The Windsor Star is reporting that Windsor City Councillors “voted unanimously to pursue Windsor’s designation as Canada’s first Bicycle Friendly Community.”

“There’s a growing respect and enthusiasm for cycling in cities, it’s the wave of the future,” said Coun. Alan Halberstadt, a member of the city’s bicycling committee.

Cycling tourism, already big in Europe, represents “a huge opportunity” for Windsor, said [Eleanor] McMahon, who grew up cycling in Windsor and was once press secretary to Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

While it will still be “a big leap from the motor city to the bike city,” Halberstadt said council’s unanimous vote shows Windsor is keen on going further in that direction.

Yep, Windsor is Canada’s Motor City.

Go Windsor!

We discussed this last year. Could a new ferry service across the river be the solution for Detroit and Windsor bicyclists wanting to cross the border?

It seems the answer is closer to “yes” these days.

Model D reported on this possibility at the end of last month in a conversation about the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority’s riverfront dock and terminal building construction. They spoke with the Port Authority’s John Kerr who “envisions… a commuter ferry service between Detroit and Windsor.”

Kerr was also on WDETs Craig Fahle Show last week. A podcast of that episode is on-line with the discussion beginning at 0:43.

We are also looking at commuter ferry service. We’ve had some discussions with the Windsor Port Authority and feel like there’s a market for potential ferry service. So, how cool would it be on the RiverWalk between the Ren Cen or maybe you’re at Cobo for a show and you come in and cross the border and to go to Windsor for lunch and bring people from Windsor to come over here for lunch?

That would be cool, especially if you could bring your bike.

But beyond just being able to get your bike across the river without a car, there are three specific projects that could greatly benefit from ferry service.

1. The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route: The Adventure Cycling Association is working with others to develop a new bicycle route that would connect with their existing route. This new route would come to Detroit and preferably cross the river to Canada, just as thousands of freedom-seekers did. In fact we note that it was easier for freedom-seekers to cross the Detroit River than it is for bicyclists today.
2. U.S. Bike Route System: Michigan is leading the nation in getting new U.S. Bike Routes closer to reality. Dividing the mitten, USBR 20 is almost ready for final approval. USBR 35 up the west coast is progressing as well. USBR’s 25, 30, and 36 all go through Detroit. It would invaluable if these routes allowed cycling tourists to cross into Canada.
3. Bike the Bridge: This annual event rides across the Ambassador Bridge in the morning, but its return is via buses and with bikes stuffed in rental trucks. This event would be much more appealing if cyclists could return via ferry at their leisure.

We shared these projects with Kerr and look forward to getting more information on this cross-border opportunity in the near future.

While sitting at Blocktoberfest, an artsy gentlemen with white hair and a Kona Smoke walked down Lafayette.

It was David Byrne of the Talking Heads and much more. He was in town for a Sean Penn movie according to the Free Press.

The innovative musician arrived in town a few days ago and described Detroit as endlessly fascinating.

“Beyond the devastation, there’s all this stuff going on,” he said. “I’m noticing little initiatives happening all over town.”

He decided to stay another couple days and ride the Tour de Troit. He wrote about Detroit on his blog with an article titled, “Don’t Forget the Motor City.” (The title is perhaps a reference to the X song, The New World, which was perhaps a reference to Martha and the Vandellas, Dancing in the Street.)

While the blog is more than just about biking, as we understand it, we used his Wheelhouse Detroit rental bike to get around.

It’s a great city for biking. Not much traffic, and flat—apparently there were some hills but those got smoothed out to create more arable farmland. Right now the weather is gorgeous, sunny, but not too hot. There’s an event on Saturday morning called Tour De Troit; it’s a 30-mile group ride with beer at the end. It’s not a race.

3,000 folks joined this thing—they could have gotten more people but I was told the police said that without more cops they’d have to cut it off there. The ride began in the morning at the abandoned train station. Sometimes I sensed that folks here have gotten used to how things are, while we out-of-towners stare at the massive abandoned buildings with our jaws dropped.

Byrne does mention the house that MOCAD was moving around on the city streets. The police assured the Tour organizers that the cyclists had priority over the house.

Also, Wayne State University’s The South End has a great article on the Tour.

The first five miles were absolutely incredible. The shining sun, the brisk wind rushing against our faces, the daredevil feeling of speeding through an intersection under a red light – it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. As we pedaled down Michigan Avenue through the shadows of the buildings surrounding Campus Martius, one thought kept reverberating in my mind: It’s good to be right here right now.

The Spirit of Hope Church in Detroit’s North Corktown neighborhood is seeking contributions to help build a bike rack that suits the church’s gothic architecture.

Despite the growing population of cyclists, Spirit of Hope Church is without bike parking. Give them the kick they need to commission a local metal artists to hook them up.

They are seeking $287 by October 4th to match the $287 they’ve already raised from the Soup at Spaulding.

Soup at Spaulding has also raised money for a new bike collective at the Fireweed Universe-City.

The Fireweed Universe City Bicycle Collective is a volunteer run, bicycle collective open to the Detroit Community. Our primary purpose is to foster a safe, educational and diverse environment that emphasizes pedal powered options for safe and environmentally responsible transportation in order to provide community members with the facilities and tools, as well as the skills and knowledge to help make cycling an essential part of their everyday lives.

Fireweed Universe-City located near Seven Mile Road and Woodward Avenue.

It seems like these Detroit Soup events are a great means for raising funds and supporting some of the smaller projects that can really help cycling in Detroit.

To learn more about these events, Model D TV has recently covered this growing Soup concept.

This Friday, October 1st at 5 PM is the first Tweed Run in Detroit. The group is meeting at the corner of Warren and Trumbull.

What’s a Tweed Run?

According to the main web site (out of London?), it’s “a metropolitan bicycle ride with a bit of style.” And everyone wears tweed. The Tweed Run gallery has numerous photos to give some idea of what to expect.

Now that Detroit poster is pretty darn cool, but that’s not how Detroit cyclists looked in the 1890’s. Detroit wheelmen wore Greek fisherman hats and wore black. They also tended to have larger mustaches, at least in the photos we’ve seen.

But whether you dress more like a Detroit Wheelman or a tweedster this Friday, you’re probably going to be just fine.