Frisigner Park: Flat, no traffic and gravel or stone chip paths
Frisinger Park is a big, flat expanse of park with a baseball diamond that has a stone chip warning track (or home run line, I'm not sure) at its perimeter. Stone chip paths connect that warning track to the Woodbury Gardens apartments, and you can get to the park off E Stadium or off Woodbury Drive.
The stone chip path got the "awesome" rating from the training wheels contingent. It's perfectly flat and fast, but feels just enough off-road that you can figure out that it's not like riding on the street. When you get tired of trail riding, there's some little used concrete paths, a play structure and a sandbox.
Trail riding with training wheels is a bit of a challenge - if I were to guess, the Lakeland Trail State Park which has a stone trailbed along a lot of its path would be good too.
Links:
- Frisinger Park, City of Ann Arbor
- Rolla Frisinger, who it's named after
- AnnArbor.com story on football parking in Frisinger Park
- Woodbury Gardens apartments
- old botanical gardens
- Lakeland Trail State Park, Hamburg
Iroquois Street: Slow-moving streets with speed bumps and no traffic
File:Iroquois-Street-speed-humps.png
Iroquois Street, located just south of E Stadium between Stadium and Packard, is known far and wide for its "majestic speed bumps". These traffic calming devices are clearly marked with a 5 mph warning sign, and there are so many of them along such a short one block street that no one in a vehicle of any size dares to use Iroquois as a cut-through.
The speed-bump protected stretch of street got an "awesome" rating from the junior cyclist. Though they slowed down the cars to the point that we didn't see any cars on a Sunday afternoon, they also provided a speedup for him accompanied by a "whee" sound. There were enough other kids out front on the street to make it clear that he would not have been the only kid his size in the neighborhood, but we were the only ones riding.
Riding in the street with a kindergartener for his first time out as a vehicle was a challenge. We took extra precautions at the beginning and the ending of the streets, and always kept close watch out for cars. Make sure that you have a bell or horn as a warning signal in case you do see someone coming who doesn't see you yet.
Links:
- Iroquois Street, City of Ann Arbor
- Iroquois, named after
- Iroqouis Park, a park in the neighborhood
- AnnArbor.com story on flooding in Iroquois basements
- City of Ann Arbor on traffic calming
- City Council on Iroquois
- Black Eyed Peas, My Humps, 2005 song
South Industrial: Sunday morning stroll
South Industrial, which runs parallel to the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks between Eisenhower and Stadium just to the east of State Street, is a flat, straight, direct north-south road which is largely undiscovered by State Street commuters. Otherwise known as "Resale Row", it is the home of supply, resale, wholesale, light industrial, and repair shops and services of all kinds.
As hinted by its name, South Industrial is not a great bicycle road on weekdays. The pavement is sturdy but not smooth, and the traffic includes truck traffic which is not looking out for bicycles. The road is wide enough to accommodate a bicycle in the traffic lane, but it's not the ordinary vehicle that most drivers regularly see.
The street is, however, equipped with good sturdy sidewalks in good condition. These made excellent sidewalk paths for both the mountain bike and the training wheels. Our destination was the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop, and it's remarkable how much less you can actually buy when you describe that if you can't lift it home, you can't buy it.
Riding on a sidewalk with a kindergartener is always a challenge. You have to watch for traffic, especially traffic that is turning into or out of driveways. Of the whole week, Sunday morning is really the best time I can think of to make this particular trek, because there's too many chances for busy traffic other times to make it practical.
Links:
- South Industrial, City of Ann Arbor
- Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop
- I bought an electronic hygrometer, used to measure ambient humidity, for $1
- Resale Row
- AnnArbor.com story on resale row