Posts Tagged ‘Bikes and Murder’

Inaugural Detroit Custom Bicycle Fall Show

Friday, November 11th, 2011

This Saturday, November 12th is the first Detroit Custom Bike Fall Show at the Magic Stick. The event begins at 7pm and there’s a $3 cover. RSVP on Facebook.

Bikes & Murder Presents the 2011 Fall Bicycle Show

The Magic Stick is thrilled to present the 1st annual showcase of Detroit custom bike builders, featuring some of Detroit’s best wrenchers:

  • Seth Kleinglass – Sweet Bikes
  • John Hughes – Ferndale Bike Shop
  • Ron Sheton – WheelHouse Detroit
  • Cullen Watkins – Trek Bike Shop
  • Steve Bock – Detroit Bicycle Co.
  • Juan Martinez – Boombike
  • Shayne Okeefe – The Hub

Come get your geek on while you ooh and aah over some sweet custom creations!

With special guest DJ’s Jeff Risk, Dante Tucker, and Erno the Inferno

Detroit bike rides in September – Wow!

Friday, September 9th, 2011

The number and variety of bike rides in the city of Detroit continues to flourish. It seems there are more rides this month then there were all summer long just a handful of years ago. And this list doesn’t include the many fee-based tours offered by groups like the Wheelhouse Detroit.

Saturday, 9/10/2011 – Handlebars for the Homeless

This year the NSO Detroit 5K River run and walk includes a “non-competitive 13-15 mile bike tour” at 8am. This fundraising event is being led by Detroit tour veteran Tom Page and will include Belle Isle, Indian Village and the Heidelberg Project. You can register at the event. More details are on their web site.

Saturday, 9/12/2011 – Full Moon Bike Ride

Fender Bender is hosting this second annual ride that meets at 9pm and starts 30 minutes later. The ride begins in front of the abandoned trail station on Michigan Avenue at 14th. The Fender Bender web site has more information.

Saturday, 9/17/2011 – Celebration of Cycling

This PEAC hosted ride begin in Hines Park and offers a 12, 35, 50, or 100-mile route options. This event is a fundraiser for PEAC amazing programs that help the physically challenged gain greater mobility through bicycling. For more details, visit the PEAC web site. [Yeah, this ride isn’t in Detroit but it’s real close and for a great cause, so we included it.]

Sunday, 9/18/2011 – Tour de Ford

The?Henry Ford Emergency Departments is hosting a fundraiser bike ride for the?Tom Groth Patient Medical Needs Fund. There are 10, 35, and 70 mile options. A custom jersey is available as well. Visit the Tour de Ford web site for all the details.

Sunday, 9/18/2011 – Great Southwest Detroit Industrial Bicycle Tour II

This Detroit Synergy ride begins at 9am at the Rivard Plaza on the RiverWalk. It 18 miles and there is no charge. Here’s the intriguing ride description:

This isn’t your typical suburban ride through pretty neighborhoods with picket fences bordered by flower beds. Rather, this route takes us through much of the industrial underbelly of southwest Detroit. Poetically, residences are sprinkled throughout the heavy industry complexes. When I tested the route last year the imagery of “little houses on the prairie” kept popping into my head. I am confident that you, like me, will ride away from this tour with a new appreciation of the heavy industry that is an integral part of our area’s history and our shared culture.

Got questions? Contact Tom Page at pagete@gmail.com or 313-473-7118.

Sunday, 9/18/2011 – Back Alley Bikes Progressive Dinner

This is a fundraising event for the invaluable Back Alley Bikes program. According to a Detroit News article, “Scheduled for 3 p.m. Sept. 18, the 11-mile route will offer a five-course meal made by Suddenly Sauer, Organaman, Neighborhood Noodle and the Pie-Sci pizza guys at Woodbridge Pub.” REGISTRATION CLOSES SEPTEMBER 11th!

Friday, 9/23/2011 – New Center Bike Tour

This is presented by Bikes and Murder, but don’t be scared off by their name. This ride begins at 7pm.

Friday, 9/23/2011 – UDM Midnight Bike Tour

Yes, this is the 23rd annual University of Detroit-Mercy bike ride, which likely makes this the oldest bike ride tradition in the Motor City. ?This 25-mile casual ride begins at 8pm on the UDM campus and does a tour of the city. ?We agree with Alec Whitfield, assistant director of student life. “This is an excellent opportunity for new students to see Detroit and even native Detroiters to see our city from an entirely different perspective, at night.”

Saturday, 9/24/2011 – Tour de Troit

The 10th year of this ride will be the largest yet with 5,000 cyclists expected. Given the size, it’s more of a bike parade than just a bike ride. Some changes have been made in order to accommodate such a large group. This event raises funds that helped get those new bike lanes and bike routes added to Corktown and Mexicantown. Register at www.tour-de-troit.org

Friday, 9/30/2011 – Detroit Critical Mass

The group meets at 6:30pm at the corner of Trumbull and Warren. It starts at 7pm. There’s additional information on Facebook

Every Monday – Slow Roll to Slow Jams

This 2.5 hour ride meets at the Woodbridge Pub every Monday at 7pm and leaves 30 minutes later. Details are on their Facebook page.

Detroit Bike Shorts for the start of summer

Monday, June 20th, 2011

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?

Six bike rides this June in Detroit

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

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.

Bikes and Movies: We are Traffic

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

The group Bikes and Murder is presenting a free showing of the movie We Are Traffic which “chronicles the history and development of the Critical Mass bicycle movement – one of the most spirited and dynamic social/political movements of the apathetic 90s.”

The movie is showing tonight, Saturday April 2nd at 7pm in the Boll Family YMCA in Downtown Detroit, 1401 Broadway.

We will be forwarding this information to Rob Morosi, a spokesperson for MDOT.

In a recent Metromode article about an MDOT road project in Rochester Hill, Morosi gave the following quotes:

“When we’re developing a Complete Street project we’re required to meet with the local community to take into account non-motorized uses and facilities. The idea is to make it a more walkable community,” says MDOT spokesman Rob Morosi.

“Even before the Complete Street legislation we would meet with local communities to see if there’s something we can include that the local community has always wanted but has been prohibited to do because of the way the road is constructed,” he says.

This M-59-Crooks project is “a great example of what we’re doing to address that,” he says. “So now people riding their bikes or walking won’t be in conflict with traffic…People can ride, their bikes, Rollerblade, walk safely.”

First, from what we’ve learned, this project is not a Complete Street. MDOT is simply adding sidewalks. In fact, the bridge itself will be less bikeable when this project is completed because it will no longer have a wide curb lane. It will not have bike lanes.

Second, we aren’t in “conflict with traffic.” We are traffic.