In just two days, we are anticipating some pretty fantastic weather for our Bike Dearborn First Dozen Ride!!
Mid 40s, low wind, and no rain! We’ve ridden in every type of winter weather on past First Dozens. This year, it appears we’ll have spring like weather.
Bring a friend and share with your bike groups! We’ll see you at Qahwah House in west Dearborn on Sunday, January 1st. Registration begins at 1p. The ride starts at 2p. This is a self paced course with a SAG vehicle available.
More details in the link below. See you in the New Year!
We had a great discovery while on our Wednesday night ride last night! We consider this a small victory in our advocacy for better cycling in Dearborn. For the last several years, we’ve constantly pushed for the simple accomplishments…some lanes just need paint. Vernor Hwy is the perfect example! In SW Detroit, much of Vernor Hwy has bike lanes. They stopped abruptly just before the Dearborn border. They are now extended into Dearborn up to intersection at Dix Ave where cyclists would continue across to Holly St into the residential neighborhood where Lapeer Park and Salina Intermediate and Elementary schools.
We’re also very happy that the way it’s designed at the intersection in relation to the turn lanes to prevent right hooking! It’s little things like this that make for a safer environment for cyclists. It’s a short distance, but a huge accomplishment in connecting neighboring communities.
We want to thank the City of Dearborn and Mayor Hammoud for his progressive views on the importance of non-motorized transportation. It’s good for health and the environment! We’ve updated our Facilities Map to reflect this addition.
Through a generous donation from the Beaumont Foundation, we were able to purchase a Bicycle Counter. Using this counter, we will be able to collect data about the usage of bicycles on our city’s streets.
We are currently testing the counter out on the Rouge Gateway Trail (October/November 2022) until the first snow.
This is allowing us to learn a bit how the software works and the best way to collect data. The counter consists of a computer enclosed in a metal box and pneumatic tubes that run across the pathway to capture bike coming from both directions.
In the spring of 2023, it is our hope to work with the City of Dearborn to place it on streets that we feel are already being used by cyclists and will benefit from safer infrastructure improvements specifically for cyclists.
Getting excited for the FUTURE!! 2023 Dates for our Bike Dearborn Special Edition Rides: – First Dozen: January 1st, 2023 1pm meet-up/ride-out 2p at Qahwah House West Dearborn
– Dearborn to Camp Dearborn Overnight Camp – June or July 2023 (pending trail construction interference)
– Every Wednesday Night at 6:30p year round as weather permits!
***It is our hope that if we get these dates out far in advance to the general public, that other area groups will be encouraged to cooperate and not schedule conflicting rides that cause confusion for members that may belong to multiple riding groups in the city. We have become disheartened by conflicting rides that force members to choose one or the other group to participate with. We use these Special Edition Rides as fundraisers for our organization. These are annually recurring events. It’s not fair to our cyclists when they have to pick and choose which event to participate in because there is another ride on the same date and even possibly at the same time as ours. Our goal should be working together to get as many people riding in Dearborn as possible…not causing conflict between groups and their members. We pride ourselves on our top notch events and our organization’s legitimacy in the City of Dearborn as we continue to advocate for better cycling in Dearborn!
We at Bike Dearborn are always open and transparent about our event planning in our group…it is open to the PUBLIC here on Facebook (Bike Dearborn -The Group) and on our website (www.bikedearborn.com). We recognize that there are other biking groups in Dearborn. We look forward to working collaboratively to promote everyone’s events.
Let’s all work to do better! Tracy Besek – Founder and Ride Leader of Bike Dearborn
BETTER CYCLING IN DEARBORN, MI Bike for Your Health, Our Community, Transportation, and the Environment BUILD COMMUNITY | OUTREACH | GIVE BACK | ADVOCATE
ETA: Yes, we hope to host the 2nd Annual Mayor’s Bike Ride in early May again next year…we work in collaboration with Mayor Abdullah Hammoud’s team on this event.
We are excited that the Dearborn Homecoming Festival is coming back! Unfortunately, we will not be doing Bike Valet Parking as we did the two years prior to the Covid pandemic.
We just didn’t have the volunteer bandwidth this year to make it happen.
Despite that, there is plenty of bike parking in the are around the City’s Administrative Center, Library, and Performing Arts Center. Just be sure to bring a lock! There’s also a public repair station at the Library should you need to tighten a bolt or pump up your tires!
As a note: You’ll have to hop off your bike and walk it through the festival areas to reach the racks.
