It was a bad day for Detroiters trying to drive somewhere in a hurry.

For a few hours Saturday morning, streets closed and traffic came to a halt as over 3,200 participants, including myself, ruled the streets of the Motor City in the ninth annual Tour de Troit bike ride.

The Tour de Troit, which began in 2002, is an event sponsored by the Southwest Detroit Business Association to encourage biking as an alternative form of transportation and to raise money for the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink, a pathway that will connect the two communities and include bike lanes. Last year, the event raised over $20,000 toward this project.

Victoria Katanski, one of the Tour de Troit organizers added that this year, the event sold out of registration spots. Attendance at the event has been steadily increasing. The 2008 TdT had over 1,000 riders, while last year’s had over 2,000, which Katanski attributed to positive word-of-mouth advertising.

As we started that morning around 10 a.m. in front of the Michigan Central Station, the anticipation in the crowd was almost palpable. The police motorcycle escorts revved their engines and blared their sirens while bikers put on their helmets and made last-minute adjustments to their bikes. All of a sudden, it was time to go.

The first five miles were absolutely incredible. The shining sun, the brisk wind rushing against our faces, the daredevil feeling of speeding through an intersection under a red light – it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. As we pedaled down Michigan Avenue through the shadows of the buildings surrounding Campus Martius, one thought kept reverberating in my mind: It’s good to be right here right now.

Biking approximately 28 miles, though, was anything but easy. As we pedaled on, the miles seemed to grow longer and the wind blew colder. A biker from Ferndale named Jill said the hardest part for her was biking around Belle Isle because the wind was blowing against us the whole time. Each hill felt steeper than the last, and eventually, bodies began to feel the strain of riding such a distance.

The ride would have been a lot harder, however, if it hadn’t been for the good spirits of other riders and spectators. During the last two miles when a girl to my left said that she wanted to stop and could go no longer, another rider in front of me encouraged her to think of how accomplished she would feel once she had finished.

Riders conversed with each other about a slew of topics, ranging from comparisons of horror movies to predictions on the weather. One biker entertained other people with a blaring radio strapped to the front of her bike. For 28 miles, a group of strangers felt the camaraderie of sharing something larger than the individual.

Spectators of all ages turned out along the route to wave and cheer us on. Children ran out to the edge of the sidewalk to give high-fives to passing bikers while their parents watched from their apartment windows. They screamed and cheered while bikers waved back and shouted, “Come join us!” Most of the spectators promised they would next year.

Monica Patel and Kelly McMahon, both of Ann Arbor, had only good things to say about the Tour de Troit. This was their first time taking part in the event, and McMahon said that she was “really excited about seeing this side of Detroit.” Patel added that she would take part “for sure next year,” and that it was “really fun.”

For Cathy Shaerrill of Waterford, the opportunity to discover new things about Detroit was the part she really enjoyed.

“I never really got a chance to see Detroit, so this is a great way to check it out,” she said. “It’s laid back, and you never get to see Detroit this way.”

Taking in the city by bike really did present an opportunity to observe details about the city one might otherwise miss. One example Shaerrill pointed out was the neat brick-paved streets in Corktown, which may not be noticed by drivers in cars. We rode through Detroit-stereotypical dilapidated neighborhoods with abandoned, falling-down houses and buildings covered in graffiti. Yet, a few blocks later, we entered a gorgeous neighborhood with large old homes that looked like they could have graced the cover of a home-decor magazine. Even the place of our start and finish, the Michigan Central Station, was paradoxically both grander and sadder up close – its intricate patterns of architecture overshadowed by shattered windows and graffiti.

Students from Wayne State University who participated in the TdT said they enjoyed riding through the city.

Joe DeSautelle, a second-year student at WSU and a returning biker from last year, wished the number of restrooms and facilities for participants had not decreased this year from last year, but overall enjoyed the ride. Sophomore engineering student Garrett Yee also participated in his second Tour de Troit.

“Tour de Troit is a good way to see the city, have a good time with friends and help the city,” said Yee.

As the end of our ride approached, everyone pedaled hard in a final effort to reach rest and food. As we finished and got off our bikes, everyone seemed to heave a collective sigh of relief that we could finally eat and rest our sore, tired bodies. The 2010 Tour de Troit had come to a close.

The whir of thousands of bike tires on the pavement, the chatter of fellow bikers, the shrieks of police sirens and air horns, the friendly beeping of car horns at intersections: these were the sights and sounds of an event I’m glad to have been part of. This was a day when cars, buses and even limousines stopped to let us through. This was a day when bikers ran the city of Detroit.