Eggplant

A little bike ride to the Farmers Market downtown this afternoon and now I have an appetizer before getting dinner ready.

Roasted eggplant chips.

A little brush with olive oil, salt, roast and voila!

Bikes On Trains

Not exactly news in some parts of the country but it's big news in Michigan that Amtrak  is finally on board with bikes on trains.  The project is the work of Amtrak and Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) along with lobbying efforts from League of Michigan Bicyclists, Complete Streets Coalition and other bicycle advocacy groups.

Photo courtesy of LMB website

The League of Michigan Bicyclist has long lobbied for this much needed feature and it's finally here. One of the popular routes from Port Huron to Chicago is ready to go with bicycle transport racks installed. For $10 you can take your bicycle to any one of the stops along the Blue Trail line. I've hopped that train many times for a trip to Chicago because an automobile is more of a liability than a necessity in that town that is unfriendly to cars. There is a lot of traffic to deal with and if you are staying downtown plan on big bucks to park that car overnight at a hotel. Most people walk, take the el train, taxi or bicycle. Walking is fine for a shopping trip because you can find ample shopping in a small radius from the Miracle Mile but for touring a bike will be a handsome feature to have with you.

The service started rolling out on September 6, 2013.  John Lindenmayer, LMB Advocacy & Policy Director has worked hard to make this happen. The feature is currently available on the Port Huron Chicago run and I can't wait until they include the Detroit Ann Arbor Chicago run also as boarding that one is much closer to home. The current route ferries passengers through two major college towns that are both bicycle friendly, Lansing home to Michigan State University and Kalamazoo home to Western University. Once the Det-Ann Arbor-Chicago run allows them this will also include Ann Arbor that is home to University of Michigan another bicycle friendly campus town.

For now, I'll have to head up to Flint to catch that train for the next Chicago trip.

For an article on this from the League of Michigan Bicyclists (LMB) site click here.
For the press release from Amtrak click here

This Is How We Roll In The "D"

Slow Roll Bike rides by Detroit Bike City, started out three years ago with a group of 5-6 riders who got together and rode every Monday evening in the city of Detroit.  The following year the group had gown to 100 plus riders.  In their third year they've grown to several hundred riders and surpassed 1200 riders one evening in August!  Amazing for an unorganized ride.  Not knocking the organizers but what I mean is that generally, only charity rides that are organized around a cause draw crowds of this magnitude.  I find it amazing that a "casual" ride has sprung up to attract this many riders on an ongoing and weekly schedule.

Sure there are clubs and shop rides that take place on a weekly schedule, but none that I know of that draw this number or riders on a regular basis.  And how come I am only just now finding out about this?  I can't believe I haven't heard of this ride before now.  Like, have I had my head in the sand or what?  I heard about this ride on the radio a couple of days ago and have Google searched this out and it has been publicized in the major newspapers and even in Crain's Detroit Business, where have I been?  Since they do Monday's I'm either going tomorrow or next Monday for sure.  With the holiday tomorrow it may not be the best day to plan an evening ride but I won't miss this ride before the season is out.

Not sure how it got to be so hip to ride in the Big D but it's catching on like crazy. Having grown up in the city and spending my childhood behind a set of handle bars I can say that the city is flat and that will make for some easy riding. Here are links to a few news stories about the ride; Detroit News June 2013 Crains Detroit Business Detroit Bike City The photo below is from Hip in Detroit, a blog about happenings, places to go and things to do in Detroit, their link is here