Tour de Troit

This year was the 10th edition of the Tour de Troit. It is a Detroit area ride that raises money to develop greenways and other space for cyclists in the motor city. It is a ride with ride captains, ride mechanics and SAG support so getting lost or abandoned is not really likely. This year, the 100km version was moved back an hour with a starting time of 7:00 am. I woke up early at 5:00 so that I could drink some coffee and have a light breakfast. Lots of time and I actually knew where I was going in Detroit, and the best way to get there. Perfect, I found a parking spot right at Roosevelt Park and had lots of time to get set up and dressed.

The great thing about riding in the 100km ride is that all the other cyclists, the 4,000 or so, aren't at the starting area so early in the morning. I have to be honest in saying that I've never road with that many cyclists at one time and was glad to leave before the massive wave started.

In a nutshell, the Tour de Troit is a very leisurely ride through Detroit.  I was informed by the ride captain that the pace is to be at 15mph or 24kph. As we started out, I found the pace was too slow and really wanted to go.  I think a few other riders also wanted to go as they finally took off after about an hour....But I decided that I would stay with the ride, enjoy the scenery in a number of areas I have never been to, and be comfortable riding with a group of 250 people who enjoyed doing the same thing I do.

It is really cool to see how much the city has changed this year the with considerable amount of bike lanes and sharrows added in Corktown and in a lot of other areas of the city.  All new for 2011 and a great leap forward for the Detroit community. The people and bikes that showed up for the 100km ride were quite varied. There were inexperienced group riders, enthusiasts, mountain bikers, 29ers, roadies, lots of vintage bikes, and a whole bunch of things I didn't expect to see on a 100km ride. Nevertheless, the motley crew we were was really, really cool. And, the leisurely ride, which ended up taking just over 5 1/2 hours with rest stops, was actually something worthwhile doing.

One mistake I made for this ride was downing my third coffee about 5 minutes before the ride. This is really not a good strategy and I should have just taken it with

me on the bike. Next year I will be taking a coffee and water because 2 water bottles are not necessary (unless it gets a lot hotter). Well, 30 minutes into the first leg, I had to go....Boy, does that really make one a clock-watcher (or mileage-watcher I guess). Seeing we were going between 24-27 kph, and we had to go a total of 40km for the first rest-stop, I had to hold on for another hour plus. Well, I didn't pull off to the side because I rode at the front and didn't want 250 people watching or at least knowing what I was doing....We FINALLY made it to the rest-stop, and I felt like running. I didn't, but a number of guys did! I ended up in line but managed to hold onto everything including my dignity. It was like that Austin Powers movie.....on and on and on and on....

I had an apple and then decided to go again. After a 15 minute

break, we were back on the road again. It was getting lighter outside and starting to warm up just a touch. Seeing that it was 9c when we started, mostly everyone had lots of clothing on. There were some glaring exceptions but, I guess that they're made of sterner stuff than this ex-Winnipeger. The second part of the ride was also uneventful and I just soaked up the sites. I wasn't lost by any means but would have been hard-pressed to follow the route on my own. And, seeing I didn't want to ride solo and put lots of pressure on my healing wing, I decided to just stay with the casual ride. As we were now hitting 9:00am, the traffic was getting heavier and I liked the fact that, as a group, we were afforded a huge amount of room by almost all vehicles.

The ride to the second rest-top was as easy as the first and it also had a lot to look at in areas that I've never been to before. The contrasts were everywhere: old and new, poor and rich, dilapidated and opulent, and of course, potholes and smooth road.


We finally arrived at Belle Isle. The ride captain told us that we could do our 1 lap at whatever speed we wanted and meet back up at the rest-stop. What? At whatever speed? Boy.....well, it didn't take me too much and, as soon as we crossed the bridge, some of the riders pulled out and moved out fast. I wanted to do the exact same thing so went out and caught up to a group of riders moving fast. I just went past and pulled hard at about 40kph. I wasn't too sure how the group functioned, being that they were all behind me, but it seemed to go okayish. It wasn't the greatest riding through the park with it full of cyclists. We had to weave in and out of much slower riders, joggers, walkers and dog-walkers. I kept the pace really high and pushed harder after about 2km, moving the pace to about 42kph. On one weave and slow-down, another rider picked up the lead but I took back over after he did a strong pull, staying at the good speed. We caught another rider moving fast but we're going about 44kph, I passed him letting him know we were there and he jumped to stay near the front. He managed 1 short pull but I moved out to the front. As we were heading back to the bridge (after about 8km), I turned my head to ask if they wanted to do another lap. There were only 3 riders behind me at this point....Oops, I wanted to burn off some of that pent-up power but not drop the other riders. But the hard ride felt really good after riding almost 3 hours at 24kph. I said 'bathroom' and pulled out to do some business because no one wanted to go another lap.

I ended up on the bridge at the front, looking for the 100km group. The timing was bad and I found myself in the 4000 rider group. Well, really cool is all I can say. That is A LOT of riders.

I finally connected back with the 100km group at the food area. Again, another local grown apple to eat. This stop was quite a bit longer due to the timing and, by what I heard, it was too long for most people. I was thinking that I could have done 3 or 4 laps of the island with a group but it was too late. Anyway, I wanted to finish the ride with the group I had started with. We headed out again with about 30km to go. I took some layers off as it was now getting a little warmer and it was nice and sunny. I was really glad that it didn't rain as was predicted!

The last leg of the event was again uneventful except for 1 minor crash at a stop sign. I stayed at the front for the remainder of the ride so got to see the changes in Detroit. It was nice as we headed back to the waterfront and I got to see some of the new walkways and bikeways. I was impressed that Detroit has made some nice changes to the waterfront. We then headed downtown towards the Renaissance Center and the ride through Corktown. The bike lanes were very nice indeed although we generally took up the entire road. We were headed up the ramp toward Cobo Hall when my bike made a loud popping noise. I saw something flash beneath me and I thought for a moment that my rear brake had broken away from the frame. I slowly pulled out from the middle-front and managed to stop after about 30 seconds. A quick inspection revealled that I had broken a spoke and not the brake. I quickly rapped the spoke around another, jumped back on my bike and caught up to the group. I then proceeded to make my way back up to the front.

We finished the ride rather quickly after doing a big circle of Corktown. I am very familiar with this area so it was just a matter of putting in the km. It was kinda neat as we headed back towards Roosevelt Park as some of the riders started jumping for a quick finish. I just rode in with the captains as I didn't have anything to prove. We all received 2 free meal and beer tickets for the post-ride party. I managed to get my meals, 2 wonderful vegan dishes, with very little delay. The food was good but needed some beer to wash it down. I walked over to the beer tent and there was only 2 guys pouring beer. And the lineup went on and on. If you look carefully at this image, the beer tent is way on the left top corner (but not the big tent, it's actually behind it!) and the line goes all the way to the right side, right to the road. I tried to give away my 2 beer tickets to people around me but nobody wanted to stand in line either. I guess we were all thinking the same thing--I got cold beer at home.....

Overall, the ride was a good way to spend the morning. It wasn't by any means a workout although the 5 1/2 hours at a slow pace certainly was good spinning. I said when I got home that Katrina could have done the ride if she can withstand the 5 1/2 hours and the large numbers of riders.

Ride organized by: Tour de Troit