2021-03-20 42 -83

File:IMAGE

Sat 20 Mar 2021 in 42,-83: 42.3247914, -83.0493433 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

On the Riverwalk in downtown Detroit, Michigan, just south of the southwestern corner of the TCF Center.

Participants

• Alison
• MusicalMitten
• Nixill

Plans

Nixill (they/them) and Alison's (she/her) plans started a few hours before the meetup. We planned for our usual weekly grocery pickup and a trip to Micro Center, a large computer store. After finishing our shopping at Micro Center, we planned on driving down to a transit park and ride lot near the Detroit Amtrak station and meeting Corey/MusicalMitten (he/him) there, then riding bikes to the hashpoint.

Expedition

Alison picked Nix up for the grocery pickup and Micro Center, then they drove down to the transit park and ride lot. Upon parking, Alison decided to leave her car's sunroof open as it was about 15°C out and sunny and the car has a black roof and black leather interior, and we didn't want to come back to a hot car.

At the Amsterdam lot, Nix and Alison met up with Corey/MusicalMitten (he/him), and we all rode our bikes down to the hashpoint. (Corey rode his own; Nix and Alison both rode MoGo bikeshare bikes since Alison's car is neither large enough to carry bikes in it nor has a bike rack.) We rode down through Hart Plaza to reach the Riverwalk, then west along the Riverwalk to the hashpoint.

When we reached the hashpoint, we stopped to take some photos, hang out for a bit, and admire the Windsor skyline across the river. We also discussed what we wanted to do afterward, and decided on riding our bikes east along Atwater Street to Belle Isle, a state park on an island in the Detroit River.

We proceeded on this plan, stopping at a few MoGo stations on the way to replenish our timers. (Nix and Alison both have MoGo passes, which allow unlimited 1-hour rides before getting charged overage fees. Putting a MoGo bike back in the dock and then immediately removing it again counts as a separate ride.) Alison swapped her non-electric MoGo bike visible in the hashpoint photo for a MoGo Boost e-bike. We were delayed at the Belle Isle bridge by several car drivers who didn't understand the concept of a yield sign and the fact that it applies to bikes in the bike lane that crosses the slip road, but ended up arriving at the island safely.

We nearly circumnavigated Belle Isle, stopping at the "Bus Stop Comfort Station No. 7" (at which no buses currently stop) to use the restrooms and attempt unsuccessfully to use a vending machine that was turned off. Rounding the eastern tip of the island, we started feeling a bit chilly because the wind was picking up and the sun was getting lower in the sky. Also, our MoGo time was running short because there are no docks on the island. We booked it off the island and to the nearest MoGo station (in the West Village neighbourhood), where we docked the bikes and decided on a curbside order at the McDonald's about five blocks to the east for dinner.

Here's where things really went wrong. When we arrived at the McDonald's (again, Corey on his own bike and Nix and I on MoGos Boost), we discovered that there were no labelled curbside parking spaces, nor would the mobile app let us check in for curbside pickup, nor was the lobby open for counter service.