Their job application is on their web site.

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy also has a few jobs posted.

• Communications Director
• Development Director
• Volunteer Manager

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Grist created this list and put a reference to the Detroit Bike City video at the top.

1. Biking is for elistists

Yeah, tell that to the good people of Detroit.

Metro Detroit has elitists. They’re just not in that video.

Detroit Complete Streets Coalition Makes City Streets Safer For Bikers, Pedestrians

The Huffington Post Detroit edition had this coverage of Detroit’s Complete Streets efforts.

It seems like a simple idea: Roadways should be safe for all users, whether they drive, ride public transit, bike or walk. But?Detroit is the 12th-most dangerous metro area for pedestrians in the country, and the region has a long way to go.

As the article mentions, the Complete Streets ordinance is in the Detroit law department prior to being introduced to City Council. Unlike many of the other communities making a buzz with Complete Street resolutions, Detroit’s should produce results.

Detroit, Michigan: The Non-Motorized City

Global Site Plans published this story which provides a very good overview of all that’s going in Detroit.

Do you ride for recreation, community organizing, or the daily commute? Within the Detroit community, public mobility has developed into two distinct exchanges: the first focused on physical redevelopment and the second, community development. On one hand, urban planners, environmental non-profits, and downtown developers are actively engaged in urban design and adaptive-reuse of existing infrastructure for the use of bicycles. While other Detroiter’s are focused primarily on the bicycle user: from recreation and community health to vocational skills and self-empowerment.

Compared to other transportation alternatives, bicycles do not require infrastructural changes. Indeed, Detroit has plenty of roads to share. However, road diets and greenway developments certainly make cities more inviting to cyclists.

The city’s Detroit Works Project reprinted this article as well.

Complete Streets isn’t anti-car

The article asks the question, “Will the Motor City ever relinquish its auto-centric ideals for the benefit of pedal power?”

Is that an accurate question? Perhaps in the suburbs, but not in the city of Detroit.

To improve biking, does Detroit need to get rid of expressways and convenient parking? It generally doesn’t have congestion. The city was mostly developed during its streetcar heyday and has a decent street grid, which means more intersections and non-expressway speed limits that are rarely above 35 MPH .

Is the road-dieted Michigan Avenue with bike lanes in Corktown any less ideal for driving? In many ways, adding bike lanes improves safety for everyone, including motorists and pedestrians.

Complete Streets isn’t anti-car. It’s about balancing needs among all transportation modes while considering how the road design affects the surrounding community.

Comlete Streets is anti-some-cars, specifically those motorists who ignore traffic laws, speed and imperil others. We’ve seen strong support for Complete Streets helping address that community issue — even in the Motor City.

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So, I thought it might be appropriate to provide some background on why this site exists.

There really were a couple early projects I started that prompted the creation of m-bike.

Woodward Bike Routes

Around 1998, I proposed some Woodward bike routes in Oakland County. I developed a mission statement and routes that used the existing side streets paralleling the Woodward.

The Woodward Avenue Action Association (WA3) was very supportive and hosted meetings with the various municipalities. But, since the routes weren’t directly on Woodward, WA3 couldn’t champion it. It wasn’t within their mission. None of the cities showed much interest and it died.

However, I’d like to think that this discussion had some influence on future non-motorized planning efforts on the Woodward corridor.

I-75 Non-motorized Mobility Plan

This next project started when MDOT was studying the widening of I-75 in South Oakland County. MDOT’s plan ignored how this expansion would affect bicyclists. It also ignored the opportunity to improve bicyclists’ ability to get across I-75, one of the area’s major barriers.

So, I created a fairly thorough 16 page, full-color plan on how to improve I-75 crossings for cyclists. It proposed some new crossings while improving some existing ones. I had met with MDOT’s project planning consultants ahead of time then submitted the report to them.

They ignored it.

When I asked them why this plan resulted in no changes to the project’s final environmental impact statement, the MDOT consultant said it was due to a editing mistake. Seriously.

The bottom line? It was real easy to ignore the lone wolf bike advocate.

m-bike begins

I thought that to be a more success advocate, I should create the appearance of an organization which was larger than one person. At the same time, I needed to spread the bike advocacy gospel to other cyclists and get them involved.

A web site seemed like the best way of achieving both.

In June of 2002 I registered m-bike.org, which was a play on M-DOT. The initial web site was up in August.

You may have noticed that I still write posts as if m-bike is a big advocacy organization, hence the “we” instead of “I”. Is that still necessary or just confusing?

The reality is its just me writing posts whenever I get a chance.

The future of m-bike

The web site design is really tired but any big updates are on hold as the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan develops a web site with overlapping interests. I’ve been working with them on it for a number of years now and it’s on the verge of launching. I am hopeful they can provide much of the functionality that is missing from this site.

I have had some discussions with others about making m-bike into a full-blown Metro Detroit bike advocacy, membership-based organization. Except for trails and what’s happening in Detroit, there are practically no organizations successfully advocating for better biking.

That said, I don’t see m-bike filling that void any time soon.

However, what is happening is the Detroit Greenways Coalition is becoming a non-profit organization, but their scope would limited to the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. Perhaps the Coalition’s service area would eventually expand to include other suburbs.

We’ll likely know more by post #2000.

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This story was published in the Detroit Free Press on Christmas 1921:

The Christmas Bicycle By Dorr Wiltse, Age 10, Caro, Michigan.

The manager of a large factory was walking around the machines. He said to one man, “Make that well because it is a Christmas bicycle.”

At last the bicycle was finished, a fine one too. It came on the train to a nice little town. A truck brought it to a shop. When the shopkeeper saw it he said, “This is a fine bicycle. I will sell it for Christmas.”

But, alas, nobody bought it. So it had to stay in the shop. The time flew by till it was nearly Christmas. The shopkeeper said to himself, “I will go away for Christmas myself.”

It was Christmas eve and when the man came to lock up the shop he went in the back room to get something and he left the door opern.

The bicycle said, “Now is my chance.”

So out of the door he softly slipped and down the street he went a flying. When he came to the edge of the town he saw a little house. He looked in the window and saw a Christmas tree. The door was standing open. So the bicycle went in and leaned up against the tree.

When the children got up the next morning they cried, “Oh mother, Santa Claus has not forgotten us.”

The bicycle shook with joy.

They had many rides on him and the bicycle enjoyed every one of them.

Dorr became very involved in the local history of Caro. He helped found their historical society and wrote a few books. He died in 1989.

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The indicators are grouped into five main categories: infrastructure, Michigan, education, health and wellness, and talent.

There aren’t any indicators showing how we’re doing with respect to walking or biking, so we suggested two additions to the Mobility section of the Infrastructure dashboard.

For walking, we suggested a count of the number of Michigan cities given a “Very Walkable” rating or better from walkscore. com. Currently no Michigan cities have that rating but Hamtramck is very, very close. Given that no Michigan city is considered very walkable, it doesn’t seem likely they’ll appreciate this suggestion. We wouldn’t be overly disappointed if they lowered the bar so that some cities are counted. That would be better than nothing.

For biking, we suggesteded a count of the number of Bicycle Friendly Communities within the state. Currently that’s 7.

Why not use the number of Complete Street policies? While the Michigan Complete Streets Coalition lists a map with “Complete Street policies”, it really isn’t. It lists communities that have passed ordinances and resolutions, some of which we know have little to no intention of having a Complete Streets policy. And some are co-opting the Complete Streets definition.

Similarly, some communities have “non-motorized plans” which are merely sidewalk or trails plans. What is and what is not a proper non-motorized plan is subjective. And just having a plan doesn’t mean it’s being implemented any time soon.

For these reasons, we think using the third-party evaluations for walking and biking make much more sense.

One more benefit? These evaluations are consistent nationally. If Michigan is to compete with the rest of America, we need to measure ourselves accurately against the other 49.

We’ll let you know if we get any response from the state.

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It’s not known whether the author(s) were male or female, but that doesn’t make it any less ridiculous.

For those who get nostalgic for that 1890s golden era of cycling, it’s important to realize it wasn’t golden for everyone. Major Taylor can vouch for that.

Besides, did anyone really think that making a list of 41 “dont’s” would encourage more women to ride?

• Don’t be a fright.
• Don’t faint on the road.
• Don’t wear a man’s cap.
• Don’t wear tight garters.
• Don’t forget your toolbag
• Don’t attempt a “century.”
• Don’t coast. It is dangerous.
• Don’t boast of your long rides.
• Don’t criticize people’s “legs.”
• Don’t wear loud hued leggings.
• Don’t cultivate a “bicycle face.”
• Don’t refuse assistance up a hill.
• Don’t wear clothes that don’t fit.
• Don’t neglect a “light’s out” cry.
• Don’t wear jewelry while on a tour.
• Don’t race. Leave that to the scorchers.
• Don’t wear laced boots. They are tiresome.
• Don’t imagine everybody is looking at you.
• Don’t go to church in your bicycle costume.
• Don’t wear a garden party hat with bloomers.
• Don’t contest the right of way with cable cars.
• Don’t chew gum. Exercise your jaws in private.
• Don’t wear white kid gloves. Silk is the thing.
• Don’t ask, “What do you think of my bloomers?”
• Don’t use bicycle slang. Leave that to the boys.
• Don’t go out after dark without a male escort.
• Don’t without a needle, thread and thimble.
• Don’t try to have every article of your attire “match.”
• Don’t let your golden hair be hanging down your back.
• Don’t allow dear little Fido to accompany you
• Don’t scratch a match on the seat of your bloomers.
• Don’t discuss bloomers with every man you know.
• Don’t appear in public until you have learned to ride well.
• Don’t overdo things. Let cycling be a recreation, not a labor.
• Don’t ignore the laws of the road because you are a woman.
• Don’t try to ride in your brother’s clothes “to see how it feels.”
• Don’t scream if you meet a cow. If she sees you first, she will run.
• Don’t cultivate everything that is up to date because yon ride a wheel.
• Don’t emulate your brother’s attitude if he rides parallel with the ground.
• Don’t undertake a long ride if you are not confident of performing it easily.
• Don’t appear to be up on “records” and “record smashing.” That is sporty.

The suggestion to not coast is referring to one taking their feet off the pedals of a fixed gear bicycle on downhills.

Can you really light a match from the seat of your bloomers?

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But it’s simply not correct to label all Metro Detroit as bad. Our cycling condition is far from homogeneous.

The city of Detroit riding is some of the best cycling in America: mostly complete street grids, low speeds, very light traffic — and now many miles of bike lanes.

Some of the inner ring suburbs designed during the streetcar era aren’t too bad or at least have good potential. That includes the suburban cities like Dearborn, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Berkley and the Pointes.

Beyond that, yeah, the cycling can get pretty rough. Cities like Novi and Ferndale have shown leadership on improving cycling opportunities. Royal Oak, Berkley, and Birmingham are coming along, but we don’t see many others following them – at least not yet.

Worse still, some communities have talked the talk on Complete Streets but are not committed to building them. They just don’t see bicycles as transportation and they’re willing to redefine Complete Streets as the status quo with improved crosswalks.

Still, it’s not just about building Complete Streets. A much bigger issue is land use. Sprawl hurts cycling and kills walking as transportation modes. There’s a real vacuum of regional leadership on that issue.

Suburban sense of entitlement

One other difference we’ve seen is the suburban sense of entitlement. Entitlement to the entire road, that is. Getting brushed by motorists and yelled at is a common story shared by many suburban cyclists.

And one of our favorite blogs, Bikes, Books, and a Little Music seems to share this viewpoint after their first ride in the suburbs.

In Detroit, drivers gave me lots of room when passing by and never yelled at me. In the suburbs, the drivers were much more aggressive, many times forcing me to the curb. During my first week of riding, two suburban drivers yelled at me to get out of the street and get on the sidewalk where I belong!

As I soon found out, there is a difference between city and suburban riding. For me, Detroit is a much more interesting place to ride.

Moving from Madison Heights

Here’s another related story of a former Madison Heights city councilman moving to the city of Detroit. This is less about the infrastructure than the culture.

Another roommate worked at the Hub of Detroit, so getting a bicycle was a first priority upon moving in. The bicycle culture here in the city is larger than I had imagined. From Critical Mass to Tour De Troit, to the Bikes and Murder Slow Ride to Slow Jams, to the Full Moon bike ride from Fender Bender, there is not a lack of people who are willing to take a ride on a nice day (or a rainy/snowy one!)

Troy loves sidewalk biking

For some cities, it’s difficult harboring any hope that they’ll ever value safe biking. For us, Troy is one of those cities.

The latest proof? The city of Troy touts their 500 miles of sidewalks… for bicyclists.

A community with sidewalks enables residents to walk and ride bikes. There is a clear correlation between a sedentary lifestyle and poor health. Thus sidewalks make walking & biking a viable option. Bike route signs are placed throughout the City.

Sidewalks are not a viable option for most bicyclists according to the national design guidelines nor their own non-motorized plan, which the Troy City Council paid for but never approved and is not implementing.

Unfortunately we’ve seen many local biking “experts” label this region based on their experience in cities like Troy.

Fortunately, they’re not correct.

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Ram Trucks rewarded one small business owner with the first official test drive of the new Ram C/V – customized especially for his unique mobile business needs. Watch as “The Bike Doctor” takes the pulse of the capability and versatility of the Ram C/V -the perfect prescription for any small business.

There’s a video with the Doc and his new van on the Ram web site as well.

Nice work, Randy.

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The Knight Arts blog has this to say:

Aside from all of the cultural implications of cycling, “T?te de la Course” is really a celebration of the art behind the mechanics… The whole show seems to express an idea of where cycling came from, with a lens pointed toward the future.

The exhibit runs through November 19th. The Center Galleries are located at the CCS Manoogian Visual Resource Center at 301 Frederick Douglas, which is directly east of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

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Until today, GM was running a series of pathetic ads that mocked cycling, walking, and public transit.

After some negative publicity on BikePortland, the League of American Bicyclists, via Twitter, and GM’s facebook page, the cycling ad was pulled with an apology according to the LA Times.

General Motors Co. is killing an advertisement aimed at college students after receiving complaints that it makes fun of people who use bicycles for transportation.

That ad has a headline stating, “reality sucks” and depicts a nerdy looking guy wearing a helmet and riding a bicycle being passed by a cute young woman in the passenger seat of a car. It then goes on to say, “Stop pedaling… start driving” and provides information about discount pricing for GM products such as the new 2012 Chevrolet Sonic subcompact sedan and the giant GMC Sierra 1500 truck.

“The content of the ad was developed with college students and was meant to be a bit cheeky and humorous and not meant to offend anybody,” said Tom Henderson, a GM spokesman.

“We have gotten feedback and we are listening and there are changes underway. They will be taking the bicycle ad out of the rotation… We respect bikers and many of us here are cyclists,” he said.

It seems GM has not pulled the other ads in the series.

One thought for repentence: putting a bike on the RenCen during next year’s Tour de Troit or Bike to Work Day.

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