Here is the latest all-in-one schedule for bike to work week in Detroit. Note that the Wednesday American Cycle and Fitness ride is now on Thursday due to the weather forecast. Their Commerce-to-Southfield route is canceled. Detroit Synergy’s Grosse Pointe ride has also been canceled.

• May 14th, Wednesday, 7pm, REI’s free Bike Commuting workshop at their Troy store.
• May 15th, Thursday, 6:30am, American Cycle & Fitness, Royal Oak to Campus Martius.
• May 15th, Thursday, 6:30am, American Cycle & Fitness, Grosse Pointe to Campus Martius.
• May 16th, Friday, Detroit Synergy
  • 6:25am Royal Oak Farmer’s Market
  • 6:40am Ferndale Post Office
  • 6:55am Palmer Park, Woodward at Merrill Plaisance
  • 7:20am New Center/Techtown at Java Exchange
  • 7:35am Cultural Center/Midtown at Wayne State Welcome Center
  • 8:00am Campus Martius
  • 5:30pm Campus Martius back to Royal Oak
• May 23rd, Friday, Detroit Synergy
  • 6:45am Dearborn City Hall
  • 7:30am Corktown/Southwest Detroit at 14th Street/Mercury Coffee Bar
  • 8:00am Campus Martius
  • 5:30pm Campus Martius back to Dearborn

You can still register to win a commuter bike from American Cycle and Fitness.

If you still need motivation, the AP recently ran a story on bike commuting’s growing popularity.

Bicycle shops across the country are reporting strong sales so far this year, and more people are bringing in bikes that have been idled for years, he said.

“People are riding bicycles a lot more often, and it’s due to a mixture of things but escalating gas prices is one of them,” said Bill Nesper, spokesman for the Washington. D.C.-based League of American Bicyclists.

“We’re seeing a spike in the number of calls we’re getting from people wanting tips on bicycle commuting,” he said.

An article ran in this week’s Free Press, “Engineer pushes for biking, walking paths”

[Scott] Clein, an associate with Giffels-Webster Engineers in Detroit, helped chart out nearly 400 miles of potential routes ideal for walking and biking — with a few changes implemented by city officials.

Though his recommendations were adopted in the city’s Master Plan in 2007, Detroit’s movers and shakers have been sluggish in making the necessary changes to encourage more foot and pedal traffic, he said.

With few government officials willing to take the plunge, community groups and individuals will have to take charge if they want to see more bike and walking lanes, he said.

Clein also was a Metromode guest blogger last fall where he’s covered more details on road diets, zoning, planning, and more.  Scott’s entry below clearly represents the struggle cycle advocates face in Royal Oak and other nearby communities:

Many traffic engineers are stuck in old-school thinking. The old-school way of thought, for those of you not tuned in to the inner workings of transportation planning, can be summed up as follows:   more is better. The more vehicles we can get through a road segment, the better off we are. And a larger number of travel lanes mean more vehicles per hour.

We tip our collective m-bike helmet to Scott and look forward to working with him down the reduced-width road.

American Cycle and Fitness is expanding on their 2007 Ride to Work Day this May 14th. Rather than just one ride, they’ll have three. You can register for free and one rider will win a Trek 7100 commuter bike.

The ride from Walled Lake will include LIla Lazarus from Fox 2.

From their web site, the three rides on May 14th are::

• Walled Lake American Cycle & Fitness to Fox 2 News. The route will takes us past Southfield Town Center for those who work there or nearby and end at Fox 2 News on 9 Mile in Southfield . Leave at 6:30am.
• Royal Oak American Cycle & Fitness to Campus Martius. The route will take us straight down Woodward. Leave at 6:30am.
• Grosse Pointe American Cycle & Fitness to Campus Martius. The route will take us down Mack Avenue in. Leave at 6:30am.

Note that these rides are weather permitting, so keep watching the American Cycle and Fitness web site for updates. There will be rides back to the stores at the end of the day.

There is no better time to start riding your bike to work and elsewhere with today’s high gas prices and great weather.

To help answer any questions you might have, consider attending REI’s free upcoming Bike Commuting workshop on May 14th at 7pm at their Troy Store. Here’s their plug:

Save thousands of dollars per year, improve your physical and mental well-being, and never get stuck in traffic.

These are all benefits we have realized by commuting to work by bike. Would you like to ride your bike to work? Do you think there are too many impediments to make this a reality? Join our year-round bike commuters at this free clinic designed to help you eliminate the reasons for driving a car to work. Richard Knakal and James Kimball have been navigating the suburban jungle of roadways to commute by bike to work for over 40 years combined. With experiences derived from commuting in Metro Detroit, Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona, and Washington they have the expertise to provide you with information you need to make your bike commute both successful and enjoyable.

Don’t forget that Detroit Synergy’s Bike to Work days are coming up at the end of May.

• May 16th – Royal Oak – via Woodward
• May 23rd – Dearborn – via Michigan
• May 30th – Grosse Pointe – via Kercheval/E. Jefferson

Yesterday was the public announcement regarding DTOGS, the Detroit Transit Options for Growth Study.

We had concerns about the study’s proposed Woodward renderings. They appeared to remove the wide curb lane that makes Woodward more bike friendly. On other streets they removed the traffic lanes altogether.

On a positive note, they did have bike racks at the light rail stations.

During Monday’s announcement we learned that the light rail trains would allow bike roll-ons. This is a major benefit. It means cyclists could bring their bikes right on the train without the hassle of external racks like those currently on SMART buses. It also eliminates the two-bike limit those SMART racks currently face.

We also spoke with the planners afterwards to discuss wide curb lanes and in some cases bike lanes depending on the available road right-of-way constraints. Fortunately the planners are from Minneapolis and are familiar with light rail/cycling issues.

For further reading, the DTOGS announcement was covered by the Detroit News and Free Press.