given us “equal footing” in Washington DC. He vowed to retire as Secretary at the end of this presidential term, so it remains to be seen how his replacement will far. We’ve heard at least one very interesting rumor so far.

One thought to keep in mind is some Republican politicians support bicycling but are unwilling to support it at a federal or state level. I’ve heard it before that a politician supports bicycling but doesn’t think the federal government has a role. Or they are a supporter but not enough of one to buck the party vote. We’ve seen that too in Michigan.

So given the recent election results, we’re hopeful to see continued support for better, safer bicycling at the state and federal levels. It won’t be easy, but we could have been moving in a much more challenging direction.

We should also mention that the failure of State Proposal 6 decreases the potential headaches while building a new bridge to Canada, one that has bicycle access.

We just updated the information for bike parking in Detroit.

Wayne State, Southwest Detroit, and even parts of Downtown doing a great job adding bike parking.

Still, there are other areas that have a significant lack of parking. In the map snapshot, we’ve highlighted those areas in yellow.

Ironically, many of those area have an abundance of surface lot parking — for cars!

And while this focuses just one part of Detroit, the city needs more bike racks throughout.

One other thing to keep in mind when looking at the map is that each red dot is a bike parking area. These areas may have multiple racks, some which fit a couple bikes and some that fit a dozen.

If only the Michigan Driver’s Test had a question on cycling driver’s might know to respect us…

Ah, right. We’ve heard this many times. Bicycle advocates even spent political capital trying unsuccessfully to get this put into state law.

We think it’s mostly a waste of time and here’s why. Most people learn driving habits at an early, impressionable age. Teenagers don’t show up for driver’s education with a blank state of mind. Chances are they’ve been in cars their entire lives and learned the basics of driving from observing others. A couple questions won’t change a

And that’s why it’s important to teach road skills early.

Some schools in Europe have classes for young students that teach safe cycling and walking skills on miniature road courses. Cleveland has something similar with their Safety City.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association has a design for a very cool traffic garden as shown in the photo. Wouldn’t this be a neat training area around Detroit, perhaps located close to schools or parks or the Detroit RiverWalk? With the proper signs and designs, young cyclists and pedestrians could learn how to safely share our public road spaces through playing.

Through MTGA, we initiated some discussions on how to fund such infrastructure. Perhaps Safe Routes to School is the best fit.

Interestingly enough, it was also recently discussed at the Governor’s Traffic Safety Advisory Commission.

With all the bike lanes and sharrows being added to Detroit streets, one of more traffic gardens could be one means for improving public education on safely sharing our streets.

Please vote for Fender Bender Detroit and help them get valuable funding that supports bicycling in Detroit:

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We need the most votes to win this fund, and your quick participation is essential.

Voting is a very easy and significant way to back the work we do, and also support us in growing our space, programs, experience, and permanence in Detroit.

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Thank you SO much, and lots of love,

– Fender Bender Detroit Collective –
Kezia, Sarah, Gemini, Loren, Ayana, Tia, and Jessi