Extra, Extra…Last Tour of 2009 is here!

This Saturday, October 24, we’ll be heading out for a bike tour of Eastern Market at 10 a.m. It’s a relatively short ride coupled with a presentation about what is currently happening at the market as well as what is planned…plus a walking tour and a couple of slices of Supino Pizza! All for the low price of $25 per person ($35 with a bike).

The bike ride will be led by Wheelhouse co-owner Kelli Kavanaugh and the presentation and walking tour will be led by Randall Fogelman of the Eastern Market Corporation, our community partner for the event.

This tour is especially family-friendly because of the distance of the ride. We’d love to see some trailers out on the Dequindre Cut!

NB: Saturday is also the Harvest Beer Festival at Eastern Market, and we think our tour is a great way to get your market “legs” before quaffing a few Michigan brews! The fest starts at 1 p.m., which is just when our tour will end! You can even stay at the market and ride back to Wheelhouse on your own after you partake in the festivities if you so desire. Bike+pizza+walk+beer sounds like just about a perfect autumn day to us.

Architecture Tour + Open City

This Saturday, October 17 is the return of our Architecture Tour! Led by local architect Brian Hurttienne, this tour will inform riders about local architecture — the good and the bad. The old and the modern will be considered and plus, it’s a great route around Lafayette Park, Midtown and Downtown.

Check out a gallery of photos from our Spring Architecture Tour here.

On Tuesday, October 20 at 6:30 p.m., join us at Open City at Cliff Bell’s, a monthly gathering of operating and prospective small businesses in Detroit. This month, the subject is new, creative retail, and Kelli will be moderating the panel, which will consist of Joe from Hugh, Rachel from Rachel’s Place, Greg from Leopold’s Books, and Nate from Burton Theatre. Expect lively conversation and inspiration!

Architecture Tour Pics

Saturday, May 16 was Wheelhouse’s Architecture tour led by Brian Hurttienne. If these pics entice you, we’re having one again in October!

Sign up at WheelhouseDetroit.com/Tours.

Curious about our tours?

Wheelhouse was featured in Sunday’s Detroit Free Press. The article talks about our tours and there is an accompanying video of our Creekside tour.

From the article, City cycling is a challenge and a treat:

Throughout the spring and fall, and occasionally in the summer, the store — run by Detroiters Karen Gage and Kelli Kavanaugh — hosts bike tours that range from about 10 miles to 30 miles or more.

“We have so much fun biking around the city, just going out and experiencing it and seeing new things,” said Gage, 33. “Detroit has a lot of cool neighborhoods and interesting people and great architecture. These bike tours are allowing us to present that.”

You can watch the video at the Freep site or via the column on the right-hand side of this page!

Weekend Report

We had three great tours this weekend: Hamtramck, a private one for attendees of the Population Association of American annual meeting and Grandmont Rosedale. Breakdown: 61.4 miles, 31 people, 3 trips on the Dequindre Cut! We visited the Power House, Polish Art Center, Hamtramck Disneyland and Cafe 1923 in Hamtramck…Belle Isle, Indian Village, Earthworks Urban Farm and Eastern Market on the PAA tour…and the Catherine Ferguson Academy farm, N. Rosedale Community House and a charming home on the Grandmont Rosedale one.

Thanks to everyone who rode, we had a blast! Here’s a pic of the Hamtramck group in front of the Polish Art Center.

Tune-Up Special Reminder

This is the last weekend for our spring tune-up special. If you get your bike in before 7 p.m. on Sunday, it will only run you $40 — after that, you’ll have to shell out $50.

Starting next Friday, May 1, we will be open 7 days a week, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. We have two tours lined up: Hamtramck on Saturday, and Grandmont-Rosedale on Sunday. Read more and register at WheelhouseDetroit.com/Tours.

FINAL FOUR MADNESS

The weekend of April 3 to 5, the world is coming to Detroit for the Final Four. To celebrate, we are offering some great specials!

4 Wheels for the Price of 2!
Rent two bikes — for any length of time April 3 through 5 — and pay for just one!

Tour Detroit’s Top 4 Destinations!
Sunday, April 5 at 1 p.m.
Join a fun, informative bike tour of can’t-miss Detroit gems: bustling Eastern Market, historic Indian Village, tranquil Belle Isle Park, and the stunning Detroit International Riverfront. This two-hour tour is $25 a rider; the 4 Wheels for the Price of 2! weekend discount remains applicable for rentals only.

Register here.

For more info on the Final Four haps around town, visit Get In The Game.

Haunted Detroit Bike Tour

Detroit Bikes! is hosting its 4th Annual Haunted Detroit Bike Tour on October 25. Sites include the Majestic Theater, Orchestra Hall, the Masonic Temple, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Historical Museum, Wayne State University, The Bonstelle Theatre, The Fox Theatre, Grace/Harper Hospital, The Riverplace Grand Heritage Hotel and Elmwood Cemetery. It begins at 10 a.m. at the Millennium Bell in Grand Circus Park.

The 16-mile ride is free. Contact dialogue@detroitsynergy.org for more info or to volunteer as a mechanic or tour assistant. Helmets are mandatory.

Last weekend for tours

We have our final two neighborhood tours this weekend: Saturday we’ll explore Eastern Market and Sunday, Southwest Detroit. Read more about them and sign up at wheelhousedetroit.com/tours.

Our last several neighborhood tours have gone really well! We did Boston Edison a couple of weeks ago…

…and you can read about it here, at a blog post from one of the tour participants.

Last week, we did Creekside (no pics yet) and the Conner Creek Greenway. Todd from m-bike led that ride and has a re-cap and photos up on his site.

Join us this weekend!

This weekend’s tours

Wheelhouse goes eastside this weekend with two great tours.

Saturday, we’ll take off from the shop at 10 a.m. and tour the lower eastside community of Creekside. There are amazing riverside parks, charming houses, meandering canals, brick streets and some new developments as well. The ride is about 15 miles and we’ll be back to Wheelhouse by 1 p.m. including a rest stop.

Saturday’s ride is being dubbed the Colin Hubbell Memorial Ride; Colin was an avid cyclist and was on the board of Creekside CDC, our community partner for the ride.

Sunday, gear up for a tour of the Conner Creek Greenway. The 25-miler will take in the Better Made Chip Factory, the existing and proposed segments of the Greenway, Norris Town and the Dorais Velodrome; lunch at the historic Two-Way  Inn is included. (Read about Norris Town and the Two Way here and about the velodrome here.)

Read more and sign up at www.wheelhousedetroit.com/tours!