Man, that was a real treat. Thanks for deciding to shoot this ride. I've read all these articles about Detroit but it's good to see it from this perspective.
It’s a wild place that endlessly fascinates me. Downtown Detroit has had an amazing comeback - but Detroit is huge and there are vast swaths of no man’s land….and built up areas that are so car focused. It’s all of American 20th century history in one diverse place. The ups and the downs simultaneously.
Glad you made it to Detroit! Things seem to be slowly turning around on the bike/ped front with the city investing a lot in road diets and bike lanes in several neighborhoods, but it's still really car-centric. Michigan is a beautiful state that traffic engineers and the auto industry have made a mess of. I would love to see things change in my home state.
The progress since I first went in 2003 is pretty amazing. ...and beyond Detroit I thought I read Michigan has more bike trails than any other state in mileage. I wish I had even more time to explore - we are talking about going back for a true vacation next summer. Detroit "innovated" the car culture but we all followed it and our crises are just hitting a little later.
Love your videos, they have plans for a belle isle to Wisconsin trail. I am a Michigander,just did my first credit card bike trip last summer,lake Michigan (south Haven) to lake Huron(Port Huron) about half tail trails, half roads.i want to do some bike packing in the future, your videos inspire me! Thanks for making them.
Thanks for checking them out! I was looking at that "lake to lake" trail too. It looks like it might be possible to take Amtrak one way which would be awesome.
@@TimFitzwater I haven't tried it, but there's a trail from Alpena to Mackinaw (North Eastern State Trail) and onto Charlevoix (North Western State Trail) up north that's probably got lots of nice scenery.
AWESOME video. I ride Belle Isle pretty much every Saturday morning. Seeing that sun rise is so awesome.😎 I wish we could of gotten a ride together. I would of loved to show you around on two wheels. You did ride a little bit of my riding grounds. I hope you come back real soon. The sooner the better.
Thanks! I really enjoyed riding there - it would have been awesome to have been shown around and ridden more…but work happened. We will do it at some point!
Love the video of where i have lived for past 20 years. Except for a few back alleys i could follow your trip around the city. Your issue with rain warning but nothing happens is common. The tall buildings appear to stear the rain around the city. Downtown gets a few drops while a mile away in any direction from there gets flooded. There is a lot more on belle isle that you did not see/cover while on your ride. Mornings are the best time to ride there. Thanks again
Cool! We get that here in Akron too - though I think here it is more of a feature of the river valleys we are surrounded by. I have since watched some Belle Island videos and wish I had explored a little more.
Great tour of the home state. Founders is the home town brewery! Rode my Schwinn Le Tour 3 or dad’s ol’ Puch for the The Wednesday rides (on fixies ten plus years ago) which were also slurry. Thanks for the tour, when I visit my sister in the motor city we can find some similar routes. So funny how you can recognize a place, bike lanes ending-just so, how we fill the cracks with tough puddy tar, and the contrast with the pavement-I’ve swam in gravel pits that made those fucking roads-ya know!, 25 years of that (and 15 missing it) makes your little film jump out to me. What forks ended up on the Raleigh? (great set up).
home city! used to ride everywhere around long before the bike lanes came. belle isle is a fun loop surprised your gps didn't take you to the dequindre cut. nice alley cruising this was cool to see
I've been to the IBEW #8 union hall which is 15 minutes by bike from Motor City Brewing Co and have driven around downtown but the jobs we worked on were in the suburbs. The abandoned houses and empty lots remind me of all the lost industry in our country. Thanks for showing that Detroit has cycling in mind when developing areas.
Yeah - we visited a lot of the hulking, empty historic auto factories too. It a wild place. The downtown has seen an amazing resurgence though. Definitely was impressed with all the cycling infrastructure.
I ride Belle Isle often to train. in addition to the perimeter road, there is a new interior double bike lane. Since the state took this island over the traffic laws are now enforced making it much safer for bikes. Be advised the wind is stonger in the afternoon. A lap of the island takes about 25 minutes.
It is a great ride as there are very few stop signs. Thus you can just pedal and pedal. The wind direction seems to change everyday. I live two miles from there. It is my go to place. I moved to Detroit in 1985. It has been good to me.
When you see what a water crisis the whole SW US is in, Its odd seeing a part of the US where there is plenty of water and big empty city areas where people used to live. It can't stay that way because cities in the desert are ultimately, unsustainable.
Nice one Tim. Next time you’re here I’ll take you on the stuff on the middle of the island. Much better with a Sherpa who has gotten lost out there plenty of times. 😉
Thanks! Oh no - I don't want that to be the take-a-way! Detroit is full of amazing history and its downtown has had a renaissance in the last decade and is full of great shops and breweries. The architecture in some of the buildings is stunning. It is worth the trip!
@@TimFitzwater Oh yes I got that. So many similarities, a painted line.... "look what we've done for the cyclists" hmmm, cycling infrastructure designed by people who don't ride bikes, things not finished, glass!.... But similarly things are improving as well here in Australia, all be it, slowly.
Hey Tim, the smoker you drink, the player you get. Nice relaxed vid 😃
The Riverwalk now goes directly to the Belle Isle Bridge.
I ride there often in the summer.
Man, that was a real treat. Thanks for deciding to shoot this ride. I've read all these articles about Detroit but it's good to see it from this perspective.
It’s a wild place that endlessly fascinates me. Downtown Detroit has had an amazing comeback - but Detroit is huge and there are vast swaths of no man’s land….and built up areas that are so car focused. It’s all of American 20th century history in one diverse place. The ups and the downs simultaneously.
Glad you made it to Detroit! Things seem to be slowly turning around on the bike/ped front with the city investing a lot in road diets and bike lanes in several neighborhoods, but it's still really car-centric. Michigan is a beautiful state that traffic engineers and the auto industry have made a mess of. I would love to see things change in my home state.
The progress since I first went in 2003 is pretty amazing. ...and beyond Detroit I thought I read Michigan has more bike trails than any other state in mileage. I wish I had even more time to explore - we are talking about going back for a true vacation next summer. Detroit "innovated" the car culture but we all followed it and our crises are just hitting a little later.
Love your videos, they have plans for a belle isle to Wisconsin trail. I am a Michigander,just did my first credit card bike trip last summer,lake Michigan (south Haven) to lake Huron(Port Huron) about half tail trails, half roads.i want to do some bike packing in the future, your videos inspire me! Thanks for making them.
Thanks for checking them out! I was looking at that "lake to lake" trail too. It looks like it might be possible to take Amtrak one way which would be awesome.
@@TimFitzwater I haven't tried it, but there's a trail from Alpena to Mackinaw (North Eastern State Trail) and onto Charlevoix (North Western State Trail) up north that's probably got lots of nice scenery.
Probably is ,I don't think it is completely finished, would have to take some roads also.
I think so. I’m not opposed to some road riding though.
AWESOME video. I ride Belle Isle pretty much every Saturday morning. Seeing that sun rise is so awesome.😎 I wish we could of gotten a ride together. I would of loved to show you around on two wheels. You did ride a little bit of my riding grounds. I hope you come back real soon. The sooner the better.
Thanks! I really enjoyed riding there - it would have been awesome to have been shown around and ridden more…but work happened. We will do it at some point!
Thanks Tim! You rock!
😎🎼
man i miss riding around there. such a big place absolutely full of history and americas best shawarmas!
Yes - so cool. We did get some great shawarma too!
Love the video of where i have lived for past 20 years. Except for a few back alleys i could follow your trip around the city. Your issue with rain warning but nothing happens is common. The tall buildings appear to stear the rain around the city. Downtown gets a few drops while a mile away in any direction from there gets flooded. There is a lot more on belle isle that you did not see/cover while on your ride. Mornings are the best time to ride there. Thanks again
Cool! We get that here in Akron too - though I think here it is more of a feature of the river valleys we are surrounded by. I have since watched some Belle Island videos and wish I had explored a little more.
Great tour of the home state. Founders is the home town brewery! Rode my Schwinn Le Tour 3 or dad’s ol’ Puch for the The Wednesday rides (on fixies ten plus years ago) which were also slurry. Thanks for the tour, when I visit my sister in the motor city we can find some similar routes. So funny how you can recognize a place, bike lanes ending-just so, how we fill the cracks with tough puddy tar, and the contrast with the pavement-I’ve swam in gravel pits that made those fucking roads-ya know!, 25 years of that (and 15 missing it) makes your little film jump out to me. What forks ended up on the Raleigh? (great set up).
Awesome! I put a Canondale cyclocross fork that happened to be at my local shop.
home city! used to ride everywhere around long before the bike lanes came. belle isle is a fun loop surprised your gps didn't take you to the dequindre cut. nice alley cruising this was cool to see
Nice! I definitely want to get back and discover more. For all of its struggles it is an amazing place!
Great video. Ridden there and around many times on a a local ride called Beat The Train.
I don't think most people realize Detroit has spots so pretty!
I've been to the IBEW #8 union hall which is 15 minutes by bike from Motor City Brewing Co and have driven around downtown but the jobs we worked on were in the suburbs. The abandoned houses and empty lots remind me of all the lost industry in our country.
Thanks for showing that Detroit has cycling in mind when developing areas.
Yeah - we visited a lot of the hulking, empty historic auto factories too. It a wild place. The downtown has seen an amazing resurgence though. Definitely was impressed with all the cycling infrastructure.
I ride Belle Isle often to train.
in addition to the perimeter road, there is a new interior double bike lane. Since the state took this island over the traffic laws are now enforced making it much safer for bikes. Be advised the wind is stonger in the afternoon. A lap of the island takes about 25 minutes.
It is a great ride as there are very few stop signs. Thus you can just pedal and pedal. The wind direction seems to change everyday. I live two miles from there. It is my go to place. I moved to Detroit in 1985. It has been good to me.
When you see what a water crisis the whole SW US is in, Its odd seeing a part of the US where there is plenty of water and big empty city areas where people used to live. It can't stay that way because cities in the desert are ultimately, unsustainable.
We were talking about this very fact in one of the livestreams. Our "rust belt" and "legacy" cities are going to become more and more desirable.
#pleasecometothemidwest
These videos make me happy.
😎
Nice one Tim. Next time you’re here I’ll take you on the stuff on the middle of the island. Much better with a Sherpa who has gotten lost out there plenty of times. 😉
That would be awesome and I do want to come back!
@@TimFitzwater I gotta get back your way too. Haven't been since I used to downhill skateboard out there.
I want to go. I sub for the custodian at that cost Gaurd station on mt Elliot
Very cool !
The beaches of detroit !!! Props tho on some of the bike infrastructure not bad
Seriously a beautiful Great Lakes beach! I guess they have a well thought out plan in place to continue building out the bike lanes.
But did you stop and risk a ride on the world-famous Belle Isle Giant Slide?
I missed the slide!
The people are interested in your humble opinions, Tim, haha; seems like the present state of Detroit justifies "flyover states" in a way . . .
Thanks! Oh no - I don't want that to be the take-a-way! Detroit is full of amazing history and its downtown has had a renaissance in the last decade and is full of great shops and breweries. The architecture in some of the buildings is stunning. It is worth the trip!
Good views of Belle Isle. They have a new bike lane that will take you to the bridge now!
www.youtube.com/@wearemajortaylor
Awesome! From a lot of the comments it sounds like I missed a lot - but will have to check out the vid.
England calling. Hey, nothing wrong with riding on the Left :)
Yep it reminded me of my home as well. Down under Australia.
Ha! - it was more about wanting to ride on the water front...
@@TimFitzwater There's something so Michigan about giving the best view to cars. A driver definitely designed that bike lane.
@@TimFitzwater Oh yes I got that. So many similarities, a painted line.... "look what we've done for the cyclists" hmmm, cycling infrastructure designed by people who don't ride bikes, things not finished, glass!.... But similarly things are improving as well here in Australia, all be it, slowly.
missed the abanadoned zoo!
I’ve heard about a few things - will definitely do a bit more research when I get back.
If you aimed your camera more towards the area and scenery your videos would be really informative.
Thanks.
Well, I aim my camera where I like. It’s the joy of having my own channel and being a professional photographer.
@TimFitzwater OK no more advice for you.
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@frankducett9 see ya! ✌️