Detroit Listed As One Of The Top 10 Most Bike Friendly Cities In The U.S.

Photo: Hour Detroit 

BikingExpert.com looked at locations throughout the United States to find out which are the country’s most bike friendly cities.

Cities all over the world — especially Europe — are known for their bike friendliness. But, cities across the United States are making strides in ensuring that their streets are accessible and safe for cyclists. BikingExpert.com has compiled a list of the top 10 most bike friendly cities in the United States for EfficientGov.

Cycling is an incredibly beneficial exercise. Your whole body gets a workout, including your heart, and as a bonus, your exercise doubles as a form of transportation. When you rely on a bicycle instead of a car to commute, you can save money on gas, auto insurance, car payments and parking fees. You can feel good about using your own two legs to get around, reducing air pollution while experiencing the health benefits of biking. The following U.S. cities make it easy for residents to reap the many benefits of bicycle transportation.

#5 Detroit, Mich.

The city of Detroit supports efforts to promote bike tours. Dedicated bike lanes can be found around the city’s best attractions and other heavily trafficked areas, which provide safety as well as recreation for cyclists and tourists. In addition, public and private projects are underway to connect Detroit to other locations in Michigan and Canada, making it easier for cyclists to travel longer distances by bike.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 

Coming Soon! Open Streets Detroit To Test Car-Free Zones

Photo by Nick Hagen

Open Streets Detroit, powered by Downtown Detroit Partnership and presented by DTE Energy Foundation, is part of a global movement to reclaim public space for people by temporarily transforming streets into paved parks and public spaces. Free and open to participants of all ages, Open Streets Detroit is proposed to temporarily close almost four miles of Michigan Avenue and West Vernor Highway to create space for healthy activities, community building, and connection to local retail.

WHY

Open Streets Detroit is a unique opportunity to bring the city and the region together through a celebration of public space that fosters community connections. The positive economic impact of Open Streets programs in other communities has been well documented, with local businesses reporting increased patronage on the day of the event and returning customers afterwards. Open Streets Detroit seeks to produce similar benefits by showcasing the city’s business districts, neighborhoods, parks and cultural institutions.


WHEN

September 25, 2016
Noon to 5 p.m.

October 2, 2016
Noon to 5 p.m.

WHERE

The inaugural Open Streets Detroit route will cover 3.7 miles along Michigan Avenue and West Vernor Highway. The proposed route begins at Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit, connects through Roosevelt Park in Corktown, and continues through Southwest Detroit, past Clark Park, ending at Boyer Playfield located at Livernois and Vernor.

Click HERE For More Information! 

Tour de Troit, Michigan's LARGEST Bike Ride, Returns To Detroit Sat. Sept 17th

Flagstar Bank and Tour de Troit are once again joining forces to present Michigan’s largest cycling event on Saturday, September 17.


Attendance at the 15th annual ride is expected to exceed last year’s 7,500 cyclists. Since its inception in 2005, the Tour de Troit ride has raised more than $250,000 to support greenways and non-motorized transit projects in Detroit.

To celebrate this year’s event, Tour de Troit and Flagstar Bank are launching the Detroit Rides Detroit Sweepstakes on Monday, August 29. The Grand Prize winner will receive a Shinola Detroit Arrow bike, valued at $1,000.  To enter, visit www.tour-de-troit.org/tourdetroitride

The Detroit Arrow is Shinola’s single-speed bicycle, streamlined for urban riding and hand assembled by bike specialists in Detroit. The bike is available in black and white color options, in both men’s and women’s frame styles.

Winners will be announced on September 9, just in time to ride the new bike in the Tour de Troit.

“This is Flagstar’s third consecutive year as presenting sponsor of the tour, and it just keeps getting better,” said Beth Correa, director of Community Affairs and Quality at Flagstar Bank. “We’re proud to sponsor an event that puts the spotlight on Detroit in such a positive way. Tour de Troit is a great partner—they not only promote a healthy lifestyle but also raise funds to make the city better for biking. It’s a win all around.”  “

 “Flagstar Bank is an important part of Tour de Troit,” said Vittoria Katanski, director, Tour de Troit. “Their support allows us to make a real difference in the city’s biking infrastructure while presenting a fun, safe ride for the community to enjoy.”

The starting location of this year’s ride is Roosevelt Park, 2200 Michigan Ave. in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. The 30-mile ride will begin at 9 a.m. and will pass through several city neighborhoods before concluding at Roosevelt Park. The 62-mile metric century ride for advanced riders will start between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

“Our 15th anniversary is a real milestone,” said Kelli Kavanaugh, ride director, Tour de Troit. “Detroit has seen amazing growth as a bike city with the number of rides and events multiplying in the last decade-and-a-half.  We’re proud to have been a catalyst to all this growth while remaining the leading ride in the state.”

Funds raised from the Tour de Troit have helped develop more than 17 miles of bike lanes as part of the Southwest Detroit Greenlink. Tour de Troit has also raised money for the Villages of Detroit Community Development Corporation, the Connor Creek Greenway and other non-motorized projects.

After the ride, cyclists will be treated to food from local restaurants, including Slows to Go and Organaman, beer from New Holland Brewing and entertainment from local bands. Tour de Troit registration includes one food ticket and one beverage ticket. Additional tickets are available for $5.

Registration and Cost

Registration for Tour de Troit is $50 through August 31; Sept. 1 to Sept. 9 $60; Sept. 10 to Sept. 17 $70. Registration often sells out so register early.  The metric century is $60 until it sells out at 500 riders.

For registration and additional information, visit http://www.tour-de-troit.org  

Registration is now available for Tour de Troit’s international Bike the Bridge ride, taking place Saturday, October 9, 2016. The ride is limited to 750 people, and a valid passport is required. Registration information is available on the Tour de Troit website.

Detroit Could Adopt This From San Francisco To Make The City Safer

Click HERE For More Information On This Project! 

Motor City To Bike City: Inside Detroit's Bicycle Renaissance

Here's A Visual Map And Renderings Of The Woodward Complete Streets Plan

Click HERE For The Full Plan! 

Detroit Receives $1M+ For Public Bike Share Program

Photo: DBusiness 

Detroit will get more than $1 million to launch a public bike share program, one of 14 projects tapped to get federal funding in the region, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

In addition to Detroit, Sterling Heights will see $650,000 for the Dodge Park Bridge over the Clinton River and Lake Orion will receive more than $263,000 for the Paint Creek Trail connection to the village's downtown.

Lisa Nuszkowski, executive director of Detroit Bike Share for the Downtown Detroit Partnership, said the program -- not to be confused with the system available to employees or affiliates of Dan Gilbert's companies downtown -- will likely begin with 350 bicycles at 35 stations around the greater downtown area. System details will not be finalized until after a vendor is selected, but users would likely be able to pay at the individual stations for daily or annual passes or something in between.

The system would be planned around the idea of short-distance trips to help keep more bikes in circulation with stations near transit stops and would not be designed to compete with bike rentals, Nuszkowski said.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 

Forbes: Detroit Gets Protected Bike Lanes As Its Cycling Craze Continues

Photo: Metro Mode Media

People who think of Detroit as the Motor City aren’t always aware that it has an active bicycling culture that is helping to reinvent the city’s image.

Those biking enthusiasts are about to get a feature that the world’s most bike-friendly cities have: protected bike lanes.

The Detroit Free Press says construction will begin soon on Detroit’s first dedicated lanes for bicyclists. These are different than just the bike lanes you see painted on ordinary city streets.

Protected bike lanes are separated from traffic by barriers. The lanes are clearly designated for use by bicyclists, which keeps them from having to dodge parked cars and avoid motorists.

The lanes can be found in cities around the world, from Copenhagen to Chicago. Unlike those places, Detroit’s project is a modest one.

About a half-mile of lanes are being built on Jefferson Avenue, on the city’s east side, near its border with Grosse Pointe Park.

That’s a sharp contrast to the 170 miles of painted bike lanes that have popped up across the rest of the city since 2006. But the Free Press says that there are plans to expand the lanes farther west on Jefferson Avenue to East Grand Boulevard, and eventually to downtown Detroit.

Click HERE For The Full Article! 

Detroit Bikes Inks Landmark Deal with New Belgium Brewing

Detroit Bikes has announced a deal with New Belgium Brewing to produce 2,415 bikes to promote the beer maker’s Fat Tire Amber Ale.

Detroit Bikes, North America's largest manufacturer of bicycles, will produce the custom-designed bikes at its 50,000 square-foot factory in Detroit. The company expects to add about ten workers to meet the increased demand and to begin shipping the Fat Tire bikes early next year.

Inspired by the iconic bicycle on New Belgium’s Fat Tire Amber Ale label, the new bike will be awarded to New Belgium employees for their one-year anniversaries and used for fundraisers and other giveaways.

“This order is a win-win,” said Zak Pashak, Detroit Bikes founder and president. “New Belgium Brewing gets a quality product that’s made-in-the-USA, and Detroit Bikes is able to partner with an outstanding company that shares our vision of encouraging cycling.”

"While there are quite a few small, custom bike builders in the US, there are very few options for larger volume, production bicycle manufacturers," said New Belgium Brewing bike designer, Ryan McKee.  “New Belgium is responsible for putting more than 2,000 bikes out into the world annually. To double down on such an awesome idea with bicycles made right in Detroit - it's twice as nice.”

“Zak and his team at Detroit Bikes exemplify the cultural renaissance that is currently happening in Detroit,” said McKee. “We appreciate Detroit Bike's love and respect for the bicycle as a sustainable vehicle for change."

Detroit With A Host Of Other Cities Unveil Protected Bike Lanes

Photo: Jessica Archer

Spring is three weeks away, and that means it's time for one of American cities' newest rituals: announcing the year's protected bike lane construction plans.

Every few days over the last month, another U.S. city has released plans or announced progress in building protected lanes. Even more excitingly, many are in downtown and commercial areas, which tend to have the highest latent demand for biking. Let's take a scan from east to west of the projects that popped onto our radar in February alone, to be built in 2015 or 2016:

Detroit is installing southeast Michigan's first protected lanes this year on a "very short segment" of East Jefferson. Advocacy group Detroit Greenways says it's "precedent setting and could serve as a model for all of Detroit’s major spoke roads."

Click HERE For The Full Article! 

Pretty Sweet! Slow Roll Special Edition Coming This May - Grand Prix Course

The organizers of the weekly Slow Roll bike rides in the 'D have "special permission" to ride the Grand Prix course then return to Campus Martius for more Grand Prix fun and socializing at the Fountain Bistro.

Come on out and ride this May 27, Wednesday night Downtown in the 'D

When Slow Roll bikes start getting posted you know it is getting close to Spring in the 'D

Get your bike tuned up - warmer weather is near!

Click HERE For More Information! 

Detroit Makes Another "Cities To Watch In 2015" List. Keep 'em Comin'!

The Nickel Tour: Though 2015 promises much change for cities around the world, these six are set to see the most profound transformations.

We expect 2015 to bring a lot of great things for cities and the people that live in them.

But there are some metropolitan areas that stand out among the rest. Here are the areas we’re looking forward to watching in 2015.

Detroit, Michigan

Yes, Detroit. It’d be accurate to say we like underdogs. But we have good reasons.

Sure, the city spent 16 months in bankruptcy, a relatively short stint given the size of Detroit, and the scope of their financial woes (especially relative to other cities that have faced bankruptcy in recent years).

But it recently put a plan in motion to clear approximately three quarters of the city’s overall debt. It’s reviving its arts scene, too, not only by taking its museum out of city control and putting it into a charitable trust, but also by turning empty alleyways into galleries and live performance spaces.

The “motor city” is also becoming a hub for, of all things, bicycle manufacturing, an industry that, believe it or not, is largely outsourced to other countries. Seven such companies have popped up in Detroit in the past year, Forbes reports. One of them hopes to make 50,000 bikes a year alone.

Click HERE to read the full list! 

Cyclist Counters, Public Repair Stations Coming to Cass Ave

The Eco-Totem bike counter in Portland

Because the M1 streetcar tracks will eventually claim the outermost lanes of Woodward Avenue, an effort is underway to make parallel-running Cass Avenue the sexier street for cyclists. 

Remember when MDOT quietly budgeted $1M for non-motorized "Cass Avenue Improvements" last year? It looks like that cash will come to life in 2015. Bike lanes, public bike repair stations, and even cyclist-counting robots are all on the agenda.

Click HERE for the detailed list of improvements!

Not One To Advocate Copying, But Detroit Needs One Of These...

When Copenhagen started building a new network of separated bike lanes in the early 1980s, it quickly became a model of how to take a city back from cars. Now, more people bike than drive in the city center, and in the city as a whole, more people commute to work by bike than in the entire U.S. combined.

But the city is aiming for even more bike commuters, and keeps building new infrastructure to make cycling as easy as possible. The latest: An elevated roadway that speeds cyclists over an area that's usually crowded with pedestrians.

The Cykelslangen, or Cycle Snake, designed by architects at Dissing and Weitling and completed earlier this summer, winds through buildings a single story above a busy waterfront shopping area.

"There was a missing link that forced bicycle users to use the stairs or make a huge detour around a shopping center," says Mikael Colville-Anderson, Copenhagen-based urban design expert and CEO of Copenhagenize Design Company. "This solution provided a fast A-to-B from a bridge to a bicycle bridge on the harbor, while freeing up the harbor front for meandering pedestrians."

Click HERE for the full article! 

Alberta Venture: Why Is Zak Pashak Building Bikes In Detroit?

Photograph Daniel Lippitt

Excerpt:

“There are a lot of schemers that show up in this city who think they’re going to save Detroit,” says Zak Pashak. “Coming here and starting a business does a great thing for the city, but don’t say you’re saving it. This is a serious place to come to. It’s not frivolous. People are coming here to try and contribute to a really interesting community.”

To convey the spirit of his plan to make bicycles in Detroit, Zak Pashak feels a tour is in order. At the wheel of his worn Toyota Prius, the 32-year-old entrepreneur narrates as the sprawl of Detroit unfolds, revealing a city broken but not dead. We pass the obvious blights symptomatic of a long-depressed city: rampant vacancy, overgrown land and lots of people sitting on stoops with nothing to do. But there are also signs of life, including a patch of downtown streets that people have taken to walking again and new businesses spun from an emergent entrepreneurial spirit. Local leaders are hoping these seeds will help to pull the city out of its 40-year funk. It was partly this spirit, partly an “irrational fascination with Michigan” and partly a need for change that drew Pashak to the Motor City from his hometown of Calgary two years ago.

Many Calgarians will know him as a precocious bar owner and music promoter who lost a close race for city alderman in 2010. Pashak’s latest venture, however, has nothing to do with Calgary or concert spaces. It’s a company called Detroit Bikes. Pashak plans to mass-produce bicycles in a city that was once famed for auto manufacturing but is now known more for its murder rate and the sheer scale of its emptied neighbourhoods. Since the 1950s, Detroit’s population has dropped from nearly two million to roughly 700,000, shedding 25 per cent of its residents in the past decade alone. The decline runs deep, some say starting with the race riots of 1967, followed by a long history of corrupt local government, rapid suburbanization and the fall of car manufacturing, compounded more recently by the global recession.

As we cruise the wide, empty boulevards into the city’s grittier pockets, Pashak points out his favourite buildings, ornate vestiges of better times. There are at least two he half-heartedly considered buying (for practically nothing) and remaking into some kind of business, perhaps a concert hall. Unlike Detroit’s heyday as a boomtown, its utter blankness and thirst for revival is now attracting a new kind of industrialist, people like Pashak who have money, ideas and the audacity to carry them out.

Overdressed on this muggy day in long sleeves and oversized chinos, Pashak walks with small quick steps and talks about everything in the same even, unexcitable tone. It might be that he is someone who’d rather do than talk about doing, but when it comes to media attention he’s used to reciting his story. He comes from a well-known Calgary family: his father, Barry Pashak, was a local NDP MLA; his mother, Jackie Flanagan, is a philanthropist and founder of Alberta Views magazine; and his ex-stepfather, Allan Markin, is a wealthy oilman and the former chairman of Canadian Natural Resources. Pashak has also garnered his own attention: starting businesses in your twenties gets you in the papers.

At an early age, Pashak showed an interest in money and, particularly, how to grow it. When he was eight, he requested that the child-support money his mother had been saving for him be invested in his step-dad’s oil company. It was a sweet boyhood gesture that would spark a passion for investing. “Every morning I’d wake up and read stock reports and make investments,” Pashak says of his high school years. “I had brokers.” By the time he was 20 he’d made enough money to buy a house just before Calgary’s real-estate market took off. The well-publicized divorce of his mother and Markin landed her a sizeable settlement, of which she gave Pashak and his sister “a small amount,” he says, enough for him to open a music club in 2004 called Broken City. (He’s since sold it, but still owns a quarter share and the building.) “That ended up being a significantly helpful investment, just the real estate,” he says.

Click HERE to read the full article! 

Thousands of Cyclists “Gear Up” For the 11th Annual Tour de Troit, Sept. 15

The 11th annual Tour de Troit, a bicycle tour through Detroit’s historic neighborhoods, will be held on Saturday, September 15 starting at Roosevelt Park. The event enables cyclists to explore the city while taking in many of its spectacular sights.

The event has continued to grow in participants over the years, and organizers are planning for 5,000 riders this year. The route will be closed to automobile traffic, a first for Tour de Troit. The City of Detroit has approved a closed course, blocking off the appropriate roads for the duration of the ride. Because no cars can enter the course streets, the cyclists will not need a police escort.

“We are so excited to once again give Tour de Troit participants the one-of-a-kind opportunity to see Detroit when riding along with thousands of fellow cyclists,” said Vittoria Katanski, Tour de Troit co-director. “This year, our riders will enjoy a new and exciting course taking them through wonderful neighborhoods and business districts.”

The event offers two routes – one for the more recreational rider and another for more experienced cyclists. The leisure course runs approximately 30 miles and the alternative course is a Metric Century, 62 miles. Registration and sign-in will begin at 7:30 a.m.; the Metric Century ride will depart at 8 a.m. with the main group departing at 9 a.m. Both courses start and end at Roosevelt Park in Detroit at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 14th Street, Corktown. For a pre-ride pick-me-up, McDonald’s will supply yogurt parfaits and Great Lakes Coffee will be serving the java.

Registration costs $40 per rider and $35 for students. The cost increases on September 1 to $50/$45. Day-of registration costs $65 for all participants, but space is limited to 5,000 riders and participants are encouraged to register now. The Metric Century 62-mile option is sold out.

The Tour de Troit will be supported with approximately 50 sweepers and six support and gear (SAG) vehicles. Sweeper and SAG teams include experienced cyclists ready to assist participants with course instructions, changing flat tires or completing minor repairs on the road. If for any reason a rider cannot complete the course, the SAG team will take rider and bike back to Roosevelt Park. Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop, American Cycle and Fitness, The Hub of Detroit, Detroit Bicycle Co., Suicide Squad and Bikes and Murder sponsor the sweeper and SAG teams.

A rest stop, supported by Vitamin Water, Eastern Market Co. and Whole Foods, is located at the Detroit Boat Club on Belle Isle approximately halfway through the ride.

The ride culminates with a party in Roosevelt Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the shadow of Michigan Central Station featuring food and drink from local restaurants like Slow’s Bar B Que, Gonella Subs, Honeybee Market, Paul’s Pizza, Traffic Jam & Snug, Organaman and MillKing It Productions.

Flagstar Bank, a new Tour de Troit sponsor, covers maintenance fees and permit costs, allowing one hundred percent of participant entry fees to benefit greenways development in Detroit. The event has already raised more than $100,000 for cycling infrastructure in Detroit, including the Southwest Detroit Greenlink.

"Flagstar Bank is proud to be a sponsor of an event that helps financially support and build community awareness for our local greenways and bicycle routes,” said Mary Anne Parks, vice president, Event Management, at Flagstar. “We are committed to making a difference in Detroit and across Michigan, and Tour de Troit is a perfect match for our goals."

Advance registrations include a t-shirt; sizes are not guaranteed for day-of registration.

On-street parking is available at Roosevelt Park, but riders are encouraged to take the SMART bus or cycle to the event. Additional offsite parking is available at University of Detroit Dental School, Motor City Casino and Hotel and the State of Michigan Welcome Center, all of which are located within a ten-minute pedal of Roosevelt Park. Lodging partners for the event are Motor City Casino and Hostel Detroit.

To register and find out more information, visit www.tour-de-troit.org .

About Tour de Troit: The Tour de Troit is an annual event that raises funds to support non-motorized infrastructure in Detroit, including the Southwest Detroit Greenlink. The bicycle tour takes riders through the city’s historic areas, showcasing Detroit’s sites and landmarks.