Traffic-free roads and passionate people make Detroit is an up-and-coming bike destination.
Legendary Talking Heads frontman and bike advocate David Byrne calls Detroit — with nearly traffic-free roads, flat topography, and magnificent architecture — one of the top eight cycling cities in the world. And, as a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community, it has 150 miles of bike lanes, lots of public repair stands, and cool local bicycle manufacturers (like Detroit Bike). Urban riders can choose from multiple group outings, from Monday’s Slow Roll (people watching) to Thursday’s People for Palmer Point (history).
The laid-back Tour De Troit is the city’s biggest bike event, with 5,000 riders hitting scenic highlights. Going solo? Spin around the island park of Belle Isle, check out the below-grade Dequindre Cut, or go longer on the pretty Hines Park, Macomb Orchard, or Poly Ann trails.
North of town, Stony Creek Metropark has a 14 miles of stacked mountain bike loops and a great skills course, and Novi Tree Farm and Maybury State Park are packed with technical features — most of them carefully maintained by the Motor City Mountain Biking Association. West past Ann Arbor, Waterloo State Recreation area hosts a sizable gravel ride every year, the Waterloo G+G, which takes full advantage of the park’s glacial geology of rolling hills and curvy descents.