Tiger Stadium, Red Bull Air Races.... another day in the D

After being downtown Detroit on Friday night for what we had hoped was going to be the Red Wings celebrating winning the Stanley Cup (no, it didnt turn out that way) I got a late start on Saturday so I decided to meet up with Joe and his buddy Nate for a bike ride back downtown to check out the Red Bull Air Races which were taking place on the Detroit River. I left home around 12:45pm and rode down to Ferndale where I met up with Joe and Nate. We didnt really have any agenda except to go for a ride and check out the air races if we could get somewhere to actually see what was going on. So, after heading south from Ferndale, I suggested we go check out Tiger Stadium, which its supporters (Save Tiger Stadium) earlier in the week had just failed in their final attempt to save the structure and was being demolished. Very sad indeed. After a few pictures and some reminiscing, we headed off through Corktown down to the riverfront to hopefully get a view of the air races.


Ol' Tiger Stadium comin' down


Another view of Tiger Stadium being demolished

We were unsuccessful in our first few attempts to secure a spot (legally and free of charge) to get a glimpse of the races, so we headed off to another viewing location. Along the way we ran into Matt D and Tim who were riding around downtown themselves trying to get a view of the races. They were heading one direction and we were heading the other, so we parted and Joe, Nate and I went on to the location I was hoping we could get access too, and luckily we were able to get in! We hung out there for quite some time before the next round of racing happened, and ended up calling Matt and Tim and they came up and joined us for a while. I certainly dont claim to be a fan of the air races, but I will admit is was kind of cool to watch, and we had a great vantage point for the entire course, so it was definately worth watching for an hour or so. Here are a couple of shots of the air races.







This is a video I shot of one of the competitors on the course


After leaving our vantage point for the air races, we took a spin up towards Belle Isle along the Detroit Riverwalk, and then decided it was time for re-feuling. The first re-fueling stop was Atwater Block Brewery. From there we headed to Honest? Johns which is a few miles away from the riverfront in Midtown. On the way there, the three of us were riding along Cass Avenue, when all of a sudden I realized there was another voice that hadnt been with us before. I turned around to see another guy riding along with us. He introduced himself as Woody, and immediately Joe and I both had the same thought.... was this the Woody who always posts Detroit related links on Facebook, and sure enough, it was. He was headed to the Hub, and Nate was in need of a new spoke, so we all stopped there together. While Nate was inside getting a new spoke put on his bike, Joe, Woody and I talked outside for about 20 minutes. I should note that Woody is the only person I have ever asked to be friends with on Facebook without having any idea who he was (I saw on other friends pages that he posted a lot of informational stuff on Detroit so I wanted in on that too). That not knowing was really bugging me too, so it was great to finally meet him and put a face with the name.

After leaving the Hub and a quick stop at Honest? Johns and a brief conversation with John, we headed down the road to Motor City Brewery for some pizza, and finally made it back to the Woodward Avenue Brewery back in Ferndale around 9pm. We stayed there till about 10:30 when we had all had enough and we decided to call it a night.... or so we thought.

However, upon venturing back outside to the car, Joe realized that his car had locked with the keys in the ignition. After a few futile attempts to get in, Joe ended up calling his son to drive out there with his spare set of keys. Since there was nothing I could do to help, and when I was sure his son was on the way I took off for home. Fortunately I had a rear blinky light on my bike, and although I didnt really have a bike or helmet mount light set, I did have a little portable LED that I carried to shine the way home. Note to self.... always take lights on days where there is a chance of ending up out after dark. Doh!

I got home around 11pm, and ended up with just shy of 50 miles for the 10 hours we were out. All in all it was a pretty great day!

Here's a little video I shot capturing the drama...