Every Thursday night this year has been a vacation.  A chance to unplug and let go of all of it each and every time I mounted my bike.  Last night was no different.  Ted Canaday from Firesign Creative was along to enjoy his first bike Detroit ride.  Growing up in Indian Village he told me that they never really had bikes as kids for they were always getting stolen? Starting at Honest Johns we had a good talk with a staff photographer from the Detroit News, who just so happened to have taken a picture of the Cottonwood tree that took out the Lafayette tower building.  I had read the article earlier in the day and was struck by the tone of the commentary.  No matter what Man creates, if left unchecked nature will take it back.  For those of you who do not know the roots from this aggressive weed tree put holes in the roof which in turn lead to the ultimate demise of the building.  Anyways back to the ride.Heading up to Canfield we turned East passing four of the oldest churches in the city we made our way to Mt. Elliot and Headed South to St. Paul.  St. Paul was fun in so much that the street is pretty bad and more like a mountain bike trail than a city street.  St. Paul goes straight for only so long then dead ends forcing you to ratchet down south to pick up the road again.  Finally we made it across Jefferson and down and onto Freud Street.  Turning left we went all the way until the dead end.  Turning left we crossed back over Jefferson onto Vernor.  At Vernor street we turned right and went to the first block past Alter and turned left making our way to Charlevoix left again and on the right you will find the Old Tap Room circa 1910.  This place has an annual end of Prohibition party May 10th every year, Zoot suits and flapper dresses can be found all around during that annual celebration.  Some folks believe that they have the best beer selection in the entire city.  From what I have seen I would be hard pressed to disagree.  Good conversation had by all, old wooden floors and free Peanuts and shells scattered all over the ground, my kind of place!  From there we held true to Charlevoix street and made our way West cutting through the neighborhoods we made our way out to Mack.  Up and over the rail road over pass bridge down through the light we turned left onto the first block and made our way to Goethe Street.  Like St. Paul this street goes for awhile dead ends and then ratchets right to be found again.  We went past South Eastern Technical High School where the original classic portion of the old school is conjoined with a modern class piece which makes for a interesting marriage?  The football field and track is well done as groups of kids were walking and talking everywhere.  It never ceases to amaze me as to how dis-arming a simple hello can be…  Cutting through the emptiness and meadow sounds, Ted commented on how the East side really could be reinvented into an agricultural place.Back onto Mt. Elliot we made our way North to Canfield and turned left to head back to mid-town.  Four blocks in we stopped so that Ted could get his water out and ck his phone for messages form Charli his wife.  I asked him to listen closely to the Meadow Sound.  Lathrup Village bisected by 696 and Southfield Hwy could never sound so good unless that is it is 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday-Monday morning.  I told him this would be a lace that I would sleep real good!  Enjoying the Choir of nature.  Only two cars passed us along this way as we made our way back to Woodward and then on to Honest Johns.Ted Never had a bike growing up and does not ride his Huffy but once a month at best.  None the less the guy flowed 12-14mph for 20 miles and had a great time doing it.  If Ted can you can to as it is all really just a conversation in our head after all. Bike Detroit! Jim Meyers bike explorer.