Woody Miller leads the 2009 Tour-de-Troit Metric Century ride

The details have been set for the Woody Miller Memorial Ride. It will take place at the Belle Isle Beach at 9:30 AM on August 14th.

From the Facebook event page:

Join family and friends in celebrating the life of Woody Miller (September 28, 1944 – July 17 2010). Woody was an avid cyclist: serving on the board of The Hub of Detroit, mentoring new riders, and advocating for the cycling community. He was a great promoter and supporter of the arts, most recently lending his skills to the creation of TheDetroiter.com. Cyclists can join him on his last lap around Belle-Isle following the ceremony. Please wear casual summer attire or cycling gear.

If you are on Facebook, they are asking that you RSVP.

Complete Streets in Michigan took another huge step forward today.

According to John Lindemeyer from the League of Michigan Bicyclists:

HB 6152 passed out of the Senate unanimously while 6151 was passed unanimously after an amendment was introduced upon the request of MDOT. Later in the day the House then took up HB 6151 again for a vote of concurrence where it passed by a margin of 76 to 21.

In summary, House Bill 6151 would require MDOT to have a Complete Streets policy and would encourage other Michigan road agencies to do the same. House Bill 6152 would make non-motorized planning a required part of each municipality’s master plan.

The MDOT amendment John mentioned above does not sound unreasonable nor does it seem to affect the main intent of this legislation.

A huge thanks to everyone who contacted their state legislator and helped keep this moving in Lansing.

Detroit Chicken Races T-Shirt

The city of Detroit’s urban ag and bike culture are growing together and no where was that more evident than at last Sunday’s chicken races.

Yep, the first ever Detroit chicken races were at the Temple Bar in the Cass Corridor. Only Detroit-based hens could compete. Seventeen showed up.

Miss Chicken arrived in style aboard a BOB trailer. In speaking with the owner, the bike travel didn’t really seem to faze her.

Many of the 200 fans arrived by bicycle as well.

Team Cluckstrong, a nod to Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong, also competed. The Team had Cluckstrong T-shirts and wrist bands. Their bird raced with a Cluckstrong leg band.

Even the official T-shirts made by the Trumbleplex touted a fixie chicken.

Photos from the event are on-line.

Urban Adonia is an anthropology grad student from LA studying bicycling in four different U.S. cities, including Detroit.

She recently posted about Detroit, including this snippet:

The city’s wide avenues work well for bicycling, especially because density is a hard thing to find here. The only crowd I’ve seen so far had gathered around a high school football game. I knew something must be up, cause I was riding along an otherwise empty street and came upon lots and lots of parked cars. Then I saw the game, which explained the people.

Bicycling here feels very free in some ways. The painted lines of the street seem irrelevant on a four lane street with nobody else around. I can turn in wide arcs instead of sharp darts. Oops, missed the turn; make a big ol’ U turn, no problem.

At the same time, many parts of the city have been abandoned, creating grids of empty fields marked by one or two remaining old row houses. As an outsider I don’t know how to gauge where it is a better or worse idea to travel. I like to drift around and explore unfamiliar cities, and it is so easy to bike here that it seems inviting to just wander around.

Unfortunately it sounded like Detroiters were trying to be a bit more friendly with her than she was comfortable with.

(via Model D)

From the Detroit News:

Police are looking for a black sports car today they believe was involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash Sunday night on Middle Belt Road.

Police said Redford Township resident John Sallman was riding his bicycle southbound on Middle Belt between Nine and 10 Mile roads when he was struck by a speeding car at about 10:45 p.m.

A witness told police he was proceeding southbound on Middle Belt when he was passed by a Pontiac G6 driving at a high rate of speed. The driver said the Pontiac then returned to the southbound lane in front of the witness and then struck Sallman, 44.

The driver of the Pontiac failed to stop and fled the scene.

Police believe the suspect vehicle may have damage to the front end as well as the windshield.

Anyone with information is asked to call the traffic safety section of the Farmington Hills Police Department at (248) 871-2630. After 4:30 p.m., call (248) 871-2610.

Middlebelt is not a Complete Street, just like most of the streets in Farmington Hills. This city’s attempt at bike friendliness is a short bike lane on one side of a road.

After reading their planning documents, it’s fairly clear that bicycles are for recreation and not transportation.

Many times there master plan (produced by Vilican Leman & Associates) states “Bike paths and/or sidewalks are installed to provide non-motorized access throughout the area.” Saying “bike paths and/or sidewalks” means either someone doesn’t understand AASHTO bicycle design guidelines or Complete Streets principles.

Sadly enough, Oakland County Planning and Economic Development Services reviewed this master plan and their staff “commended” Farmington Hills.

And the city’s sustainability report (produced by Hooker De Jong) is downright delusional: “Farmington Hills will continue to develop as a community that is livable, walkable, bikeable, culturally interesting and safe.”

Bikeable and safe? Where?

Certainly not on Middle Belt — and that’s how they planned it.