One man’s “Junk” Bicycle Is Another Man’s Transportation

[This article is not intended to slight the Continental Bike Shop. They're one of the best shops in Metro Detroit and have a long history of supporting the bicycling community.]

There is a somewhat popular bumpersticker saying, “Friends don’t let friends ride junk.” It’s intended message is to encourage people to buy higher-quality bikes at independent [...]

Metro Detroit biking in the media

Dequindre Cut

It’s grand opening in May officially kicked off the Summer of Dequindre Cut Love. It was far and away the most talked about trail at the MTGA RiverDays booth. And at the Palmer Park Green Fair, Lt. Governor John Cherry was quick to locate the Dequindre Cut on the Detroit Greenways brochure.
The word is [...]

Cycling’s gender gap in Metro Detroit

The Detroit Free Press recently ran an article about an o2WomensRide for novice women cyclists in suburban Detroit.
E.J. Levy, 56, of Bloomfield Hills noticed that the local cycling community didn’t offer many group rides for novice women, [so] he started one.

The cycling community tends to cater to a hard-core, competitive crowd. Often, that’s guys who [...]

City of Detroit: America’s best urban biking?

John R with four one-way vehicle lanes
and negligible traffic — an urban
cyclist dream street.
We think so.
Apparently former New Yorker Toby Barlow may as well according to this Metromode article:
Toby Barlow finds it ironic that Detroit is known as the “Motor City”, since its flat and relatively calm streets make it the country’s most [...]

Highland Park Police, bicycles, and state law

The letter below was sent to the Highland Park Chief of Police, Theodore G. Cadwell II:
Dear Chief Cadwell,
I am writing to express concern that some of the Highland Park police officers may not be familiar with state law and bicycling.
Last night I was riding home from the Detroit Fireworks along Woodward Avenue through Highland [...]

Dequindre Trail construction set to begin

Both Crain’s and Model D are reporting updates on the trail connection between the Dequindre Cut and the RiverWalk.
From the Crain’s article:
The Economic Development Corporation of the city of Detroit today approved a $871,900 contract with Detroit-based WCI Contractors Inc. for an 800-foot extension of the Dequindre Cut, the Dequindre Trail extension, to begin in [...]

Make your City More Bike Friendly With Energy Block Grants

The excuse of not having money to make your community more bike friendly just got a whole lot weaker thanks to Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG).
This funding is another a portion of the overall economic stimulus package and it can fund bicycling planning, construction, and programming:
Entities may develop and implement programs to conserve [...]

Reshaping Detroit: Villages and Greenways

“This continent has not seen a transformation like Detroit’s since the last days of the Maya. The city, once the fourth largest in the country, is now so depopulated that some stretches resemble the outlying farmland and others are altogether wild.”
– From “Detroit Arcadia“, Harper’s Magazine, 2007. At nearly 140 square miles, Detroit is a [...]

Detroit’s Green Alley Project

This could be one of Detroit’s shortest yet coolest greenways for peds and bikes.
It’s called the Green Alley Project and it’s located in Midtown near Second Avenue and Canfield. This Green Garage project will eventually connect to the planned Midtown Loop.

Tom Brennan discusses the plans for greening the alley next to the Green Garage. Created [...]