Observation:  Leaving every morning I feel I always set off on one of two different kinds of rides – traditional grids and then freaking/crazy/confusing grids.  When driving, I don’t think people realize that while the city has lots of normal north-south, east-west patterned neighborhoods, it has more sections where streets are going in every direction:  hub-and-spoke, spokes of the wheel, dead-ends, alleyways, micro-neighborhoods, gated communities, Outer Drive going all over the place, streets that companies have taken over and blocked off, streets just blocked with tires and/or debris, etc.  I suppose most large cities have these challenges, but they become much more apparent on a bike, and before the advent of mobile phones and apps like MapMyRide, I don’t think a project like this would have ever been possible.  #thankgodfortechnology

Distance:  25.15 miles

D-Fact:  Bob-Lo Park was established as an entertainment destination in 1898 by the Detroit, Belle Isle and Windsor Ferry Company. In the beginning, it was a picnic spot, with beaches, athletic fields, bicycle tracks, and a stunning Mangels-Illions carousel. Over the years it grew into a unique island amusement park, with a midway and dozens of rides, until it finally closed because of financial pressure in 1993.