The Detroit Free Press wrote about the Discovery Channel’s unsuccessful pitch to document the city’s stray dog situation.

It’s bad enough that Detroit’s poor economy has contributed to an epidemic of stray dogs. The city has no interest in turning some street mutts into reality TV stars, too, as the Discovery Channel wants to do.

Mayor Dave Bing’s film office has denied the cable network permission to film stray Detroit dogs, chronicling their miserable lives for a TV series called “A Dog’s Life.”

Mlive.com seemingly nailed this topic.

But beyond the show debate, are stray dogs a problem for Detroit cyclists?

Is it any worst than in the suburbs and rural areas?

It isn’t in our experience, but we’d be curious to hear what others think. We’ve found strays seem to mind their own business even when in apparent packs. Our best chases have come from peoples’ pets.

For those who are chased, this web site provides some suggested responses to the inevitable dog chase. Our favorites are shouting at the dog and simply out riding it.

Perhaps you’ve already heard about the Detroit 2020 Project.

Detroit 2020 is a WXYZ commitment to address the challenges facing the region.  We will work side by side with our communities to listen, talk and take action.  Our goal is to unify, inspire change and help make Detroit a better place to live, work and raise families.

Yesterday they aired a segment on the RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut which gives a brief introduction to a couple of world class trails.

Yes, it’s a $300 million development project.

And the video also talks about how projects like this are true public-private partnerships. Whereas in most other cities, it’s the government leading the trail development and operations, that’s not the case here. It’s the Conservancy and their staff — and it works well. However, it does skew results when national groups try to benchmark Detroit based on the number of city employees work on biking and walking. For example, the 2010 Benchmark Report from the Alliance for Biking and Walking ranked Detroit last in this category. They wouldn’t count the 24 staff working for the Conservancy since their not city employees.

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is also looking for volunteers to serve as ambassadors this coming summer. If you’re interested, give them a call at (313) 566-8200 during business hours for more information.

Beyond their little yellow flyer and a sparce Facebook page, there’s been little information available on Hot Spokes: A lunchtime food delivery service in Detroit that uses bikes.

That changed a little today as the operation was featured on WDET’s Craig Fahle show. They are on the pod cast at 1:26.

So how does it work? According to their Facebook page:

Call the restaurant to place your order and Hot Spokes will ride it to you!

• Cass Cafe (313) 831-1400
• Union Street (313) 831-3965
• Shangri-La (313) 974-7669

And yes, they are still delivering in the winter, so tip well!

Plans are well underway for another USA Cycling race in Detroit this summer called… Criterium Detroit City.

Imagine Tiger Plaza at Comerica Park decked out with banners and flags, both sides of the street filled with thousands of screaming spectators ringing their race bells and cheering on their favorite cyclists as they battle it out lap after lap.

Our primary goals for the race are to promote cycling as an excellent activity for living a healthy lifestyle, recreation, exercise, and transportation and to promote the city of Detroit as vibrant, fun, entertaining and livable, to both city dwellers and especially those new to the city.

Erika Fulk is one of the race promoters. Fulk was very involved in event planning for the 2010 Tour de Troit, so we’re quite confident this will be another great cycling event in Detroit.

It looks like a great course, too.

Of course, we’d love to see this become an opportunity for Detroit’s youth to get a taste for competitive cycling — or just cycling in general.

Criterium Detroit City is also on Facebook.

The other USA Cycling race in the city of Detroit is the Mad Anthony cyclocross race at Fort Wayne.

In November, the Federal Highway Administration announced the 2010 Transportation Planning Excellence Awards. These awards are given to recognize “outstanding initiatives across the country to develop, plan, and implement innovative transportation planning practices. ”

The Dequindre Cut and MDOT received an honorable mention in the Livability/Sustainability category.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) transformed the Dequindre Cut, a formerly overgrown abandoned railroad corridor, into a 1.35-mile recreational trail for walking and bicycle use. Serving over 100,000 residents, the Dequindre Cut provides a safe and vital non-motorized connection from popular destinations in downtown Detroit to the beautiful Detroit Riverfront and Harbor.

Transformation of the Dequindre Cut involved extensive community input, and involved a number of private and not-for-profit entities. The Downtown Detroit Partnership led a public involvement, visioning, and planning process to gather input from nearby neighborhoods on how the “Cut” could be transformed and opened to the public. Residents toured the site, discussed options, and provided feedback on conceptual designs, including the popular decision to preserve existing graffiti art along the bridge abutments.

Through the efforts of the public, nonprofit, and private partners, this project transformed a forgotten, unused corridor into a natural greenway for public use, promoting physical activity, and offering residents and visitors a unique experience within the urban framework of Detroit.

That’s great, but we wish it not be labeled a recreational trail? That label might lead one to believe it’s just about recreation, which certainly isn’t the case. Generally speaking, trails that are loops within parks are recreational trails.

One of the award winners was New York City’s commitment to build 200 miles of bike lanes.

In June 2009, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) fulfilled its commitment by building 204.8 lane-miles of bicycle facilities in all five boroughs, doubling the number of on-street bicycle facilities and bringing the total mileage of bicycle facilities to over 600 lane-miles.

The 200 lane-mile project is an unprecedented expansion of the city’s bicycle infrastructure that radically improves the quality of the streets of the Nation’s most densely populated city. The 200 lane-miles included the execution of 88 separate projects on scores of unique street segments. To accommodate the vastly different street conditions, NYCDOT’s planning and design staff utilized innovative designs, such as protected bicycle paths, which position cyclists between the curb and the parking lane, the first of their kind in the United States.

Before-and-after data from the protected paths proves their safety benefits: up to 56 percent reductions in all injuries along the project corridors, up to 29 percent reductions in pedestrian accidents, and up to 57 percent reductions in cyclist accidents. Data from the 9th Avenue and Grand Street protected paths shows an 84 percent reduction in illegal sidewalk riding.

That’s so impressive given the value of road real estate in NYC.

While the city of Detroit has a commitment to build 400 miles of bike lanes, there is no time commitment.