Motown and its neighborhoods really roll -- on two wheels

By bike is a great way to visit Detroit's sights and scenes. ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge

DETROIT -- The Motor City rocks but it really rolls. On two wheels.

Pedal power is surprisingly big, and it's growing in Detroit. And, no, bicyclists don't have to speed to get away from roving gangs. That image of violent Detroit won't die.

There's a lot going on in Detroit, including its downtown casinos, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village in nearby Dearborn.

One way to see the new Detroit is on bicycle. It offers a way to get an intimate look at the Motor City with its great neighborhoods filled with stylish buildings.

Detroit has a developing network of off-road bicycle trails including the dazzling Detroit RiverWalk and the shorter Dequindre Cut.

The RiverWalk runs along the Detroit River. It opened in mid-2007 as the city has been rediscovering its waterfront. The eastern section of that trail will run 3.5 miles from Joe Louis Arena, past the glimmering General Motors Renaissance Center, beyond the MacArthur Bridge to historic Belle Isle. That section is 70 percent complete with two plazas open. An additional two miles to the west are in the planning stages.

The Dequindre Cut, a sunken one-time railroad line, extends nearly 1.5 miles from the Detroit River to the Eastern Market near Gratiot Avenue. The 20-foot-wide trail opened in mid-2009. It is known for its urban artwork and graffiti. There are expansion plans in the works.

Wheelhouse Detroit, a small bicycle company just east of the Renaissance Center at Rivard Plaza next to the Detroit River, offers 85 tours of Detroit and surrounding areas in 2011.

The company was started in 2008 by Karen Gage and Kelli Kavanaugh. It offers guided tours for cyclists of all abilities and fitness levels.

The hardest thing to do was to pick out Wheelhouse Detroit's best tour. Your choices include automotive history, public art, downtown architecture, brewery tours, urban agriculture, churches of Poletown, Civil War history, historic cemeteries, urban murals, cycling history in Detroit, urban forestry, and gallery tours.

The Eastern Market (313-833-9300 or detroiteasternmarket.com) is a big attraction, similar to Cleveland's West Side Market. You can learn about environmentally friendly or green infrastructure and enjoy a haunted Detroit pedal.

Some of the rides are offered in partnership with groups ranging from the Sierra Club and the Motor Cities National Heritage Area to the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance and neighborhood groups.

Most of the rides are 10 to 12 miles and take three hours. A few go up to 25 miles. The rides travel on bike paths, bike lanes, and in traffic.

I opted for a pedal to historic Belle Isle, a 985-acre public park filled with an array of monuments and attractions in the Detroit River between the United States and Canada.

The island -- it is on the National Register of Historic Places -- is connected to Detroit via the Douglas MacArthur Bridge. Its name means beautiful island. It sits on America's busiest inland waterway, connecting Lake Erie and Lake Huron.

The 2.5-mile-long island is the largest island city park in the United States, the third-largest island in the Detroit River, and the 10th-largest municipal park in the United States, according to supporters.

The Belle Isle tour was an easy pedal of eight to nine miles. We had two guides and 15 customers.

Our trip included stops at the island's nature center, a maritime museum, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory with its array of plants and flowers, a lighthouse, and a white marble fountain named after eccentric gambler William Scott (1831-1910).

The 1904 conservatory and surrounding gardens are among the biggest attractions on Belle Isle. The conservatory was designed by architect Albert Kahn, who designed major Detroit landmarks, and is known for its orchids.

The Dossin Great Lakes Museum includes an anchor from the ill-fated ore boat Edmund Fitzgerald; the Miss Pepsi, the first hydroplane racing boat to top 100 mph, and the real-life bridge of the old freighter SS William Clay Ford.

I was impressed by the 80-foot, all-marble William Livingstone lighthouse at the eastern end of the island. Its light is visible 15 miles away. It was built to honor the Detroit man who led the Lake Carriers Association from 1902 to 1925.

Our tour to Belle Isle began at Rivard Plaza with its carousel, fountains, artwork, and gardens. It is a popular spot, with boat tours available.

We began by pedaling through new man-made wetlands that control urban runoff to the Detroit River in William Milliken State Park. We pedaled along the river and the park's 63-foot lighthouse. We passed red-brick River Place with its offices, restaurants, and clubs.

We took back streets past urban murals on buildings to East Jefferson Avenue, where we took over a lane of traffic to get to the half-mile-long bridge to Belle Isle.

Pat, our guide, told our group to picture the 17 bicycles being one tractor-trailer rig and to stick close together.

In general, the motorists we encountered were friendly and accommodating to our group, most of whom were from the Detroit area.

Other tour options from Wheelhouse Detroit include the Farm-to-Fork Tour, with a look at community vegetable gardens thriving in the shadow of boarded-up and dilapidated buildings.

The public art tour includes a stop at the much-publicized Heidelberg Project.

That's where Tyree Guyton began a unique outdoor artscape 25 years ago. He used discarded objects and remnants of urban life to transform an abandoned crack house. For information about the Heidelberg Project at 313 Heidelberg St., call 313-974-6894 or go to heidelberg.org.

Wheelhouse Detroit is open from March through October.

Tours are offered rain or shine. The typical tour costs $25; bike rental, if needed, is an additional $10.

In most cases, children are not allowed on the guided tours.

Group discounts are available. Reservations are required and helmets are recommended.

The outfitter also offers rentals if you want to devise your own pedal tour of Detroit.

Spring-fall hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday the rest of the month. The location is 1340 East Atwater St. For more information, call 313-656-BIKE or check wheelhousedetroit.com.

For information about the Detroit RiverWalk, contact the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy at 313-566-8200 or detroitriverfront.org.

For Belle Isle information, contact the Detroit Recreation Department at 313-628-2081 or detroitmi.gov.

For Detroit tourist information, contact the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, 800-DETROIT or 313-202-1800, or visit visitdetroit.com.