Bicycle Film Festival July 17 & 18

Wheelhouse is a proud sponsor of the first-ever Bicycle Film Festival appearance in Detroit. It takes place Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18 at the Marlene Boll Theatre at 1401 Broadway. There are two programs a night, with screenings at 7 and 9 p.m. Each program is $8 -- and The Hub and Wheelhouse are providing free bike parking!

After the movies, there will be a party each night -- Friday at the Park Bar and Saturday at Cass Cafe. Tickets and program information are available here.

For the first time in its nine-year history, the Bicycle Film Festival will stop in Detroit for two days of films, parties, and fun all centered around bike culture. On July 17th and 18th, the BFF will show 40 shorts and two feature films at the Marlene Boll Theatre, located at 1401 Broadway in Downtown Detroit.

The Bicycle Film Festival is a cultural phenomenon like no other. Originating in New York City, The Bicycle Film Festival is the earliest voice of one of the most powerful and culturally relevant movements of the past decade -- the urban bike movement. The BFF brings many communities together -- both culturally (fashion, music and art) and between different genres within the cycling community (track bikes, BMX and road cycling).

“We are extremely excited to bring the Bicycle Film Festival to Detroit in 2009,” says BFF founding director Brendt Barbur. “With its rich history of being a motorist's town, we’re glad we could give the cyclists a voice here as well.”

Now in its ninth year, the festival has grown to 39 cities worldwide including international partners Sydney, London, Paris and Tokyo. The Bicycle Film Festival, presented by 42BELOW Vodka, will be in 27 North American cities this year and is greatly expanding to include new cities with events in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and New Orleans.

The Detroit leg of the Bicycle Film Festival will screen films on Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18 at the Marlene Boll Theatre, located at 1401 Broadway in Downtown Detroit. Program highlights include the feature-length documentary Where Are You Go directed by Benny Zenga and Brian Vernor, and shorts such as Wolfpack Hustle: All City Team Race 2, which follows renegade Los Angeles night-time street racers; Keirin, a beautifully shot portrait of Japanese track racers directed by the director of Les Ninja du Japan; and Made In Queens, about native Trinidadians that rig huge stereos onto BMX bikes and then treat New Yorkers to impromptu street parties.

Other shorts cover a similarly diverse range of cycling topics, from alley-cat races to candle-lit downhill biking, from BMX tricksters to bike polo, from frame-building to track-racing – something for every taste and disposition. The films are divided into four programs – two on each day. The screenings begin on July 17 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. and on July 18 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets are $8 for each program and are available at the door and online at bicyclefilmfestival.com. On-site bicycle parking will be provided for free by local bike shop sponsors, Wheelhouse Detroit and The Hub of Detroit.

Following both screenings, there will be after-parties held at nearby venues. On July 17, DJ collective Haute to Death will be spinning at the Park Bar (2040 Park Ave., Downtown). On July 18, The Cass Cafe (4620 Cass., Midtown) will host Petal Shop, Steven and the Reelers and The Rev. Robert-David Jones. Both after-parties are free at the door.

“There’s been a marked increase in bike culture in Detroit in the last few years,” says Detroit BFF organizer Carrie Yager. “It makes sense to showcase films that cyclists will enjoy in tandem with a showcase of great Detroit venues and music – after all, they are certainly inter-connected.” Yager estimates that several hundred attendees will come out for Detroit BFF – a coup for a first-year festival.

About the BFF:

In 2001, Brendt Barbur, Founder and Director, was compelled to start the Bicycle Film Festival after getting hit by a bus while riding his bike in New York City. Instead of being deterred by this experience, it inspired him to create a festival that celebrates the bicycle through music, art, and film. The 9th annual Bicycle Film Festival North American Tour is presented by 42BELOW Vodka. Local sponsors include TheDetroiter.com, Y-Arts, The Hub of Detroit, The Park Bar, Cass Cafe and Wheelhouse Detroit. For more information, please visit www.bicyclefilmfestival.com.

Inspiration from other places

There are a lot of really good people working to make Detroit a more bike-friendly city. With that said, it is frustrating sometimes to see how far behind we are in terms of infrastructure compared to other places that have long realized that cycling is an essential ingredient in a well-balanced urban city. Here are couple of really sweet biking amenities in places not too far away from us:

The Bike Train connects Toronto residents with cycling destinations in Ontario. They are talking about connecting it to Windsor, which would be wonderful for us here in "North Detroit" -- although, we still have the annoying problem of how difficult it is to get bikes across the border (pet peeve!). Cycling Ontario wine country and/or Pelee Island should be on everyone's list of places to go. Such great times to be had on bikes over the River.

(Amtrak, get a clue. Allow bikes on trains, especially between Detroit and Ann Arbor/Chicago. The Wolverine could blow up.)

Buffalo Blue Bicycle is a low-cost bike rental program targeting resident transportation needs -- as opposed to ours, which is more focused on recreation -- by creating hubs, so bikes can be picked up from one place and dropped off at another. The website is very informative, with great mapping. A similar system would be so cool here, with hub clusters in Downtown, Eastern Market, Midtown, New Center and Corktown...sigh. Well, it's never hurt a girl to dream!

We Like Bike!

42 Below Vodka is sponsoring the 42Ride, in which -- you guessed it -- 42 cyclists are riding across the country from NYC to LA. The 21 riders that are taking a northern route were in Detroit last night, and we met up with them at their visit to CityFest. What a great group of people. Alex almost took off with them, we're pretty sure. We were particularly excited to meet Jacquie Phelan, three-time NORBA champ, member of both the US Bicycling AND Mountain Bike Hall of Fames and founder of WOMBATS (Women's Mountain Bike and Tea Society), a group that works to increase the number of women in the sport of mountain biking. Us being a female-owned shop and she being an outspoken advocate for women in the sport of cycling, well, we hit it off. Hopefully we'll be seeing her back in Detroit soon!

Read more about Jacquie at her blog.

Safe riding to all the 42Riders! We hope you enjoyed your stay in the D!

Everything is better by bike...especially good food

One of our (awesome) customers, Ashley, works for a new service called Hotspokes! They deliver food for the Cass Cafe and the Bucharest Grill Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call Bucharest at 313-965-3111 (Is everyone in Detroit addicted to their schwarma or what?) and Cass at 313-831-1400 (lentil-walnut burgers, mmm) and ask for bike delivery!

CityFest Bike Parking + Tour de Troit Registration Info

Ride to CityFest & Leave the Parking to Wheelhouse!Wheelhouse is really excited to sponsor free bike parking at CityFest this year! If you've ridden there in years past, you've certainly noticed the, um, creative places people have had to lock their bikes. Well, this year, you can head to our corral, located at the southeast corner of W. Grand Blvd. and Cass, and we will keep your steed safe -- for free! CityFest runs from Wednesday, July 1 to Sunday, July 5. More info and a schedule of performances can be found here.

Tour de Troit Registration Kick-Off Ride TONIGHT, July 1, Tour de Troit registration kicks off! Meet us at the T-Plex between 5:30 and 7 p.m. to register for this year's ride, which is set for September 19. For one day only, it will cost just $25 to sign up; when online registration opens on July 2, the price will jump to $30.

After registering, we ride! We'll do a (free) ten-miler that wraps up at CityFest -- just in time to see De La Soul headline!

Read tons more about the TdT and registration here.

We'll miss you, MJ

Everyone at the Wheelhouse is bummin' about the passing of Michael Jackson. In tribute, we've compiled a list of our staff's fave songs, videos and/or Michael Jackson memory. Ron is all about pre-solo Michael Jackson. Here's a video of  "I Want You Back."

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfJu_Bom2sA]

Kelli:

My first full-length cassette tape was "Thriller." Last night, me, Rex & Mike took a ride up to the Motown Museum to pay tribute and check out the scene and it was off the chain. A guy danced "Billie Jean" step for step how Michael did it at the Motown 25th Anniversary Special. On the sidewalk in front of Motown. It was awesome.

Pic of my blinged up bike at Motown:

Fave song:  "Human Nature," I forgot how much I loved this song until going through almost the entire MJ catalog last night at Jay's.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T1E1aI95Ro]

And, for good measure, a video of said Motown special. First moonwalk ever!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfIE3Rz6IgE]

Karen:

I can't pick a favorite song, but my fave video is "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough."

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrPTDU40hO4]

I never really got over the fact that Bridget Selasky got to see Michael at the Silverdome when I was in second grade, but I tell you that I DID rock that red zipper jacket from K-Mart till way after it didn't fit me anymore. He is the best. I mean, I love dancing and he was there from the start. I used to tape his music off of Soul Train when I was 4.

Lisa adds a vote for "Don't Stop," and Alex weighs in with "Man in the Mirror."

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zpTQCQEFhg]

She said yes!

A couple that rented our tandem a couple of weeks ago returned very, very happy. He proposed to her on the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle and she said yes! Here's a pic of the bride-to-be moments after her acceptance.

Congrats, Tom & Susan!

Tour de Revs

Three Lutheran Reverends are riding a bamboo bicycle built for three across America -- 13,000 miles, 65 cities, 100 days. They arrive to Detroit on June 22 and they'll be at Rivard Plaza at 11:15 a.m. Anyone interested is invited to join them for a short ride and lunch at the Southeast Michigan Lutheran Synod on E. Jefferson. RSVP to 586-321-1118. For more info, check out www.tourderevs.org.

If you need to rent a bike for the Tour de Revs ride, we'll hook you up for just $10. Show up around 11 a.m. to get a bike.

This Weekend @ The Wheelhouse

Don't forget the Colin Hubbell Memorial Ride on Saturday! Register here or show up at 8:30 a.m. at Scott Fountain on Belle Isle! It is River Days, which is good and bad.

The good: Our rentals are 33% off -- so a 2-hour rental will cost you just $10 instead of $15.

The bad: Parking can be an issue. For service drop-offs and pick-ups, drive straight down Rivard, on the garage door side of our shop. For rentals, you're going to have to pony up and pay for parking in one of the structures in the area. The closest one to us is at the NW corner of Atwater & Rivard. Spittin' distance. If you have any issues, give us a ring at 313-656-2453!

Finally, we are thrilled to announce some early info about this year's Tour de Troit. Pre-registration will kick off on July 1 at the T-Plex at 5:30 p.m. followed by a 10-mile ride that will end up at Comerica City Fest! Read all the deets here.

If only in Detroit...

You don't need to understand Japanese to get this video. If only bells had such power on the Detroit RiverWalk! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnL4fjMzsSU]