Bike Storage is Important

I sold my 1,800 square foot Detroit home. A ‘for sale’ sign has been stuck in my front yard for the past few months and after many showings, I accepted an offer. I’ve lived there for over 25 years, and needless to say, I had heaps of stuff to go through and get rid of. Over the past couple of weeks, I spent loads of time sorting through boxes of old papers, books and other things. Much of it I haven’t looked at in years. Some of it I saved, but plenty of it I gave to family and friends. And needless to say, I made several trips to the local Salvation Army donation center.

It was a bit of a challenge because I moved to a 700 square foot loft unit in a former nail factory in Detroit. It is a vintage brick building that was built-in the early 1900’s. As you can imagine, there isn’t a lot of room for unnecessary things. One of the prized possessions I kept is my bicycle. After all, bicycling in Detroit is what I like to do, and that is what this blog is all about: bicycling in Detroit.

Luckily, bike storage wasn’t an issue at my new place. The building I moved to has a good-sized room dedicated to bicycle storage with plenty of space.  I didn’t have to deal with figuring out how or where to park my bike in my unit or somehow hang it from the ceiling, which would be a challenge since I have cement ceilings.  Having that dedicated bicycle space is great. All I have to do after my rides is wheel it into the storage space and forget about it.  Nice touch!

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Detroit’s East Canfield Street

East Canfield Street in Detroit is a perfect street for bike riding. There isn’t much car traffic, the pavement is smooth, and it meanders through all types of residential neighborhoods and terrain. It starts at Alter Road, and with an exception of a few zigzags it runs due west, straight to Woodward Avenue where it changes to West Canfield. Like most of the eastside streets, E. Canfield does not cross the busy railroad tracks at Conner Avenue that trains use to feed parts and pick-up cars from a nearby automotive assembly plant. The only way around them is the Mack Avenue overpass or East Warren Avenue, both about a ½ mile detour.

The one-mile section of E. Canfield between Alter Road and Conner is sparsely populated and mostly free of homes and other buildings. Many of the once heavily populated blocks are open land and have reverted to acres of urban prairies with tall grass, overgrown weeds and large trees. A few urban gardeners have taken advantage of the open acreage by converting several sections to community gardens.

This urban garden near Alter Road spans many city lots

The two-mile stretch from Conner to Gratiot Avenue is much more populated. There are few vacant lots and abandonment is minimal. The homes along that stretch are in good shape, and the architectural styles vary from a nice mix of vintage frame homes, most likely built in the 1920’s and 30’s, to single-family brick places from the 1940’s or 50’s. I also saw quite a few circa 1920’s multi-unit apartment buildings with inviting porches. There is one area where newer, modest two-story homes have been built.

A relaxed, country setting

Note the many windows in this large farm-house

Multi-unit apartment buildings are not uncommon along E. Canfield

There are quite a few active churches on E. Canfield. On Sundays they are jammed with people, and I can usually hear high-energy gospel music coming from within as I pedal by. There are a couple of large public schools on the street, but both are no longer in use due to shifting populations and consolidation.  Retail is pretty much non-existent, with the exception of a couple of party stores and barbershops.  Judging by the condition of the vacant commercial buildings, it looked as if the small retail businesses have been out of business for many years.

Beautiful old brick church that may have been built in the late 1800’s

Classic old-world retail, stores on the ground floor, living space above. Imagine them in the 1930’s

What I find interesting about E. Canfield is how the landscape changes. Starting at Alter Rd. heading west, it is a sparsely populated with plenty of open land. From Conner Ave. to Gratiot Ave., it is packed full of houses in stable, well-maintained neighborhoods. From Gratiot west to Dequindre Road, near the Detroit Medical Center, it is much like the Alter Rd. section; thinly populated with fewer homes and many fields.

Well maintained homes from the 1920’s and 30’s line E. Canfield

Looking at the landscape as I rode along E. Canfield reminded me of a donut, and in many ways, the street embodies the city of Detroit. The outer edge has open fields and few homes, and the center is full of life.

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Street Corner Dancer in Detroit

There is an energetic street corner dancer on Detroit’s eastside. He’s been out there on the street perfecting his style and smooth dance moves for a long time. Darius is his name, and he goes by Dazzlle. On most days he can be seen at the corner of East Warren Avenue and Cadieux Road doing his thing. On occasion, he can also be spotted at other high traffic intersections on the eastside.

I see him dancing year around, generally in street clothes, but he tends to dress accordingly for particular holidays. On St. Patrick’s Day he’s decked out as an Irishman. For the Fourth of July, he’s usually dressed as the Statue of Liberty. During the Christmas Season he dressed as Santa.

No matter the outfit, the man has some pretty good dance moves. Dazzlle can do some amazing splits on the sidewalk where he slides down, quickly pops up, adjusts his pants and does a couple of fast spins, all in a matter in seconds. In many ways, he has the swagger of Elvis and the high-energy, quick body movements and stop actions of Michael Jackson.

“I’ve been dancing on the streets for over 5 years.” he said. “I like this corner, this is where my fans are,” he said motioning toward the passing cars and trucks rolling down East Warren, some blowing their horns at him. Dazzlle is in his early twenties, and this is what he does for a living.

“Gotta go out and do it man. This is how I make money,” he said while pointing to a coffee can where people can drop in money. Dazzlle said he dances at parties and someday he hopes to be a successful dancer and eventually offer dance classes.

Take a look at Dazzlle’s Dancing Santa routine on YouTube from a year or so ago. It will give you a good idea what he does on that eastside Detroit street corner.

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