Tree Fort Bikes Sponsors Steel Wheel Duo’s Michigan Bicycle Tour

Tree Fort Bikes is a “by cyclists for cyclists” company. Founded in 2001, our driving force has been to promote and spread the enjoyment of bicycling and the ability to use a bike as a viable form of transportation. Cycling is environmentally and economically friendly, and promotes huge physical and mental health benefits. Tree Fort Bikes has grown over the years, both as a brick-and-mortar shop and as an ecommerce website. Though we have a large and growing web presence, our initial vision has remained unchanged. With a staff comprised of mountain, road, commuting, and touring cyclists, we are a home base for all bicyclists and are dedicated to promoting the love of riding for both experienced riders and the curious novice just looking to start.

When Jay Lapp of The Steel Wheels approached us with the idea of supporting their bicycle tour, we jumped at the idea for several reasons. For one, they make great music and we wanted to support that. But equally we wanted to help promote bicycling in a way that is environmentally positive and provides a good example to aspiring cyclists. What better way is there to show that commuting, touring, or even recreational riding is attainable than by using The SpokeSongs bicycle tour as an example? If two regular guys can ride through several states on modified bikes while carrying multiple instruments and still meet show deadlines, it makes a 10 or 20 mile commute, or even just getting out and enjoying a ride, a much less daunting task for the rest of us.

Since its inception, Tree Fort Bikes has been dedicated to helping all types of people get out on bikes. We find that the most dedicated and endearing cyclists are those that are passionate about biking. They ride to work; they ride to run their errands; they ride with friends; they ride for exercise on their days off; they simply make it a point to ride. Very often these individuals do not have the best and newest bikes or the most expensive clothing; rather they just want quality products that keep them going and riding as much as possible. These riders prove to the rest of us that cycling is highly accessible. This is exactly what The Steel Wheels are doing - we wanted to help them get there.

For the final day of the tour, Tree Fort Bikes and The Steel Wheels have organized a blowout festival that will be a fun filled day of riding, music, bicycling camaraderie, and advocacy. Tree Fort Bikes’ goal for this event is to broaden and strengthen the local bicycling community, as well as promote various bicycle related causes in the local area. We think that the cross pollination of bringing together hundreds of cyclists and music enthusiasts will be a great boon for cycling in the local community. Scheduled for May 15th at The Savoy, a new concert venue in Ypsilanti, the event will start with several organized rides leaving from various locations in the local area. There will be a short and a long road ride, as well as a mountain bike ride on a local trail, all of which end at the show. To help push the belief that it’s just simply more fun to make it there by bike, those who ride to The Savoy will receive free staffed bike parking and half price entry to the event. Doors open at 7pm and participants will experience three great bands: Abigail Stauffer, Wayward Roots, and The Steel Wheel Duo. The Michigan Mountain Biking Association, The League of Michigan Bicyclists, The Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition, and the Friends of the Border to Border Trail are all helping out with the organization of event and will be sharing their mission and literature at booths set up around the venue.

About Tree Fort Bikes

A lot of people ask what made us get into the bike business and we have one simple answer: “We love biking and want to share this obsession with our customers and fellow biking enthusiasts.” Starting as a retail location eight and a half years ago, we realized the convenience of buying online, and decided to offer our knowledge and service to the online community. Our team of programmers had previous experience with the design of Mazda, Blockbuster, and other large companies’ websites. They decided to scale back their work from those other companies and focus on an industry better aligned with what they do, and that is where www.TreeFortBikes.com was born. After two years of successful internet business, Tree Fort Bikes completely redesigned their website for further ease of use, and released the Tree Fort Blog with the hope to promote the bicycle lifestyle.