Cities

Detroit also has singletrack! Rouge Park on the west side has a modest 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometer) hiking and mountain biking trail. The plans are to expand that to a three mile loop in the near future.

Metro Detroit Cycling

It should be noted that while the city of Detroit offers great bicycling infrastructure, the surrounding suburbs typically don’t. The inner ring suburbs – those designed and developed during Metro Detroit’s streetcar era – offer decent cycling opportunities. These older suburbs also offer many weekly rides for the go-fast Lycra crowd.

Unfortunately, as is too common across America, the metro area’s newer suburban communities are auto-centric. Rides there often begin by loading the bike onto the car. The unfriendly roads keep cyclists mainly on rail-trails and at Metro parks.

Community Challenges

Detroit faces many challenges, including the nation’s highest unemployment rate and the cultural issues that come with being the Motor City. Bicycles are often pegged as a last choice mode of transportation, i.e. riding a bicycle means one cannot afford a car.

Nationwide, bicycling advocacy is not very diverse. Detroit’s large African-American, Hispanic, Arabic and Muslim populations are all too often under-represented and under-served in the cycling world. Detroit bicycling advocates look to be leaders in diversifying the cycling movement.

While on the subject of “under-served,” Detroit is nearly 140 square miles (363 square kilometers) yet one cannot buy a Trek, Giant or Specialized within the city. In fact, no city shop fully stocks new bicycles. Filling that gap are bicycle co-ops like The Hub of Detroit – Michigan’s First Gold Level Bicycle Friendly Business. Their popular Earn-A-Bike program and bike shop are helping get a lot of Detroiters on the saddle.

Joey Rodriguez-Tanner, The Hub administrator added, “There’s still a lot of room to grow.” As a positive sign, during a recent ride into work, Rodriguez-Tanner noticed many other riders on the road – and he didn’t recognize any of them.

A related challenge is improving access to healthier food within the city. One result has been a major push into urban agriculture. According to Ashley Atkinson with the Greening of Detroit, there were 11,000 Detroiters engaged in urban agriculture in 2009. “Detroit has the highest participation rate for any major urban area,” said Atkinson. During the summer, cyclists can see this “growing” movement through farm-to-fork bike tours or the Detroit Agriculture Network Tour scheduled for August 4, 2010.

Looking Ahead

Bikes Belong and REI have recently awarded a $15,000 grant to the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance. This grant will be used to help Detroit gain recognition as an official Bicycle Friendly Community in the League of American Bicyclists program. Applying for Bicycle Friendly status may be illuminating since the current process isn’t geared towards cities that have become bike-friendly by reverting to their pre-WWI population levels.

Detroit is not Portland. Or even Los Angeles.

LA artist Alex Aranda, who now lives in Detroit, added, “Compared with Los Angeles, the Detroit biking scene is a smaller community where you tend to know most everyone. Also, riding here is not just a fashion statement. People often ride out of need rather than to be seen.”

The city of Detroit is also continuing their Safe Routes to School efforts and is exploring a possible Complete Streets ordinance.

All told, Detroit is clearly more than just the Motor City.