The winter weather held off for Back Alley Bikes’ annual Bike the Blizzard fundraiser in Detroit on Sunday.
The charity ride gets Back Alley Bikes on Cass Avenue, a repair shop and nonprofit, through the year. Even though there was no blizzard this year, the goal is the same -- to raise money to transform the Motor City one bike at a time.
“We do a lot of youth programming, youth education towards bike maintenance, mechanics and then we also do youth giveaways; so last year we got about 100 kids on bikes,” says Jai Whitworth, manager of Back Alley Bikes.
After those maintenance and mechanic classes, the children get to keep the used bike they fixed.
It doesn’t matter how many miles a Bike the Blizzard participant rides, they just have to raise a minimum of $50.
This year, about 100 people registered and raised more than $24,000, the largest amount of money in Bike the Blizzard history, topping last year when 80 riders raised $22,000.
“We had people signing up in November, December expecting (weather to be like) last year, we had a blizzard,” Whitworth said. “It’s exciting to see the community show up, support us and be excited about what we’re doing.”
Detroit City Councilman Scott Benson (District 3) rides every year, completing 13 miles in the city of Detroit this year.
“This is what I do, I’m very passionate. I’m a cycling advocate and I want to make sure I expose and support those who want to expose youth and especially Detroit youth and our most vulnerable youth in the city of Detroit to the world and opportunities around cycling,” Benson said.
His hope is that more children will be able to see bikes for the many possibilities it brings.
“It’s not just about the ability to race and have long-distance rides, it’s also about a lifestyle and fitness,” Benson said. “It’s really good to be fit and have an activity, a passion that can follow you throughout your lifetime.”