Bikes about Town

I was "cleaning out" the photo file on my phone the other day, and realized that I've taken a lot of pictures of bikes over the last year or so.

What can I say?  I like cool bikes.  Here are some of the more interesting ones that I've come across.

This looks like an old garage find that someone - who knew what they were doing - modified practically and tastefully.  The bars look to be new and not original to the bike.  Thank you for not bolting anodized Canadian Tire bar ends on like so many urban outdoorsmen do in this town.  A set of no nonsense knobbies and the most serious trailer hitch not mounted on anything with a V8 round out this utilitarian hog.








Another classic, dusted off and brought into daily use.  At first the new grips (which work well with the otherwise, mostly stock setup) seem like they were a conscious decision, a whimsical addition to an otherwise stodgy stalwart.  But then you notice the ill-fitting fenders, and its likely that the grips were whatever was available at the time, just like the fenders. 

Trade those eavestrough looking mudflaps for a pair of hammered silver fenders, and this bike's a looker.








Flat black terror with whitewalls and a basket.  You couldn't make this dude care.  (that's a compliment)
 




Chewed up seat, fixed gear, acrylic pedals with straps, no bar tape and just a front brake?  Straight Gangsta.

This thing looks ill proportioned and heavy.  But a big bike with whitewalls and coaster brakes isn't supposed to be efficient.

I haven't seen many belt drive bikes in the wild. and I don't know too much about them, but this Spot, with its toe clips, bullhorns, and single front brake, makes me wonder if that is a fixed gear or flip flop hub? 

A department store bike with the craziest aftermarket ape hangers ever?  Approved!

Grey and orange is a cool colour scheme.  But I wonder about the clipless pedals combined with a riser stem and mustache bars, deep v rims and a computer.  Hey bike!  Do you want to go fast or slow?

These old Bianchi's are beautiful.  I saw one in a pawn shop window a few years back for $200.  I have no idea what they're worth, but I had to seriously restrain myself from adding another bike to my collection. 
Pretty cavalier leaving it unlocked though!

Here's a completely un-retouched garage find.  Now a Detroit artist's daily driver.

I'm curious about the fact that someone went to the trouble to remove the rear brake lever altogether.  I just figured that if the rear brake stopped working, you might take the trouble to fix it or, I don't know, just ignore it.  Getting rid of the lever is probably as much work as fixing the brake.

Detroit - Saturday April 27th - Part Three - Trinity Cemetery, College For Creative Studies, & Midtown

After passing by the entire length of the Packard plant, we turned onto Theodore Street and then onto Mount Elliot.  The intent was to continue wandering, but that was cut short when we saw Trinity Cemetery to our right and rising in the distance the rear of the Packard complex we just saw.

This was my first time at Trinity Cemetery, but it bears more than a passing resemblance to Elmwood and Mount Elliot Cemeteries about 2 miles south on the same street with old Detroit family Crypts and Mausoleums, at least at the front of the cemetery facing Mount Elliot Street.

As we worked our way towards the back of the cemetery, the tree cover begins to clear, the graves are newer, and the rotting hulk of the Packard Plant comes clearly into view.  It's a strangely beautiful sight while being a poignant (and forgive me for saying poetic) reminder of the state of industry in North America.

...Here Lies American Manufacturing, R.I.P.

Well, that's not entirely true.  There have been significant new plant openings in the last 30 years, primarily in the American South, and this opens a whole can of worms that might include the topics of the effectiveness of tax incentives, questions about the role of organized labour today, and the cozy relationships between politicians and lobbyists.  But let's leave that one alone for now.

By this point, my friend and I realized that the decrepit wonder of these relics of a bygone industrial age had caused us to postpone our lunch by a dangerous degree.  Growing boys need their three squares.

The plan was to make our way towards Midtown, stop in at CCS for a few minutes while deciding on a stop for a late lunch.

One of the most recognizable buildings at the Campus of the College for Creative studies is the Kresge-Ford Building, affectionately referred to as "the Tinker Toy".

Based on a very quick and informal tour of the campus (lunch was waiting,)I learned that everything, every building, every sculpture had an interesting story behind it.  Even on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the studios and wood shops were full of students working on their projects.  The quad was busy too.  There, students read, sketched, played football, and a small group was filming what I assumed to be a project.

 Cathedral of St. Paul and Cathedral Tower in the distance

We settled on Maccabees for lunch.  Along the way, we spotted this relative oddity.   St. Paul's Cathedral in the foreground is not the oddity.  Big, old, beautiful churches are everywhere in Detroit. In fact, we talked about doing a tour in the future that focused on the Old Churches of Detroit.  It would be tough to make it a very comprehensive tour, so we would have to narrow it down by geography, or stick to a pre-determined list based on age, size, grandeur, historical significance, or some other criteria.

No, the odd ball here is the cylindrical (octagonal?) tower in the background.  Despite attending school a few blocks away for years, my friend knew very little about it, and to be honest, I don't recall ever really noticing it before.

A large, and somewhat uniquely designed high rise residential building that appears to date to after the riots of '67 in midtown?  I would argue that all the odds were against this thing ever being built.
Midtown is anchored by Educational and Cultural institutions like Wayne State University, the Detroit Library and Detroit Institute of Art.

Anyone who knows better should feel free to chime in, but just before the Great Depression, New Center, a new business district came to prominence in Midtown with the construction of the old General Motors World Headquarters, and the Fisher Building.  Someone once told me that the roof of the Fisher Building was plated in gold, and it was removed during World War II, likely because of the need to marshal resources, but supposedly also because if Detroit were ever attacked by Axis Bombers, the gold roof would make it a standout target.  That may or may not be true.  I've never been able to confirm it, but to be honest, my research has been limited to a handful of Google searches.

The aptly names Maccabees at Midtown resides in the beautiful Albert Khan designed Maccabees building on Woodward in Midtown.  Being Mid Afternoon, there were not many people around and we chose a booth close to the bar and near the window.  The restaurant is relatively new, and the dining room has been tastefully restored to its pre depression glory with coffered ceilings, bronze lamps and dark wood finishes.



The Sammiches (I ordered the Peeque, a concontion of grilled chicken, avocado, smoked gouda, and bacon, and my homie got the Reuben.) were phenomenal, and well accompanied by a few pints of Axl India Pale Ale.

 The Barrel Vaulted ceiling of the Lobby of the Maccabees Building

This being a beautiful day in Detroit, there were the obligatory sightings of Classic Detroit Muscle, in this case a 1967 Pontiac Bonneville.  When you see this thing in person, you begin to understand the scale and the layout of the city of Detroit.  You're not going to tuck this thing into a New York City sized parking spot with much success.

Question:  Did the geography of the city influence the development of the automobile, or was it the other way around?  My first instinct is that the car "built the city", but the car had to come from somewhere.  What was it about this city that created such fertile soil for the development of this mode of transportation?

We made our way to the Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. a few blocks south at Woodward and Alexandrine, and made ourselves at home on the patio.  The time for coffee had passed, so we availed ourselves of a few pints of Jolly Pumpkin Stout.
I've never seen the shop not busy, and today was no exception.  While we were there, I even ran into a friend from Chatham On, who was there with friends doing much the same thing we were.  Wandering around eating, drinking and taking pictures.

Parked next to the patio was this beautiful BMW R756.  I want one.

 This makes me want a motorcycle 

Another sign that this City is on the upswing, was the sheer number of young people walking around, taking pictures, hanging out in places and neighborhoods that their parents told them to avoid (and less than a decade ago, that might have been good advice for most people.)

In all, a great day with a good friend in a wonderful city that we've vowed to come back to soon.

Detroit - Saturday April 27th - Part Two - Hamtramck & The Packard Plant

Leaving the Russell complex, we immediately ignored the simple and straightforward directions that the Security Guard gave us, and improvised our own route to the Packard Plant.  Our way was more interesting and it took us through Hamtramck. 
Hamtramck for any of y'all not in the know, is a town of about two square miles, almost entirely surrounded by the city of Detroit.  It was the home of the Dodge Brothers auto plant, built in 1914, and has a strong Polish Heritage.

 That's about as Polish as it gets.

While driving, we could make out the spires of St. Florian church from a distance and decided to take a closer look.

I'm glad we did, because the church is absolutely amazing.  

It's an interesting insight into the cultural values of the times, that such an opulent building be situated in such an otherwise modest neighborhood.

As a side note about Hamtramck, I remember an article in Utne Reader from the late 1990's that talked about "trendy" and "up and coming" neighborhoods in the U.S. and Hamtramck was on that list....I might even still have the magazine in a box in the basement.
Anyway, that gives me some reason for concern.  It feels to me like Detroit and it's surrounding region (this includes Windsor on the Canadian side), is on the cusp of something great.  There is a palpable energy, especially in Detroit, despite what you hear in the national media, but this article is evidence of a previous false start, or failed attempt at renewal, or whatever.  And actually, now that I think about it, the Renaissance Center, Detroit's Iconic cluster of cylindrical glass skyscrapers, started construction in the early 70's, just a few years after the devastating riots of 1967.  This was not a minor project either.  I have no idea of the cost of the building, but a lot of people who believed in Detroit must have put their money where their mouth was.  Just the name of the building says it all - Renaissance Center - Misplaced optimism is not a new thing in Detroit.  

I don't know the history well enough to say exactly where things went off the rails, but despite these previous failed attempts, this current ....I'm so reluctant to say "Renaissance"....has a better chance at success.  Take the strong recent uptake of the New Urbanism movement, especially in Rust belt cities with nothing to lose, coupled with the fact that race relations in Detroit, have come a long way in the last forty years, and throw in the technological advances of Cameras on every Smart Phone and the Internet; particularly Social Media as a way of getting locals more engaged with their surroundings and giving them the opportunity to share that with such a broad audience, and I would suggest that there is a better chance for success this time around.
Here's a thought:  How should "success" in Detroit be defined?  Should it mean Fiscal Stability?  A reduction in crime?  Anecdotal feelings of civic pride, and that the city is "cool"?  Helping Michael Bloomberg feel better about himself?  Okay.  I've already gone on a tangent.  My tangent shouldn't have it's own tangent.  But I would love to hear people's thoughts on this.

Leaving Hamtramck, there is a short drive though a desolate post industrial void before coming to the Packard Plant.

 The Packard Plant, like the Russell Complex was designed by Albert Kahn and built in 1903.  The factory covers 40 acres and has floor space of 3.5 million square feet.  At its peak, Packard employed nearly 50,000 people who earned a decent wage and did a fair day's work for it.  These were members of the 'greatest generation' and the factories they worked in and the City they called home was the 'Arsenal of Democracy' without whose industrial output, the Second World War might have ended very differently.

 Anyhoo, for all of that physical size and historical significance, the factory sits empty....

 ....mostly

 and crumbling.

There is a lot that's been said about "Ruin Porn" and the mostly white, mostly suburban people that flock to the city to get a voyeuristic taste and then leave.  By strict definition, I am one of those people, so take anything I say with the appropriate dose of salt, but I think there are a lot of reasons for the curiosity; A peek into a 'simpler' bygone time; the impression that's left by the scale of human accomplishment, the amazement at how fleeting that accomplishment can be, and even the thrill of being somewhere that common sense and an instinct for self preservation tells you you shouldn't be.
This voyeurism will cause people to ask questions that don't have simple answers.  There is hope that  looking for those answers, or at least trying to make sense of what they are seeing, will cause those people to think differently - to understand or at least identify some of the inefficiencies and contradictions of Modern North American suburban life.  There are inevitable changes to our way of life on the horizon and if making and sharing "Ruin Porn" helps people understand this and make the necessary changes in the way they think, so be it.


Next - Trinity Cemetery, College for Creative Studies & Midtown

Detroit - Saturday April 27th - Part One - The Russell Industrial Complex

A friend was in town this past weekend.  He lived in Windsor for a long time and attended the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.  He moved to Toronto for work a few years back, but he does a good job of keeping up with what's happening at the far end of the 401.

We had been talking about taking an afternoon to do a Detroit Walkabout on his next trip down.  The weather was cooperative and off we went.

Our first stop was the Russell Industrial Center.



The Russell Complex is an interesting and uniquely 'Detroit' example of Adaptive Re-use.  I can't think of many other cities with so many massive abandoned industrial buildings.  But what's happening at Russell is pretty cool, and hopefully a harbinger of good things to come, for a few reasons;

Firstly, Artists are typically pioneers in cases involving Adaptive Re-use and the very early stages of economic redevelopment, and this is no exception.  Apparently there are about 140 artists studios in the Russell Complex in addition to the Bazaar.

The Bazaar is interesting for a few reasons.  There is a pretty broad mix of sellers/merchants as well as a few services like a traditional Barbershop and a few food stalls.  Overall, there is kind of a cheap, flea-market feel to the place overall, but the whole project is still in the very early stages of gaining 'acceptance' with a broader audience and clientele, and is definitely a step in the right direction for the City of Detroit.
Sellers are generally very friendly and you get the sense that everyone is welcome, regardless of race.  This has not always been the case in Detroit.
Also, there is a lot of parking space - given that the site is an enormous, abandoned factory that built Bombers during the Second World War - so that works well for 'curious suburbanites' who might not otherwise take the trouble of checking it out.



You can't help being a bit overwhelmed by the sense of scale here.  Driving into the complex - you enter through a cavernous gateway carved into the side of the factory and into an enormous 'courtyard' which is like a canyon made of red brick.



We wandered into one of the artists buildings and then into the public bazaar, but that must have been just the smallest fraction of the whole complex.  I'm sure much of it is still vacant.

Longer term, I wonder if the sheer size of the place will work for it or against it.  Right now, there is a very cool sense of 'pioneering' to the place that I'm sure will start to fade - or maybe it already is fading - as more people discover the place and more artists, craftspeople and merchants set up shop.
The balancing act between sustainability and "keeping it real" is hardly a new theme in the history of neighborhood redevelopment and gentrification - you need a critical mass of cool people to make the neighborhood or the project viable, but the second, third and fourth waves that bring Starbucks with them kill some of that pioneering feel and commoditize the "heart and soul" brought by that first wave.

I can't say that I have very strong feelings on the topic of gentrification.  I'm sure if I lived in New York, Chicago or Toronto and I saw yuppies (or whoever the bad guys are now) moving into the neighborhood I loved, bringing Whole Foods and Four-Dollar-Latte places and doubling my cost of living, I'd be pissed.  I would feel like I spent all day in the kitchen cooking, and they barge in, eat everything I've prepared before I even have a chance to taste it, then act like I'm not there.
 But, I'm from Windsor, and just to contrast 40 years of neighborhood abandonment, car-centric Sprawl Planning and the thoughtless and systematic demolition of beautiful and historically significant structures, I would welcome a bit of gentrification with open arms.

On our way out, we stopped and asked a security guard for directions to the Packard Plant.  We had the bug - We wanted to see more industrial decreptitude.

Next - Hamtramck & The Packard Plant

A Chronicle Of Wanderings

I've always enjoyed an afternoon of aimless wandering; whether in a new city or a neighborhood that I know well, exploring, poking around and "soaking it up" have always come very naturally.  It's only in the last few years that I've even noticed that this is something that I do.  Before children and responsibility my "Walkabouts", as they came to be known, were just part of my routine. 
As the old saying goes, "You have to lose something in order to appreciate it". 
As my Walkabouts have become more infrequent, I find myself giving them more consideration.  I thought writing and photographing might be a good way to make time for a good wander, and also to chronicle them (mostly for myself) but also to share with anyone who might be interested.
So Enjoy.  Or don't.  But I will.