2009 Tour de Troit

**Todd_Scott** · August-31-09, 10:45 PM

This is just a reminder that September 1st is the last day to pre-register *and* get a T-shirt. You can register on-line.

This ride has been growing every year and this year is certainly no exception. With 3 weeks to go, we have nearly 800 registered.

----------------------------

For Immediate Release: 8th Annual Tour de Troit
“Motown Sans Motor”
Saturday, September 19, 2009 ~ 10:00 a.m.

The Tour de Troit is a leisurely bicycle tour of Detroit that explores the city’s historic areas, takes in many of its most breathtaking sights and provides bicyclists a unique opportunity to legally "take over" the streets of the Motor City. This year, the eighth annual, will take place on September 19. Last year over 1,000 riders joined in the fun and organizers are planning for 2,000 this year.

For the first time, Tour de Troit is offering two ride options: a 30-mile, slow-paced, police-escorted journey; and the Metric Century, a 62-mile trek around the D for more experienced riders. ~Both options are sweeper and SAG-supported.

The ride will begin and end at Roosevelt Park in the shadow of Michigan Central Station, located in historic Corktown at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 14th Street. Registration and sign-in will begin at 8 a.m. Local blends of Great Lakes Coffee and pastries from Chilango's Bakery will be available for fuel, and bike technicians from The Hub of Detroit and Bike Tech will be on hand to provide last-minute adjustments.

The ride will take off at 10 a.m. The primary route will take in many historic neighborhoods including Midtown, Downtown, Hubbard Farms, Indian Village and New Center. Highlights include the Dequindre Cut, East RiverWalk, Farnsworth Community Garden and Heidelberg Project. The Metric Century will go deeper into Southwest Detroit and Northwest Detroit and jog through Hamtramck.

Both rides will enjoy a short rest stop at the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy’s newly-refurbished Gabriel Richard Park to allow riders to use the restroom, replenish their water supply and grab a Michigan apple courtesy of Detroit Eastern Market Corp., a Whole Foods Market nutri-grain bar and a Quench beverage from Clif Bar.

After the ride, there will be music, food and drinks from 2 to 6 p.m. In partnership with Savor Southwest, the Tour de Troit is excited to be providing a spread of food from local restaurants including Slow’s Bar B Q, Motz Burgers, Pizza de Casa, Honeybee Market, Mudgie’s Deli and Dearborn Bakery. Additionally, vegetarian fare from Moo Moo’s and Organaman will be served. Beverages from Vitamin Water and Arbor Brewing Co. will be served. Music will be provided by DJ Jeff Richards, also known as Rock N Roll Scientist with sound support from Audio Rescue Team.

Pre-registration for the Tour de Troit is available at www.tour-de-troit.org. The cost is $30 per rider [[$25 for students). Registration completed before Sept. 1 includes a t-shirt. Registration between Sept. 1 and 11 is $30/$25 but does not include a t-shirt. Registration between Sept. 12 and 18 is $35/$30. Day-of registration is $40/$35. A limited number of t-shirts will be available for purchase on-site.

Packet pick-up will be available for pre-registrants at Wheelhouse Detroit. Both rides will be sweeper- and SAG-supported. Plenty of on-street parking is available at Roosevelt Park, but riders are encouraged to take the SMART bus or cycle to the event. Riders are able to take advantage of a special lodging rate at the nearby Motor City Casino Hotel and discounted dog daycare at Canine to Five.

Greater Corktown Development Corporation sponsors the Tour de Troit to raise awareness of biking as a mode of transportation, to publicize the growing greenways network in the City of Detroit and all of Southeastern Michigan and to raise funds for the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink. The Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink is a planned series of bike lanes and off-road pathways that will connect the neighborhoods of Corktown and Mexicantown to each other and to the Detroit River.

Tour de Troit is also sponsored by Miller Canfield, Team Detroit, Giffels Webster Engineering, O’Connor Real Estate and Development, Recy-clean, Michigan Green-Safe, Kem 3D, Detroit Medical Center, Honest John’s Bar & Grill, Bureau of Urban Living, Foran’s Grand Trunk Pub, Brown’s Bun Bakery and Zachary and Associates with support from Michigan Trails & Greenways Alliance, New Center Council, Southwest Detroit Business Association, Detroit Bikes! and TheDetroiter.com.

More information about Tour de Troit is available at www.tour-de-troit.org.

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**Tig3rzhark** · August-31-09, 11:28 PM

Tough choice between the 30 mi and the 62 mi. I'm going to try to get that day off so I can join in. I've never been on one of these tours before, and I'd like to see what its like.

gravitymachine · September-01-09, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by Tig3rzhark

Tough choice between the 30 mi and the 62 mi. I'm going to try to get that day off so I can join in. I've never been on one of these tours before, and I'd like to see what its like.

unless you are an experienced cyclist, with lots of long distance rides under your belt, let me suggest the 30-miler. 62 miles at a decent clip ain't no joke

**Eastside** · September-04-09, 03:01 PM

Greetings--

Does anyone know the registration count to date?

**Todd_Scott** · September-04-09, 03:21 PM

It was barely under 1,000 as of yesterday afternoon.

**DetroitZack** · September-04-09, 03:47 PM

This sounds awesome. If I had known about it sooner I would of signed up.

**Todd_Scott** · September-04-09, 04:54 PM

You can still sign up! Registration is still open. It's just that it no longer includes a T-shirt [[though we hope to have some extras to sell at the event.)

**Eastside** · September-14-09, 06:54 PM

Greetings--

Curious on the latest numbers, how many registrations/participants are there to date?

Thanks!

**Tig3rzhark** · September-14-09, 07:07 PM

Well, since this will be my first Tour de Troit, I'll do the 30 mile, but next year, I'm doing the 62 mile.

**bike4beer** · September-14-09, 08:24 PM

Will miss this years ride and I was looking forward to that 62 mile route. I am doing Pittsburgh to DC that week instead

**Todd_Scott** · September-14-09, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by Eastside

Greetings--

Curious on the latest numbers, how many registrations/participants are there to date?

Thanks!

We were around 1,100 as of last Wednesday. The weather is looking great for Saturday. You can still register! www.tour-de-troit.org

**Be Kay** · September-14-09, 11:38 PM

I can't wait to get to Detroit this weekend! My cycling agenda is maxed-out. Boston-Edison picture taking, Honeybee, Beat the Train, Tour de Troit. Hopefully my Megabus ride goes smoothly on the way in!

**Lowell** · September-15-09, 10:34 PM

Is there a map of the tours online? I have searched and not found any, only a highlights.

gravitymachine · September-16-09, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

Is there a map of the tours online? I have searched and not found any, only a highlights.

no. at the insistance of the event's insurers and the DPD, maps are not provided online ahead of the ride

**RealityCheck** · September-19-09, 07:38 PM

I look forward to seeing spectator snaps here . . . based on what Sandra Svoboda describes in a colorful four-paragraph Metro Times blog post.

It looks damn fine, even considering all the Spandex. . . . Spectators along the 100-mile route greeted riders with "woohoos," "you got it" . . .

Thanks in advance to whoever can show us samples of what you snapped.

**edgar_rhode** · September-20-09, 07:52 AM

wow. with all the tour de troit participants and all the detroit yes members i can't believe i'm the first "citizen reporter" poster...

the ride was great. beautiful day. wonderful introduction to a lot of the riders to some of detroits "hidden" gems [[ patton park / palmer woods / indian village / heidelberg / dequinder cut / etc )

i did the metric century [[ 100 kilometers approx 62 miles ), the pace was a little faster than i'm normally used to riding - especially when we got to belle isle. last night and this morning my legs feel like a whores' after a night with the 7th fleet. but it was worth it.

events like this can only help the city IMO.

--

here are two snaps from my crappy cell phone camera.

**oldredfordette** · September-20-09, 08:29 AM

It was a fantastic day. I rode the 30, it was enough for me. It was a wonderful day and I thank the organizers of the ride.

**mauser** · September-20-09, 10:21 AM

Heres video from Gratiot and the Boulevard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B91zf4NnegI

**parker4life** · September-20-09, 10:55 AM

I'll start with fessing up.I,ve not made the tour yet.It is on my calender for 2010!Now let me clean up,I,ve been peddeling this city,state since 1972 and with all the events through the years.....this is the Grandaddy of all!!! With the mind set the auto has had on life its been a long lonely ride....about 150,ooo miles. Let the party peddle on. Parker4life

**Knocturnal** · September-20-09, 07:41 PM

I wish that this would have been more publicized myself. I had not heard about it until the day of the event. Schedule permitting, I'll definitely keep it in memory to attend for next year, as it sounds as though it was a lot of fun.

**Tig3rzhark** · September-20-09, 08:43 PM

I have a short video of the tour at the Heidelburg Project

http://www.youtube.com/?v=jdz9nl0MWqo

**Todd_Scott** · September-20-09, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by Knocturnal

I wish that this would have been more publicized myself. I had not heard about it until the day of the event.

In the past, this event has not received an abundance of media coverage. The event did much better this year and I expect it will only continue to improve.

Edgar, Sorry about the legs! I was one of the guys in neon yellow helping lead the metric. On a few occasions that ride really picked up and I ended up mid-pack. Fortunately we were able to re-group.

At the end of the day, the unofficial count was 1,980 registered cyclists. If so, that's an 80% increase over last year.

I've posted a short tour de troit writeup on m-bike along with links to much of the media coverage.

**MikeM** · September-20-09, 09:15 PM

It was a great day for a great event! Here's a map of this year's short route - red for the first half, and green for the second half after the break in Richard Park. My GPS claims I rode 31.3 miles at an average speed of 9.9 mph.

Attachment 3188

**thefishwrap** · September-21-09, 10:38 AM

This was my first time, and we had fun. But I was curious what the two major stops during the first leg were about? We were sitting there for a good 5-10 minutes, twice. There was no communication on what was going on, etc.

Also, it would have been nice if the ride started at little earlier. I felt like we ran into more traffic than we needed to. If the group took off at 8 a.m., we would have been off the road at noon, instead of distributing early afternoon traffic.

Overall though, a lot of fun. Glad I did it.

gravitymachine · September-21-09, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by thefishwrap

This was my first time, and we had fun. But I was curious what the two major stops during the first leg were about? We were sitting there for a good 5-10 minutes, twice. There was no communication on what was going on, etc.

Also, it would have been nice if the ride started at little earlier. I felt like we ran into more traffic than we needed to. If the group took off at 8 a.m., we would have been off the road at noon, instead of distributing early afternoon traffic.

Overall though, a lot of fun. Glad I did it.

the stops were meant to let the group bunch back up, things were getting very strung out. sorry, but its hard to communicate to 2000 cyclists in the middle of a neighborhood.

your suggestion of starting earlier is not the first and it will be noted.

glad you had a great time!