As summer rolls around the city takes on a whole new atmosphere.  Warm weather always helps in shaking the Midwest winter blues and May was no exception.  What better way to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather than biking!  This month biking in Detroit was showcased in three different ways.

The Detroit Commuter Challenge was a region wide competition to reduce the carbon footprint by commuting for the entire month of May either by public transit, walking/biking, carpooling or telecommuting.  Quinn Evans Architects was up to the challenge and as a company we ranked in the top 20 of 84 competing and totaled over 1500 pound of C02 reduced!  Biking was a big hit at our office with two to four people commuting via bike weekly.    As a city, we exceeded the goal of 175,000 pounds of CO2 reduced by almost 10,000 pounds!

The second bike activity for the month was the beginning of the Slow Roll Detroit season.  Slow Roll is a nonprofit that hosts a bike ride every Monday evening that brings together thousands of people on unique routes that go through different neighborhoods of Detroit.  I joined one of these rides for a solo sunset slow roll and enjoyed biking the ten miles through the Chene Ferry neighborhood.  While the riding was more leisurely it was also filled with people on tricked out bikes with sound systems, blasting their playlists and even a father and son slow rolling with training wheels.  The after party was at Recovery Park that featured food trucks and other bike shop vendors.  Slow Roll really does bring the community together and feels like a giant party on wheels where everyone can relax and enjoy the ride.

The last bike event for Detroit was the launch of MOGO Detroit, the Detroit bike share program.  This program now has 430 bikes at 43 bike stations throughout the city of Detroit.  This program will be a great resource to the city and offers a variety of passes that fit the needs of a variety of users.  I have already seen a few red MOGO bikes around my neighborhood and am excited to see even more as the summer continues.

Detroit will always be motorcity – but it can also be bikecity too!