Great Lakes - 8th Annual Tour de Troit

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View Full Version : 8th Annual Tour de Troit


fishtoes2000
08-31-09, 11:44 AM
This ride is growing like crazy. With 3 weeks to go, we've already got 600 pre-registrations, which is the total number of riders we had in 2007. If you really want a great guided taste of Detroit urban riding, this is it.

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For Immediate Release: 8th Annual Tour de Troit
“Motown Sans Motor”
Saturday, September 19, 2009 ~ 10:00 a.m.

The Tour de Troit is a leisurely bicycle tour of Detroit that explores the city’s historic areas, takes in many of its most breathtaking sights and provides bicyclists a unique opportunity to legally "take over" the streets of the Motor City. This year, the eighth annual, will take place on September 19. Last year over 1,000 riders joined in the fun and organizers are planning for 2,000 this year.

For the first time, Tour de Troit is offering two ride options: a 30-mile, slow-paced, police-escorted journey; and the Metric Century, a 62-mile trek around the D for more experienced riders. *Both options are sweeper and SAG-supported.

The ride will begin and end at Roosevelt Park in the shadow of Michigan Central Station, located in historic Corktown at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 14th Street. Registration and sign-in will begin at 8 a.m. Local blends of Great Lakes Coffee and pastries from Chilango's Bakery will be available for fuel, and bike technicians from The Hub of Detroit and Bike Tech will be on hand to provide last-minute adjustments.

The ride will take off at 10 a.m. The primary route will take in many historic neighborhoods including Midtown, Downtown, Hubbard Farms, Indian Village and New Center. Highlights include the Dequindre Cut, East RiverWalk, Farnsworth Community Garden and Heidelberg Project. The Metric Century will go deeper into Southwest Detroit and Northwest Detroit and jog through Hamtramck.

Both rides will enjoy a short rest stop at the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy’s newly-refurbished Gabriel Richard Park to allow riders to use the restroom, replenish their water supply and grab a Michigan apple courtesy of Detroit Eastern Market Corp., a Whole Foods Market nutri-grain bar and a Quench beverage from Clif Bar.

After the ride, there will be music, food and drinks from 2 to 6 p.m. In partnership with Savor Southwest, the Tour de Troit is excited to be providing a spread of food from local restaurants including Slow’s Bar B Q, Motz Burgers, Pizza de Casa, Honeybee Market, Mudgie’s Deli and Dearborn Bakery. Additionally, vegetarian fare from Moo Moo’s and Organaman will be served. Beverages from Vitamin Water and Arbor Brewing Co. will be served. Music will be provided by DJ Jeff Richards, also known as Rock N Roll Scientist with sound support from Audio Rescue Team.

Pre-registration for the Tour de Troit is available at www.tour-de-troit.org. The cost is $30 per rider ($25 for students). Registration completed before Sept. 1 includes a t-shirt. Registration between Sept. 1 and 11 is $30/$25 but does not include a t-shirt. Registration between Sept. 12 and 18 is $35/$30. Day-of registration is $40/$35. A limited number of t-shirts will be available for purchase on-site.

Packet pick-up will be available for pre-registrants at Wheelhouse Detroit. Both rides will be sweeper- and SAG-supported. Plenty of on-street parking is available at Roosevelt Park, but riders are encouraged to take the SMART bus or cycle to the event. Riders are able to take advantage of a special lodging rate at the nearby Motor City Casino Hotel and discounted dog daycare at Canine to Five.

Greater Corktown Development Corporation sponsors the Tour de Troit to raise awareness of biking as a mode of transportation, to publicize the growing greenways network in the City of Detroit and all of Southeastern Michigan and to raise funds for the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink. The Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink is a planned series of bike lanes and off-road pathways that will connect the neighborhoods of Corktown and Mexicantown to each other and to the Detroit River.

Tour de Troit is also sponsored by Miller Canfield, Team Detroit, Giffels Webster Engineering, O’Connor Real Estate and Development, Recy-clean, Michigan Green-Safe, Kem 3D, Detroit Medical Center, Honest John’s Bar & Grill, Bureau of Urban Living, Foran’s Grand Trunk Pub, Brown’s Bun Bakery and Zachary and Associates with support from Michigan Trails & Greenways Alliance, New Center Council, Southwest Detroit Business Association, Detroit Bikes! and TheDetroiter.com.

More information about Tour de Troit is available at www.tour-de-troit.org.

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fishtoes2000
08-31-09, 10:35 PM
I forgot to mention that tomorrow, September 1st is the last day to pre-register *and* get a T-shirt. You can register on-line (http://www.tour-de-troit.org).

We've added nearly 200 registrants this evening!

DTownDave22
09-03-09, 08:32 PM
Registered. Looking forward to it! I am wondering where to park and if it has at all been an issue in recent years with the increase in participants. Plenty of people come from within Detroit proper but I'm sure a number of people come from the suburbs too and I would be one. I don't think I can manage that many miles in one day.

Oh yeah, factor in the fact that (I believe) the bus system is not running on the weekends anymore--or at least in Detroit. I just now saw that "plenty of street parking is available" but you encourage people to take the bus or bike to to the meeting spot.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Like plenty of people, I don't and hardly ever ride the bus in Detroit (actually never have to my memory).

Secondly, the bus is such a P.I.T.A. to try to figure out a route--I'm using google maps to try to figure it out and the routes they suggest seem to be very time-wasting. That and where would I put my bike if I wanted to stay around for some after the ride?


fishtoes2000
09-04-09, 09:33 AM
Dave,

Thanks for signing up! We have about 1,000 people registered as of now.

I don't think the parking situation will be a problem. I've not heard of anyone having issues previously. There is quite a bit of on-street parking in the area. If you show up late, you might consider parking in one of the gravel lots on the other side of Michigan Ave. Remember that the start is not too far from old Tiger Stadium and the area is still littered with open parking lots.

I plan on having a table set up after the event where I'll he talking about trail work in Detroit. Feel free to stop by and introduce yourself.

fishtoes2000
09-15-09, 11:12 PM
The weather's looking great and it's not too late to register (http://www.tour-de-troit.org).

We're over 1,350 cyclists. We may just have a group of nearly 2,000 cyclists riding around the city of Detroit this Saturday.

Pman
09-16-09, 07:18 AM
I sure wish they picked a different day for this. They are always on the same day as the Celebration of Cycling ride. I just can't pass up supporting the PEAC group.

fishtoes2000
09-18-09, 09:55 PM
Yeah, that's really unfortunate that we're sharing a date with PEAC. They are a great program.

BTW, we have 1,650 registered cyclists for tomorrow's ride in Detroit. We are limiting tomorrow's day-of registrations to 300.

All the money raised from this event goes to the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenway, which is 16-miles of bike lanes and trails that we expect to break ground on next year.

edgar_rhode
09-20-09, 08:05 AM
wow. with all the tour de troit participants and all the bike forum members i can't believe i'm the first "citizen reporter" poster...

the ride was great. beautiful day. wonderful introduction to a lot of the riders to some of detroits "hidden" gems ( patton park / palmer woods / indian village / heidelberg / dequinder cut / etc )

i did the metric century ( 100 kilometers approx 62 miles ), the pace was a little faster than i'm normally used to riding - especially when we got to belle isle. last night and right now my legs feel like a *****s' after a night with the 7th fleet. but it was worth it.

events like this can only help the city and the biking community IMO.

edgar_rhode
09-20-09, 10:24 AM
wow i can't believe the word wh*r* was edited there. it wasn't meant to offend anyone just as an humorous analogy. or is *n*logy going to be edited as well? ;-)

fishtoes2000
09-20-09, 09:06 PM
Thanks for coming out, Edgar.

At the end of the day, the unofficial count was 1,980 registered cyclists. If so, that's an 80% increase over last year.

I've posted a short tour de troit writeup on m-bike (http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2009/09/20/tour-de-troit-brings-de-light) along with links to much of the media coverage.

fishtoes2000
09-28-09, 08:43 PM
Video coverage of the event has now been posted.
http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/modeldtv92909.aspx