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Complete Streets for MI
What are Complete Streets? They're streets designed with not just automobiles in mind, but bikes, pedestrians and public transport as integral components of their safe usage. A coalition of health and cycling organizations are working to encourage the Michigan Department of Transportation to adopt a formal Complete Streets policy. A petition for which they are currently collecting signatures reads:
The streets of our cities and towns are an important part of the livability of our communities. They ought to be designed for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper. It is time that our state's transportation planning agencies - including the Michigan Department of Transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, local road agencies, and local arms of government - Complete Streets policies and build a safer, cleaner, more sustainable transportation system.
This seems particularly apt today after getting yelled at by a DPD officer last night to "Get on the sidewalk!"
Sign the petition here.
3 Chances to Ride on August 1
It is obviously in our own self-interest to remind you that this Saturday, August 1, is our Henry Ford Birthday Tour led by Michigan Trails & Greenways Alliance's Todd Scott. (BTW, his blog M-Bike is really, truly a must-read.) It's going to be really interesting and informative, for sure. But there are two other cycling happenings on the same day we'd like to share with you as well.
In the AM, it's the City to City Kick-Off Ride! Join Kevin and Emily as they head off to Chicago, raising money for Cystic Fibrosis. Join them at Campus Martius and ride them out of town!
From Chicago, Emily will head to Denver. Read this:
Rocking cystic fibrosis so hard that CF will one day stand for "Cure Found" is Emily Schaller's mission in life. In September, 2009, Emily will take her mission on the road. Heading west from Detroit, Emily will ride her bike on a month-long Emily to Ellen for Cystic Fibrosis campaign with the hopes of ending up on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Ellen DeGeneres is Emily's hero and being on The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been her dream for years. "Her show is the perfect vehicle to deliver my story," says Emily, founder of the Rock CF Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to finding a cure for CF. "I want to educate as many people as I can about cystic fibrosis and emphasize how the never ending fight of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has made it possible for me to live my life to the fullest."
Emily will ride her bike 1,400 miles from Detroit, MI to Denver, CO. The first 300 miles from Detroit to Chicago will be part of her Rock CF Foundation's City to City Ride with six other riders. From Chicago, she will head west to Denver. Because Emily and her CF doctor decided that riding through the desert is not a great idea, her modes of transportation from Denver to Burbank, California will be adventuresome. A canoe trip down the Colorado river? A donkey ride through the Grand Canyon? A moped along Route 66?
Swallowing forty pills a day, taking breathing treatments and undergoing chest physical therapy are all part of her daily routine. And because her body can't absorb nutrients normally, she expects her daily intake of 3,000 calories to almost double on the ride. Exercise has improved Emily's lung function and has allowed her to complete two half marathons in one year. Riding across the country, she hopes to shine a light on what the future holds for the cure of cystic fibrosis.
Emily, you rock!
Read more about City to City and register for the send-off ride here.
Then, in the afternoon, you can hit up The Hub's Safe Streets Youth Ride Fundraiser. It's a 2:30 p.m. start time, and you'll be riding with graduates of The Hub's Earn-A-Bike program. The ride ends at the U-M Detroit Center for refreshments and snacks. Register online at http://safestreetsyouthride.eventbrite.com/.
Bike Snobbery Gets Its Day in the Sun
BikeSnobNYC got some props in today's NYT. If you aren't familiar with his harsh and funny blog, do yourself a favor. Snob dishes out snark on all of cycling's absurdity, particularly when it comes to marketing and gross consumerism. Good stuff.
On that same note, Outside Magazine recently published a hilarious -- and apt -- article lamenting the death of the Angry Bike Mechanic. An excerpt:
The humiliations go like this. You walk into a bike shop with a crisis: a brake pad that's rubbing. A greasy-fingered mechanic with a chainring tat and a Cinelli cycling cap takes a quick look and says something about a barrel adjuster. You ask, "What's a barrel adjuster?" He glares at you—and then at your carbon-fiber ride—as if you've just ordered a Shirley Temple in a dive bar.
You feel invisible. You fork over the bike and your credit card and skulk out, worried that the laughter coming from the back room is about you. Of course it's about you.
Read the entire article here.
We can relate. Of course we try to be nice to every single customer...but sometimes it's hard. For example, people that demand instant service. Which is unheard of. Sometimes if Ron is all caught up, he can do a flat or a simple adjustment while someone waits, but it gets to the point where we don't even want to do that lest people begin to expect it. We have to be firm and say, "Sorry, you are just going to have to drop your bike off!" We work our tails off to get bikes back the same day or next day. And that is really fast. But some people are always going to want more..and the inner snob comes out! <end rant>
Corktown Music Fest
This afternoon and into the evening, Wheelhouse will be offering free bike parking at the Corktown Music Festival, located in Roosevelt Park. The lineup includes Mike Clark, Greg Mudge, an Enemy Squad reunion and Terrence Parker. The fest runs 3 to 11 p.m. See you there!
Scraper Bikes!
One of the Bicycle Film Festival shorts was about the scraper bike movement in Oakland, CA. It started off with a video for the scraper bike song, which pretty much has been stuck in our heads for the last few days. Have a watch and listen...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geIsWq5xOSE]
(Karen wants a Bits O' Honey bike real bad.)
Weekend Recap
Wow! What a wonderful weekend for cycling in Detroit. The Bicycle Film Festival was well-attended and fantastic, we had a blast dancing at the Park Bar at the after-party on Friday, the Alley Cat was good times and we spent all day Sunday biking and beaching Belle Isle.
It might have been cloudy, but it was still lovely.
BFF Alley Cat!
Saturday, July 18, 3:30, Hart Plaza. Be there or be L7! Read more about Bike Film Festival Detroit here.
CityFest Parking Report
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!