AStomper

I just started commuting to work and I have people honking at me and everything else. I almost got ran over by a DHL driver. I can't even find a local club to try and get the city to at least educate some motorist about how to drive around cyclist. My mother and I were having a conversation about someone hitting a cyclist and she said "when ever you hit a pedestrian it's your fault." I told that cyclist are vehicles and she didn't believe me. Any one from the detroit metro area email me at arron.brennan#gmail$com
switch #,& with @, .

ElJamoquio

The answer: Yes.
The Solution: More cyclists.
Welcome! Commuting is a pain, but Hines Drive is a pretty nice place to bike.

urban rider

The way the drivers appear to attack us they act as if we are the reason the auto factories are closing up. We are not the problem. Continue to ride your bike anyway.


Gas, the price of a can of beans.

Blue Jays

Most people regard the geographies in which they reside as the most unfriendly to cyclists, wherever that geography might be located.

ElJamoquio

I've lived in several different 'geographies':

Philly Burbs
SE NC
Pittsburgh Burbs
Central PA
Detroit Burbs
SE VA
Northern Jersey/NYC Burbs

Granted, not nationwide exposure.

asmallsol

Yesterday I was riding in Northville and this guy is going the opposite way that I was, and was making a left into his driveway. There is no one in front of behind me and he waits. When I am about 10 yards from passing him, he pulls out right in front of me and forced me to brake hard. On the ride home, I was honked at multiple times. Then I am on a cool down road, and a guy pulls into a driveway on the other side of the road. I don't think much of it, but then the guy throws it in reverse and doesn't even turn his head. Nearly hit me. Both incidents were with old farts who shouldn't be trusted with anything bigger then a power wheel.

DTownDave22

That last post made me laugh (because it's true). It IS known as the motor city, so the investments by a given city are not going to be made widely for bicyle or pedestrian friendly commutes and most of those commuting do so by car. The Metro Parks I've been to are nice if you are looking for more leisurely rides. https://www.metroparks.com/parks/pk_huron_meadows.php

The investments are largely made for repairing roads I would imagine, in pertinence to commuting. So, there are not going to be at least sidewalks everywhere where there are people, which is kind of annoying and probably a point you were making as you were riding in the street. Maybe I'm mistaken in this instance though and there were sidewalks when you were riding on the street. From my perspective, seeing people riding their bikes on a busy street or even a not so busy street when there are sidewalks looks kind of..to just put it plainly...dumb but also a bit brave. It's out of the norm to ride one's bike on a busy street around here and probably not the greatest idea. If one could educate me on the reasons, I'd be glad to know. The reason why I'm curious is because streets are sometimes more smooth than the sidewalks, but not always.

It probably would not be a bad idea to call around and ask some city officials at different city halls in cities around you to find out if they have any kind of bike paths. Eljamoqio seems to have the answer though. I hope to add to this, but I don't know about riding my bike in the street.

asmallsol

Sidewalks are typically uneven and do a number on wheels. On my typical ride, I ride about 10 miles round trip on normal busy city streets before hitting less congested country or leisure roads (hines drive or roads west of northville) Most of the time, I have no problems and even get a few thumbs ups. Both the above stories of mine were on much less congested streets. If I get a "get on the sidewalk/get off the road/random honking" I will typically give a wave or a finger.

As for places like hines drive where there are big sholders along with nice sidewalks (for the most part) it is dangerous and inconsiderate to ride on the crowded running path because moving along at speeds of 20-35mph past people who aren't looking for someone moving that fast, people can get spooked, not pay attention ect, and can cause a collision. That can cause injuries to both you and the pedestrian. There has been people riding on running paths like that and accidentally hit strowlers, and killed little kids.

Denny Koll

I live in another Michigan auto City(Saginaw) and it is pretty bad here too. A lot of blue collar auto workers who have disdain for cyclists.

Gromit

I haven't had terribly bad luck living in Grosse Pointe. Very few people try to hit me intentionally - mostly due to inattentiveness (read: talking on cell phone). On Sunday, I rode from Grosse Pointe up Outer Drive to City Airport then to 7 mile and Woodward, continued up Outer Drive to Hines Drive to Northville, turned around, then to Outer Drive again and this time went to Dearborn. Hit Jefferson and took that back past Fort Wayne and into Downtown Detroit back to Grosse Pointe.

I've ridden this route a few times (gets me a little plus or minus 100 miles). I NEVER have problems with drivers in Detroit. In fact, all my friendly shout outs from pedestrians and drivers occur in Detroit. Where I ALWAYS get trouble is downriver (Monroe, Grosse Ile, Taylor, Wyandotte) or out in Macomb County (Mt. Clemens, Roseville, Harrison Twp.) Way too many idiots with small penises and SUVs or pick-ups.

Wheelie Pete

The closer you are to downtown Detroit, the better the cycling. Usually we meet in Hamtramck Saturday morning, then pedal all over downtown and so on. Downtown in the morning is the best, because no one is up before 11, plus everything is half abandoned. On top of that, the roads are brand new because of the recent superbowl and allstar game. Plus, most the drivers are always looking around to make sure they don't get car jacked, which makes them alot more attentive than suburbian drivers. All this adds up to perfect bicycling atmosphere!! Not only that, but I've yet to find a bar that wouldn't let me bring my bike inside! Pedaling in detroit is good times! I pedal in the suburbs sometimes, but it's always during the day, on trails, or empty streets. Motorists in the suburbs don't look for you!! The best part about pedaling in around downtown is that you'll see things that you'll never see anywhere else!!!!

Ih8lucky13

Wow you rode in a pretty high crime area by City airport.

I have noticed as well that The City folk are a lot more friendly to cyclist than the downriver communities are.

pj7

Harrison Twp, Clinton Twp, and Sterling Heights are the cities I ride in every day on my commute, sometimes tossing in Roseville if I want to hit the pub before work. And yes, these are some bad places to be cycle commuting. Luckily a little less than half my commute is done on the MUP that runs from Metro Beach to Freedom Hill.

DTownDave22

It would be quite ideal to just ride right outside of your house and feel perfectly safe riding your bike, but that's not quite the case, at least for most.

Many probably know bike trails and paths to take in addition to or instead of just riding around the neighborhood, but I found some books about bike trails in Michigan in case you were wondering or are perhaps looking for a new location to bike at. Go ahead and register on here if you have a library card at your local library or log in as a guest. https://ibistro.tln.lib.mi.us/

Then proceed to put in "Michigan Trails" or the like in your search, and there are some books that come up, including:


"Michigan's bicycle trails" by Ray Hoven
"Bicycle travel information for SE MI" for all the major counties as well as just Detroit
Plenty of others too

AStomper

Since I started *****ing in this post, I've noticed that the more I ride the same path, the more the people get used to me (or the more confident I get). I still get the occasional "get out of the road", or long honk. I spit in some ones face for saying get out of the road, but realized that that was immature and now resort to a smile and wave, ignore it, or an ugly look if I'm in a really bad mood.

About downtown, I recently bought a bike from someone in the Ponchtrain hotel. He had a couple of friends that seemed to commute by bike and Wayne State is right there, so I'm thinking that everyone is used to cyclist around there.

DTownDave22

About WSU, I have spotted on more than one occassion, albeit a group of cyclists of about four (and they appeared to be serious) riding in the street on Anthony Wayne Drive going south (www.campusmap.wayne.edu). It also was not too busy though, as it was in the evening, after 7 PM. Hm...and spitting in someone's face...that's not very nice...but perhaps you felt a bit threatened.

ElJamoquio

Spitting is considered assault in some states, don't know about Michigan.

MiRider

But all people can agree Detroit is unfriendly in just about every way.

Wheelie Pete

I did a hammerfest down Anthony Wayne the other day with three other dudes. I don't think we were the four you were talking about, because none of us look serious! The best part about Anthony Wayne is the hill over 94, and the parking structure right on campus. We always sprint up the hill, up the structure , then we usually sprint down to Jumbos bar after. There's never any cars, either.

road racer

do you know this from experience... or just stories that you've heard from your suburbanite friends?

pj7

I don't know for sure that spitting is assault here, but throwing a grape at someone is!
https://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...453/1003/rss36

brotherdan

I've had no problems riding in Detroit proper. The streets are wide and the traffic isn't usually all that bad, though the pavement could use some work, as it could throughout southeast Michigan. The suburbs are a nightmare, though. I've had particular issues in the south suburbs. There are a lot of jerks here in the Ann Arbor area as well, despite the fact that we have a fairly large cycling community.

Kmac

I think riding on a sidewalk is only safe if you are traveling at pedestrian speeds (10mph max). If you are moving along at any faster speed, then a sidewalk is the last place you should be IMHO. You become a danger to other pedestrians, dogs, runners, stollers or any other slower moving sidewalk user. You also are at more risk of being hit. Drivers are not looking for a fast moving target on a sidewalk. They will pull into driveways and out from parking lots with their attention focused on the traffic and any object within a six foot range of the driveway. This is why bikes are given the same rights as cars to travel on the road.

That said, riding in the road in the Detroit area sucks. I visited Boulder, CO and was drooling at all of the double wide bike lanes. Think Hines Drive....everywhere.

DTownDave22

I've probably driven (but not cycled) on Hines Drive, but I'm just starting to get into cycling. I was not aware that bikes are allowed to ride in traffic lanes, and later found it in my driver's training book after that post. Hey..I can't remember everything now. I also think given the fact that plenty of other people are unaware of this fact, they are ALSO not looking for bicycles in the street, either. Factor in that some people choose to drive under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, and that is also a problem.

I tried Jefferson Avenue (also known as West Jefferson) and rode out to BFE, at the Lake Erie Metro Park. People were nice and moved over where there was only one lane and also when there were two. Some idiot started honking his horn at me like hardcore on the way back in the area where there was only one lane each way and thus I was a bit in the road.

brotherdan

Lack of awareness is certainly one of the biggest problems facing cyclists today. It's especially bad in Michigan, where the auto lobby seems to rule, and any kind of policy that supports alternative transportation is frowned upon. I consider myself, and my fellow cyclists that follow the law and ride in the street to be pioneers. We are blazing a trail through the motorized jungle. At present, we are putting our lives at increased risk. But every mile that we travel on the road will bring greater awareness and visibility of the cycling community. The act of getting on a bicycle, and choosing not to get in a motorized vehicle is a radical and subversive step which hopefully will lead to a world in which the next generation can travel sustainably AND safely.