Last Friday, the band Joybox Express completed their bike trek across Michigan with a 10-mile ride around Detroit. What’s unique is they bike with their instruments, which includes a 352-pound piano. The ride was a celebration of bicycling and music as well as a fundraiser for Earthworks Urban Farm and The Hub of Detroit.

From their website:

Whatever we are, and want to become, all of us who pedaled across the state these last two weeks are enriched, and satisfied in ways that are hard to describe. We’ve loved every part of it, the interminable, grinding rides, the chance to play music together everyday, and the times spent with the people we’ve partnered with or just met along our route. It’s all been so uplifting, a casual conversation about it doesn’t do it justice, I think I’ll have to let it percolate a bit to savor it completely. This is just a bike ride, right? Why the need for hyperbole? No, it wasn’t just a bike ride, and exaggeration isn’t really possible in explaining the reactions we saw people experience as we did what we did, both for, and with them.

We made this movie during their performance at the Heidelberg Project, but perhaps the more fun was the previous unplanned stop along the often desolate East Ferry Street. Besides the cyclists, the audience included a group of men taking shelter in the shade. It was a wacky and impulsive moment, which seems to fit well with the overall Joybox Express theme.

One of the more entertaining moments was hearing a club rider unfamiliar with Detroit group rides tell everyone to ride two-by-two. That request went unheeded as did the earlier suggestion about stopping at stop signs. Detroit riders corked and kept the group together and moving safely through Detroit.

There are additional photos on the Downtown Ferndale bike shop web site.

The city of Detroit touches four counties. Most everyone can guess Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne, but the fourth? It’s Essex County in Ontario.

Essex has put together an impressive County Wide Active Transportation Study (CWATS) which looks to improve cycling throughout their region.

According to Bike Friendly Windsor:

The study aims to add a lot more bike lanes, multi-use trails and signed bike routes on county roads, and to also connect the county’s lanes with active transportation facilities neighbouring municipalities (like linking the Chrysler Greenway Trail to city routes).

The one missing piece seems to be biking links between Essex County and Detroit — whether that’s by the proposed ferry service or New International Trade Crossing bridge.

Earlier this month I submitted comments on this omission as MTGA’s Detroit Greenways Coordinator. We also provided four reasons why this cross border link is so valuable for cyclists.

Here are those submitted comments:

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From bagels to bike racing, Detroit is getting a Do It Yourself reputation — at least in the media.

The Detroit News is reporting on tomorrow’s bike race in Downtown Detroit.

Downtown Motor City hosts its first bicycle race in more than 20 years Saturday with Criterium Detroit City, which is expected to draw at least 1,300 and is the latest example of a young Detroiter fusing D.I.Y. energy with corporate backing.

Criterium is the brainchild of 28-year-old Erika Fulk, who was tired of defending Detroit to non-Detroiters.

“I did it mostly out of spite,” Fulk said. “This is my city ? come and see it. You’ll see how amazing it really is.”

More details about the race — whether you’re participating or spectating — are on their Criterium Detroit web site.

1. There are two Wheelhouse bicycle tours this weekend in UK which are both fundraisers for MTGA.

The first is Saturday, July 9th at 1pm and its theme is the early cycling history.

Automotive history was made possible by its deep roots in the world of bicycles! Visit the home of Horatio “Good Roads” Earle, the site of both Wheelmen clubhouses, the Metzger bicycle shop, the Morgan & Wright tire company, the Bicycle Pavilion on Belle Isle and the home of Fords Quadricycle you can now buy with the help from this used quad bike finance program. Tour will be led by Todd Scott, the Greenways Coordinator for the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance. Community Partner: Trails and Greenways Alliance.

The second is on Sunday, July 10th at 1pm and will tour Underground Railroad historic sites.

It was an important station on the Underground Railroad, and the final American stop prior to freedom across the River in Canada for many escaped slaves. We will visit the Underground Railroad memorial sculpture on the River Walk, historic Second Baptist Church, and the Underground Railroad Living Museum at the First Congregational Church.

Detroit Free Press image

Last week the city of Detroit announced a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the Woodward Light Rail project.

And while we have not yet read the FEIS, the city’s announcement does appear they did consider our bicycling safety concerns.

Those concerns mainly involved the alignment of the rails, center versus curb. The FEIS proposes a hybrid of these alignments, but mostly center-running — something that was preferred in 91% of the public comments.

The curb-running alignment is understandable on Woodward south of Grand Circus and there is not enough road right-of-way for center running rail. Besides, at this point, cyclists have many options even including the overly wide sidewalks if they want to stay out of the roadway. It’s really too bad the sidewalk planters hadn’t been designed differently in order to allow raised cycletracks along this section.

The FEIS route is also curbside along Larned and Congress. Since both are one-way, bicyclists (and eventual bike lanes per the city’s non-motorized plan) could be located on the opposite side of the street.

Washington Boulevard from Larned to Michigan will have curbside tracks, but we can probably live with that given the low traffic volumes. Washington is also supposed to receive bike lanes according to the non-motorized plan, but the rails may remove this possibility.

Why more center-running versus curb-running?

The city’s announcement provides the reasoning behind this design and alignment. Here are the reasons for pedestrians and bicyclists:

8. Provide a Safe Pedestrian Environment

a. Jaywalking is a concern under both options.
b. Stations associated with the center running option provide pedestrian refuges in center of Woodward.
c. Pedestrians would cross at marked crosswalks every 1/8th to 1/4th mile with the center running option.

9. Provide Safest Alternative for Bicyclists

a. Under both options, bicyclists will travel in the lane closest to curb.
b. The side running option creates a safety concern due to bicyclists traveling in lanes with uneven surfaces, inconsistent materials (steel & concrete) and gaps that could catch wheels due to the embedded track.

The Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, and Crain’s Business Detroit have also covered this recent news.