Pedaling The D: Young and Savvy, Detroit Locals Behind the Bike Boom
I was blown away by how much great stuff is happening in Detroit when we visited the city for our Cleveland/Detroit city swap earlier this year. But one of the initiatives really left an impression on me: Detroit Bike and Brunch.
Kloni Thorpe and Brandi Keeler (that's Brandi in the photo) are two of the young Detroiters behind Bike and Brunch, an organized monthly bike event which combines exploring the city by two wheels, getting some exercise, eating healthy and delicious food, and supporting Detroit's local restaurants.
What started as a lovely lunchtime date for Kloni and her partner soon grew into one of Detroit's most popular monthly events. Seems to me that Detroit Bike and Brunch has been so successful is precisely
because a lot of people in the city like to ride, a lot of people in the city like to try good local food, and putting these two things together is simply just a great idea.
For me, it was really inspiring to hear from two young women with an enormous amount of entrepreneurial energy who want to boost the biking culture in Detroit.
Since that visit I've been trying to keep an eye on what Kloni and Brandi are up to, and so I was really interested to see Brandi's blog post for Challenge Detroit recently: "Pedaling the D: 3 Easy Ways to Get Involved in Detroit's Growing Bike Culture."
"Detroit is known as the 'Motorcity' but the growing bicycle culture is starting to make many folks re-think this title," Brandi writes.
Even if you're not from Detroit, communities everywhere can learn something from the burgeoning success of the bike scene there, and Brandi's "keep it simple" philosophy to enjoying the benefits of biking. Check out the post for yourself.
P.S: Detroit rocks.
