Bike It Baby: Wheel Your Way Around Detroit [visit detroit]

The following is a guest post by Amber Hunt, and originally appeared in Visit Detroit Magazine. If you’re interested in being a guest blogger with Visit Detroit, email us atsocialmedia@visitdetroit.com with subject line: Guest Blogger.

"I love my commute to work. Yeah, I said it."

Most people would compare their commute to getting a root canal or listening to the sweet sound of a baby screaming. But not me. Some days I drive the 10 miles from Ferndale to Quicken Loans' headquarters on Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit; other days I take the bus. But my favorite way to get to work is by bike.

People don’t think of Detroit as a bike-friendly city, but in fact a few of Detroit’s most well-known innovators, the Dodge brothers (Horace and John) and Henry Ford, revolutionized their industry by first dabbling with bicycles. The Dodge duo invented the first ball-bearing bike and later went on to assist Ford in creating automobile engines. Ford’s first automobile, the Quadricycle, was made using four bicycle tires. See what he did there? It’s like a bicycle, but because it has FOUR wheels, he called it a Quadricycle. Oh Henry, you jester you.

That little fun fact is fine and dandy, but you may be wondering why I choose to ride my bike in Detroit. The answer is simple. Biking is the best way to experience the outright beauty of the city and the renaissance that is happening on its streets. Buildings are being renovated, people are bustling around, businesses are open and active, and the city is thriving. On bike, you can see someone’s smiling face, smell the amazing breakfast at the Hudson Café and hear the music being played at Campus Martius Park. You just don’t feel that same energy if you blast by in a car. I readily encourage everyone who comes to Detroit in fairer weather to give pedaling a go. You’ll see a new side of Detroit that you might not have expected.

[Read more at visit detroit]