deanack

Hi Everyone,

I ride to work on 18 and 17 mile roads from Troy to General Dynamics Land Systems, 17 and Mound Road most days. There are more and more commuters on the road are any of them in the forum?

Dean

PedalingFool

Go Tigers!

cg1985

I live in Ypsi. So not me!

Go WINGs!

intrepidbiker

Traverse City here! (I've also commuted in Dearborn & Ann Arbor)

n4zou

I was a gas turbine systems tech in the Navy and then a WG-5803-12 Heavy Mobile Equipment Mechanic for the Army working on M1 Abrams Tanks. I had the opportunity to visit your place of employment several times before I retired. What a small world we live in!

deanack

Yes, it is, and it is a very safe place to keep a bike Razor wire fence with anti-tank cabling, many guards and a half a dozen Abrams tanks around. Nobody is going to get in to steal it I have been here for three years. Much better than working auto in the Detroit area.

mobilechimp

Hi! I commute from Shelby Twp to Royal Oak (or half way - Square Lake & Adams to Royal Oak). I'm not sure if we cross paths or not. My main route is down Beach Rd. onto Eton and into downtown.

PedalingFool

Hey, great blog!
I ride the Macomb Orchard Trail alot... almost daily...
The Clinton River Trail is good to but the MOT has me spoiled

Have you checked out any of the other connecting trails?

mobilechimp

Thanks! I need to post again, I've got some shennanigans to write about.

The MOT certainly is plush. Once they finish that bridge over M53 it'll be nice to ride up north of Romeo. When I commute from home I take the CRT to Auburn and Adams. Most mornings I wish it was paved.

The Paint Creek Trail is another favorite of mine. I've heard you can take the PCT up to Lake Orion and pick up yet another trail called the Pauliana (?) that goes east and west, I think. I have yet to check out that one.

If you're in to mountain biking you should check out the Wednesday Stony Creek group ride. We do a full lap of the singletrack, it's a great group, no drop.

PedalingFool

Here is the regional map showing all the connecting trails... not sure if you seen it or not:
https://www.macomborchardtrail.com/regional_map.htm

One thing I learned about the CRT is you have to ride with your mouth closed or you will get an uwanted meal of gnats and bugs. Those are also some very busy roads that you have to cross... during rush hour, it can take quite a while to get across them. Nobody wants to stop to let you go either...

The bridge will be nice, I hope they get it done soon... I would love to ride out all the way to Richmond. The site states that the trail will go to Lake Huron eventually and span to Lake Michigan. Coast to coast! LOL

I rode 100 miles yesterday... that was interesting

Edit:
Forgot to mention. I have a mountain bike...
Mongoose Vanish... not a bad bike for my first one.

harleyfrog

^^^^^^^WAAAAAHHHHHH! You guys are making me homesick.

Technojunkie

Gee, and I thought the Huron River Greenway Trail was cool. Also known as the Border-to-Border Trail, connects A2 and Ypsi. (.pdf warnings on both those links) You guys have much longer trails.

Metricoclock

I'm here in Ann Arbor and also commute out to Ypsi via the border to border trial once and a while for class.

bjoerges

I'm in Ferndale and commute to American Cycle and Fitness in Royal Oak. Hooray for LBS discounts

keiththesnake

I used to live in metro Detroit. Sometimes I really miss it.

srp

I ride 16 mile then a bunch of side streets to get from Mt. Clemens to Madison Heights.

Till this year, it was a rare thing to spot another cyclist. Now, most days I cross paths and wave to a few, even get the opportunity to hook up and ride together on occasion.

deanack

I think Detroit is not shown well in the county and you and "keiththesnake" really show that. With the lakes and everything else, even downtown Detroit is getting better. Everyone have a get 4th of July.

Dean

LeftinFlint

I'm up in Flint and commute through town. Here's the Flint River Trail. It's still quite a work in progress, but I just wanted to represent.

Oh, it was a nice quiet 4th. It's the 5th I'm trying to recover from.

jmichaeldesign

I grew up in Troy off of Rochester between Square Lake and Long Lake. We later moved to Bloomfield right off of Telegraph and Lone Pine.

I don't think I'd ever feel safe commuting there.

Luckily I'm in Colorado now where mups and bike lanes abound.

deanack

The way I go everyone else is going the other way. I would not like to be heading east on 18 in the evenings. Most nights it is solid cars from livernios to Rochester.

Silverexpress,

Which roads do you take from Berkley to Warren?

Dean

kill.cactus

Ann Arbor!

deanack

Hi Silverexpress,

There is not much of a shoulder along Wattles now and it is one land each way. I like to ride 18 (Longlake) because it is two lanes each way sometimes three, so there is room for everyone.

Dean

Technojunkie

It helps that the mayor of Ann Arbor is a biker. He bikes to city council meetings, etc. Having the University of Michigan in town helps too, though if you can afford to attend the UofM you can probably afford gas...

I heard on WAAM this morning that they're adding bike lanes to Fifth and Division. Those are 3-4 lane one-way roads running through downtown, so I assume they'll lop off a cager lane for bike use. There was mention of adding more street parking too though. A few other major roads already have bike lanes (State, Liberty, etc).

Edit: found the article:
Fifth Avenue and Huron Street makeovers OK'd
Which links to the Huron, Fifth & Division Improvements web page.

Trek930

I ride from Dequindre and M-59 to Crooks and Maple (aka 15 mile) quite regularly. I have seen someone with a nice ride and panniers on Long Lake flying West one morning between Rochester and Livernoise.

Yesterday's ride: I ride from about 5 AM to 6:30 AM but due to sleeping in I was at Livernoise south of Long Lake about 7 AM. I figured that traffic would be bad since I normally get there at 6:00 AM. I ride on the road but took the sidewalk yesterday because I was pulling a trailer. Well if I had pulled out on to the road I would have fell behind a fellow commuter. I felt bad because I was on the sidewalk and this guy was riding in the road like I should be. I also missed the opportunity to say hi too.

Ok back on topic: I have also seen a lot more commuters lately. Glad to not feel so alone.

indianatrails

When I first began my Pontiac-to-Southfield (~12 miles) commute in March, it was just me and a handful of very tired, cold dog-walkers out on the W.Bloomfield Trail. Now the trail is much busier but mostly for recreation. Out on the "roads" I've seen perhaps 4 or 5 regulars who are quite obviously on bikes because of gas prices or maybe an unfavorable court ruling. I do see one other possible roadie out there on Northwestern Highway, on a nice crossbike (and now I understand, after being in metro Detroit for a few months, why these bikes exist!)

I'm kind of disgusted by all the bombed-out roads and aggressive driving. Even the neighborhood back streets are cracked and torn up. Forget serious road biking altogether, unless it's on a closed circuit (Waterford Hills). I keep thinking as gas keeps going up that the relentless traffic will eventually let up a little...but it doesn't. But on the other hand, you've got to have a screw loose to bike around here! Guess I'll just try to buck up :/ Kudos to us!