Bicycle Friendly Business – LaBo Family Chiropractic

Posted on July 16, 2019July 16, 2019

Through our Bike Dearborn and Healthy Dearborn Walk n Roll hosted events, businesses in Dearborn are realizing the importance of becoming a bicycle friendly business. This can mean a number of things for the individual business. Most importantly, it’s recognizing a demographic of clientele that become very loyal to the business.

Our first featured business is LaBo Family Chiropractic. Dr. Heidi LaBo contacted us about hosting a Walk n Roll after seeing the success of our event across the street from her office at Joe and Reno’s Pizzeria. Dr. Heidi saw the value that could be added to her office and her patients by not only hosting a Walk n Roll event to introduce her business to our participants, but to add a permanent bike rack for parking near the rear entrance of her office.

I asked Dr. Heidi 3 questions.
1. In a few short sentences, tell us about your business.
2. What was the influencing factor in becoming a bicycle friendly business?
3. What steps did you take to become a bicycle friendly business and what do you hope to achieve?
4. Do you have any plans to do anything else to attract bicyclists to your business?

Dr. Heidi’s answers.
I am Dr Heidi LaBo and I’ve been a chiropractor in Dearborn for 20 years. We adjust patients from newborns just hours old to 98 years young and everyone in between. Becoming a bike friendly business made so much sense for us as we are a wellness facility! We educate our patients on proper body mechanics so they can prevent injury while they exercise and we love to promote healthy living. What better way than to ride your bike to an appointment! We asked to participate with Bike Dearborn to help educate our community on health and wellness. In preparation for the event I got a bike rack and bike parking sign. What a huge hit it has been with our patients. We have patients riding their bikes to their appointments everyday now. Seeing the large interest in patients using our bike rack has motivated us to hold a future workshop about proper bike riding posture and some stretching exercises prior to riding. Thank you Bike Dearborn for giving us this opportunity and for motivating us to reach out to the fellow bikers in our community!

Thank you Dr. Heidi and Staff at LaBo Family Chiropractic for making Bicycling Better in Dearborn!

The Tandem Bike in Itself is Unique

Posted on July 15, 2019July 15, 2019

Pat and Mary Margaret are an integral part of our Bike Dearborn Community. The sweetness of affection these two display for one another is something to see! Mary Margaret was born and raised in Dearborn. They currently live in the house Mary Margaret’s dad had built. They were married in 1970, 49 years and counting. I did ask Pat, why they choose to join us every week, and he stated, ¨riding with my sweetheart, of course¨.

These two are not easy to miss on our bike rides every Wednesday. Pat and Mary Margaret ride a red tandem bike, which is unique in itself! Pat had the tandem custom made in California. Mary Margaret had some health issues that lead them to start riding a tandem bike. Riding a tandem bikes requires a lot of teamwork and trust!

The love of their daughter shined through when I was asking them questions. Pat shared that she teaches at Ohio State and Mary Margaret bleeds green and white, not red, as they both smiled at each other, wearing their Spartan lanyards and we all laughed!

If you have not had the opportunity to introduce yourself to them, please do! They have some great stories to share for their love for each other, biking , and their family.

Jen (#corkergirl)

2019 Dearborn Homecoming Bike Parking Attendants Needed

Posted on July 1, 2019July 1, 2019

Last year in 2018, we introduced an idea of Bike Valet Parking at Dearborn’s Homecoming festival celebration. It was a great success!!

Free and Secure Bike Parking for Dearborn Homecoming

The members and volunteers of Bike Dearborn set up a secured parking area for residents and visitors of Homecoming to ride in and drop off their bicycles to be watched by our volunteer attendants. Over the course of the 3 day festival, we parked and monitored over 300 bicycles! This service is absolutely FREE!!

This year, 2019, we’ll be stationed in the same location, using the tennis courts at Ford Field to safely park and secure bicycles. once again, this service will be free!
Friday August 2, 2019: 2p-10p
Saturday August 3, 2019: 12p-11p
Sunday August 4, 2019: 12p-11p

We do need help though. If you have time to spare for a 2 hour shift, we need volunteers to take in and release bicycles to their owners as they come and go from Homecoming. We’ll be conveniently located at the tennis courts near restrooms, the Polish tent, and the beer tent. We need a minimum of 2 volunteers per shift….3 would be ideal as we expect to park more bike this year than last. The closing shift would ideally need 4 volunteers as this is the busiest time after the fireworks!!

If you are interested please sign up using the following Signup Genius link. Please only volunteer if you will be 100% committed to help! We will gladly sign for any community service hours for your volunteer help.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b044cafa922a7f49-2019

Bike Dearborn Public Bike Repair Stations

Posted on June 25, 2019June 25, 2019

Have you seen them? With the help of many, Bike Dearborn has been able to install THREE public bike repair stations around the city. Thank you to all who made it possible to provide these for the resident and visitor cyclists in our city.
These stations feature all the tools necessary for on the fly flat tire repairs (patches and tubes not included) including an air pump that fits both types of bike tire valves as well as most tools for other quick maintenance issues.

We hope to add more in the future.
If you or your business would like to sponsor a station, please contact us.

Our first station is located between the two parking structures that are adjacent to the West Village Commons area. Funding was provided by Downtown Dearborn and the League of Michigan Bicyclists.

Our Second Station is located at the Rouge Gateway trailhead across from the John Dingell Transit Center. Funding was provided by the League of Michigan Bicyclists, Mayor O’Reilly, and Dearborn Brewing.

Our third station can be found along Michigan Avenue at the Zagster Bike Share Station in front of the City Hall Art Space Lofts and City Hall Park. Funding was provided by Discount Tire Company.

BIKE DEARBORN UPHOLDING DECADES OLD TRADITION- FIRST DOZEN

Posted on December 21, 2018June 24, 2019

In the absence of the 40+ year tradition of the Annual Dearborn Cycling Saddlemen First Dozen Ride, Bike Dearborn is putting our own spin on it to continue this Dearborn 12 mile Tradition!!
We will be doing registration at Biggby West Dearborn(Michigan/Military). This ride is free, but we need you to register upon arrival. It is our hopes that in lieu of a registration fee, you will support a small business like Biggby who supports us in true Bike Dearborn fashion! HELMETS ARE REQUIRED

This ride is FREE to participate! We will look into future event fees for fundraising purposes, but with the last minute organization of this event, we want to make it as simple as possible!!!

The ride will start promptly at 2p. Registration for this free event will start at 1:15p. You must register and sign a waiver to participate.

RIDE OPTIONS:
Mass start at 2:00p!
1. Ride the given route at your own pace faster than our designated group.
2. Ride with our designated group with a ride leader taking you along the route, and a small support team to make sure everyone stays together. Pace will be about 10mph
3. Ride the given route at your own pace slower than the designated group. There will be sweepers on the route to make sure everyone finishes safely.
We will also have a truck on call for any participants not able to finish the course.

HELMETS ARE REQUIRED.

Please make sure to have a spare tube in case you need it. We will help change the flat, but you need to have the appropriate supply!
Helmets are mandatory! You will be riding on the open road throughout west Dearborn…sharing the road with motor vehicles. You are required to follow the law and stop at all red lights! Ride no more than two abreast, and be courteous to the motor vehicles as you would want them to be to you.
If you are riding with the main group, we operate as one vehicle and will have a light support team to help get everyone through the major intersections.
We hope to have a couple of volunteers to slowly make their way through the route behind ALL participants to make sure no one is left behind. We also hope to have a vehicle available with a bike rack should someone not be able to finish, or have a mechanical issue that can’t be repaired on the road. Children are welcome with an accompanying adult…you will be on open roads with vehicles. Helmets are required. You must sign a waiver before the ride releasing the City of Dearborn and Bike Dearborn from any liability.

THANKS, LEAGUE OF MICHIGAN BICYCLISTS – BETTER BIKING IN DEARBORN

Posted on October 28, 2018June 24, 2019

The Better Bike Project is a first for the City of Dearborn. Through this project Bike Dearborn has been able to install the first two Public Use Bike Repair Stations in the City. These Bike Fixation brand Deluxe Public Work Stands include a bike pump and all the tools necessary to perform basic bike repairs and maintenance, from changing a flat to adjusting brakes and derailleurs. The stations have a high visibility powder coat and feature vinyl graphics with the LMB logo and the other funders of this project.

The first repair station is located on the upcoming Discover Dearborn Bike Route in the heart of West Downtown Dearborn. This location is within close proximity to many popular restaurants, retail shops, and a summer farmer’s market. Near an existing Bike Share station and new bike parking corral, this highly visible location by the West Village Commons Plaza is sure to be a hit. Funding for this station came from the LMB micro-grant and the West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority

The second repair station will be located along the extremely popular Rouge River Gateway Trail, just on the outskirts of West Downtown Dearborn. This repair station will be located on an existing concrete slab at the trailhead in close proximity of the trailhead parking lot, John D. Dingell Transit Center, Ford Field Regional Park and the Dearborn Historical Museum. Funding for this station came from the LMB grant, Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly’s One Dearborn Foundation, and Dearborn Brewing.

The second station has been purchased but installation has been delayed due to construction by Wayne County. A “fishway” passage is being constructed by the century-old Jens Jensen dam at Henry Ford’s Fairlane Estate. This construction has caused a closure of the Rouge River Gateway Trail near the installation site. The repair station will be placed at the trailhead in the next few months once it is verified that it will not be damaged by construction traffic.

The City of Dearborn has generously donated the time and labor of the DPW crew to install the stations. The City and related departments have been extremely supportive of this project.

Bike Dearborn looks forward to continuing this project in the future with additional stations throughout all areas of the City. Thank you League of Michigan Bicyclists for seeing the vision of our organization and being a part of our celebration of Better Biking in Dearborn!
www.lmb.org
www.bikedearborn.com