Slow Roll Detroit

June 8, 2015

I first heard about Slow Roll Detroit in 2014 but I didn’t have a chance to get down to one of the events until June 1st of this year.  It was actually started back in 2010 by Detroit Bike City Co-Founders Jason Hall and Mike MacKool.  It’s a simple idea.  Bikers gather at starting locations in Detroit on Monday evenings throughout the summer, then take a two hour ride through different parts of the city.  It’s a street-level snapshot of what’s happening at that moment, in the neighborhoods, around the various warehouses, and even through some of the construction that is addressing the physical foundation of Detroit’s future.  The organizers usually end the evening with a social event at a local watering hole.

So that describes Slow Roll Detroit in a nutshell.  But when I arrived a couple hours early to complete my registration, I immediately felt something a lot more significant going on under the surface.  There are a lot of places in Southeast Michigan, or even in Metro Detroit, where people can go to take a bike ride.  And to be honest, probably every one of them is easier to get to than anywhere in Detroit right after the beginning of evening rush hour.  So as I enjoyed the influx of positive energy building around me with the arrival of more bikers, I wondered what was bringing all these people together.  And to be clear, a lot of local Detroiters were taking part in the ride, but the majority of participants were coming from the surrounding suburbs.

I spent the time before the ride started talking to as many people as I could, including a guy who had fashioned this bike “basket” out of an old Vernors bottle crate.  Vernors is an iconic Detroit ginger ale dating back to the late 1800s.  It’s name is one of a few brands that when mentioned alone can beckon images of Detroit’s gloried past to those who have lived here, or who’s families have called the Detroit area home for decades.  Brands like Motown, Stroh’s, Sanders, and

Faygo.  I asked him if he had found the crate in a yard sale and he proudly described in even more detail how he had completely refinished it.  In fact, he fashioned new metal strapping to replace the old failed pieces.  And he had to carefully remove the tarnish from the wood sides in order to expose the original images on the crate.  Then, in order to protect it all he sealed it with eight coats of finish.

As I listened to his story, I couldn’t help but recognize the obvious metaphor of the revitalization of Detroit itself.  It wasn’t just that this person had taken the time to refinish a wooden crate, he had restored an iconic symbol of the city.  Really, it was perhaps as close as he could come to singlehandedly restoring part of Detroit.  And he did it with a genuine sincerity and care.  And then he attached it to his bicycle and took it out on this Monday night and rode it around the streets of Detroit.

I also had a chance to speak with a couple who were there with their teenage children from a surrounding suburb.  The ride this Monday night began at the Russell Industrial Center and it turned out they had been involved in setting up space within this enormous building for artists that needed studio space.  As I spoke with them about their interest in what was happening in the Russell Industrial Center I got the feeling they were driven by a desire to harvest something positive from this otherwise underutilized building.  They certainly weren’t driven by a desire for instant return, and I’m not sure after talking with them if they ever expect it to turn a profit.

Slow Roll Detroit is something you just have to experience to appreciate.  Some things I never expected were the tricked out bikes, custom built in all shapes and colors, that are really mechanical sculptures as much as they are bicycles.  And then there are the ones with audio systems for atmosphere.  One rider told me before we left that I’d end up picking my place in the crowd based on the type of music I like.  I generally stayed around a group playing a mix of Motown, Funk, and Classic Rock.  Almost all the tunes had some type of tie in with Detroit’s storied music scenes.

So there I am, one bike, surrounded by a thousand other bikes, slowly moving through the streets.  And everyone is your friend.  I literally had someone take a selfie with me who I had never even spoken to, and then we were off and riding again.  At times when we were stopped, I started offering to take pictures of groups of other bikers for them.  At one moment I would be crossing a bridge over an interstate, and the next I was turning a corner and confronted by a sculpture in a small park, or a mural on a building.  I was surprised how much artistic content is scattered around the parts of the city we road through that evening.

The Slow Roll felt like a parade at times.  After last year’s success the city has started providing police cars to control traffic at intersections.  Although I never rode without the police escorts, I really felt it was necessary given the size of the groups this year.  Some of the route took us past industrial buildings, and abandoned buildings, and even through neighborhoods.  Going through the community was one of the most unexpected parts of the ride for me.  People were coming out of their homes to watch and wave to the Slow Roll!  It was as if the Slow Roll carried an aura of positive energy around it, a collective unity and kinship, and it pulled people in as it passed.

As the end of our Monday night ride neared, and I

looked around at what was easily in excess of a thousand riders converging, I came to the conclusion that all of us were there for more than a bike ride.  We were all there to be part of a movement.  The Slow Roll ride through the streets is as much a march as it is a bike ride.  It’s a diverse collection of ages, races, backgrounds, and socioeconomic status.  And if you aren’t paying attention you might conclude that all these people have in common is a desire to ride bikes.  But that would be a gross over simplification.  That Monday night I felt the deeper reason that all these people came out was because they want their city back.

Of course Chicago, and New York, and Boston are great American cities.  But aren’t those of us who travel to them tired of making those trips just to experience that environment?  We certainly don’t go there for the weather.  As someone who lives in Metropolitan Detroit and enjoys all that Detroit has to offer, I want Detroit back.  The residents who came out of their homes to wave, and those waiting at the intersections blowing car horns in support of the Slow Roll want their city back too.  Everyone is welcome to Slow Roll.  And as it rolls through the streets, it’s a statement that everyone is welcome in the D.

- Uncertain Oracle