All three of Detroit’s three Bike Friendly Businesses are hosting events this Saturday, April 23rd.

10am until 1pm

OmniCorpDetroit has their Uber Back event at 1501 Division in Eastern Market — and they’ll have frankenbikes.

Come give us a look and make yourself some swag at OCD’s first UBER HACK! There will be music, our very own Tesla Coil, Paper Helicopter workshops, Seed Bomb demonstrations, Frankenbikes and other fabulous disruptions. Curious about our space? Come and check it out, we’ve spring-cleaned just for you! You can even bring the wee ones, as there will be plenty for all to make and enjoy.

They’ll have some pickle lights, too.

12pm to 3pm

The Wheelhouse Detroit has already kicked off their bike touring season. This Saturday is their Belle Isle tour ($25 or $35 with bike rental)

Explore the architecture of Detroits island gem, including the Eero Saarinen-designed Flynn Pavilion, the Albert Kahn-designed Aquarium, the Boat and Yacht Clubs, the Casino and Livingstone Lighthouse. A sampling of the parks numerous statues will be discussed, including General Alpheus Starkey Williams and his famous horse Plug Ugly and Scott Fountain. The tours includes stops at the Conservatory, Nature Center and Dossin Great Lakes Museum.

4pm to 7pm

The Hub of Detroit is having their Spring Open House.

This basically gives everyone a chance to come by and see our space, ask questions and find out how they can link into what we do. If we’ve ever been too busy to answer a question of yours, now is the time to come ask. We will also have many of our community partners on hand to tell you about their projects as well.

We’re not sure if the scheduling of these events was intentional, but one could certainly do all three.

Via the Hub of Detroit

The League of American Bicyclists recently recognized the Wheelhouse Detroit and OminCorpDetroit for being Bicycle Friendly Businesses. Both were given Bronze awards and join the Hub of Detroit, who received a Gold award last year.

Detroit now has three recognized Bicycle Friendly Businesses of the seven in Michigan. Nationally, Detroit is now tied with cities like Austin and Boulder, but notably behind the leading cities like Portland and Minneapolis.

Businesses in the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park that are interested in knowing more about this program can contact the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance (MTGA). MTGA can provide training and assist with the application.

Having recognized Bicycle Friendly Businesses also helps cities earn Bicycle Friendly Communities awards. Applying for such as award was discussed at the last Detroit Non-motorized External Task Force meeting. The city is interested in applying once some additional bicycle infrastructure projects are completed.

From The Hub of Detroit. Note that the ride begins at 2:30pm at the Hub of Detroit (3611 Cass Avenue in Detroit):

Thank you to everyone who made the 1st Annual Safe Streets Youth Ride an incredible success! Your donations and support keep the youth education programs at The Hub of Detroit going strong.

Everyone had a blast cruising with signs and streamers through Eastern Market, The Heidelberg Project, the Riverwalk, and downtown! Check www.thehubofdetroit.org for the action pictures we took on the ride, which we’ll post as soon as we gather them.

We have begun planning the 2nd Annual Safe Streets Youth Ride for August 28th 2010, and we are excited to announce that registration is now open! You can continue to support the program and its future graduates by registering for your ticket now!

http://safestreetsyouthride.eventbrite.com/

Please register for an Adult Cyclist ticket ($25) to attend the August 28th 2010 ride, or specify the donation of your choice if you want to give without attending the ride. All donations support The Hub’s youth education programs.

The Hub of Detroit bike giveaway

Congratulations to the Hub and all their volunteers for giving away 123 kids bicycles! They expect to have another bike giveaway in the future and there’s an opportunity to help.

If you have a youth bike in your basement that isn’t being used anymore, bring it to us so we can help it find a good home. The best times to drop off donations are during our volunteer nights (Wednesdays and Thursday 6pm-8pm). Bring them to our Back Alley Bikes entrance (first alley West of Cass on MLK).

Moving a piano by bike

The Metro Times has an article on the Joybox Express, a band that is traveling across Michigan on bicycle with a piano.

There’s something beautifully old-fashioned about the Joybox Express — it’s more 1910 than 2010. Yet the joy of shaking it to a Jelly Roll Morton stomper — or, hell, the bliss of riding down a country road on a bike — will never be outdated. And let’s face it: A band of bicycling minstrels is pretty awesome. Guitarist Brian Delaney says, “When bicyclists go by, they usually pump their chests or stick their fists up in the air in approval.”

The band is biking to Detroit along Warren Avenue on Tuesday for a show at Cliff Bell’s that evening. They’ll be at the Scarab Club for a show on Wednesday.

Gushing Oil, New Habits

John McCormick is a columnist for Autos Consumer. His recent column in the Detroit News, Gushing oil must finally create some new habits, asks the question, “What does the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico mean to you as an automotive consumer?”

And his answer is soaked in realism.

There are plenty of voices arguing that although this spill was accidental, it’s fair to say that Americans’ greed for oil is at least partly to blame…

But as Jason Henderson, a San Francisco State University geography professor, has suggested, there is now a moral imperative for U.S. consumers to do something meaningful about their fuel consumption habits. In a recently published statement, Henderson argues that the hazards of deepwater oil drilling are too great to continue and that ‘far-off miracles’ in hydrogen, wind, solar or nuclear power will not meet the country’s immediate energy demands.

Instead, Henderson proposes that we, American drivers, reduce our daily gasoline usage by 20 percent.

We agree.

And we also like McCormick’s suggestion that “there are strong arguments for greater use of public transport, more investment in high-speed rail systems and even more prosaic solutions, such as bicycle lanes to encourage Americans to use two wheels rather than four.”

Bike lanes are a prosaic solution? Okay, compared with hydrogen fuel cell magic, bike lanes themselves are a little ordinary and dull, but biking in them? Not always prosaic — especially if you’re pulling a piano.

Yesterday, The Hub of Detroit led a group ride around the city of Detroit as part of the U.S. Social Forums. Starting at bike tent city on Woodward and Temple, the ride went past the Joe Louis fist, the RiverWalk, Dequindre Cut, Eastern Market, and more.

About 50 people participated. Many of them had ridden to Detroit. Everyone was super friendly, including the many motorists who yielded to the parade of pedalers.

Allison Mannos, an Urban Programs Coordinator at Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition was in the group. Allison gave an excellent presentation on diversity at the National Bike Summit earlier this year. She gave us big kudos for the Dequindre Cut.