Detroit, Michigan

We were in Detroit last week shooting stills and motion for our final feature for Issue 9. We had so much fun exploring the city with the help of our Detroit City Guide from Issue 5 and so many wonderful recommendations from our contributors and readers. Check out a few places we've highlighted below. And start planning your trip — we highly recommend a visit to the Motor City!

Roses's Fine Food — the ultimate diner — was the perfect place to stop for brunch after we arrived in the city. Homemade food with quality local ingredients. Seriously order the grits when you visit, you will not regret it! And don't forget to order something from their bakery case.

We visited Detroit Mercantile Co. and the Fisher Building based on recommendations from our followers. Detroit Mercantile is a store that celebrates Detroit's shared past while introducing their customers to new products. Like the mercantile and general stores of the past, they strive to find the highest quality products from the city, state, and across the country. If you haven't visited Detroit before, you will quickly see that the city has some seriously incredible Art Deco and postmodern architecture. Detroit has one of the largest surviving collections of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century buildings in the U.S., and there are multiple architecture tours available for visitors and residents alike! 

Sister Pie, a bright corner baker located in Detroit’s West Village, provided the most amazing breakfast to help us celebrate International Women's Day. Celebrating the seasons through pies (and other delectable desserts), Sister Pie boasts untraditional flavor combinations that are constantly changing to reflect the state's local offerings.  (The leftovers also made the perfect road trip snack.)

We ended our visit at the Belle Isle Conservancy— we could've spent all day at the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory and exploring the rest of the Isle and its historic public landmarks. The Conservatory is the oldest continually-running conservatory in the United States. And the park itself is a 2.5-mile-long, 982-acre island park, located in the international waters of the Detroit River. Known as the “Jewel of Detroit,” Belle Isle has significant natural, architectural, and cultural resources. Almost one third of the island is a natural wooded area, home to a wide variety of small animals and birds. So cool!

Pick up a copy of Issue 5 (while you still can!) for a complete city guide created by one of our favorite contributors, Jesse David Green, and stay tuned for our Issue 9 announcement to find out what we were working on while in the city! You can see more photos from our trip on our Instagram.

Other places we visited, dined, and highly recommend:
Astro Coffee
Metropolis Cycles
Detroit Foundation Hotel
Workshop
Selden Standard
Will's Leather Goods
Dime Store

Issue 7

Cover image by Kyle John

We could not be more excited to announce that Issue 7 is available for pre-order! This year's Spring + Summer issue includes interviews with an incredibly talented bartender from a favorite Minneapolis diner and periodical shop owners from Indianapolis, recipes from a farm dinner hosted in the middle of one of Chicago's industrial neighborhoods, and the story behind Missouri's Queen City.

For each issue, our contributor's creative talent continues to amaze and inspire us, and this publication would simply not be possible without them. Thank you again for your support and being part of the Driftless community.

You can order Issue 7 in our online shop!

Winter Bundle Sale

It's the last week of winter! Living in the Midwest, we love enjoying all four seasons. For this week only we're offering a $20 Winter Bundle that includes Issues 4 + 6, our latest fall/winter issues, with free shipping on this product! Use code goodbyewinter at checkout. Sale ends the last day of winter - Sunday, March 19th. Visit our online shop for more details.

Issue 7 Submissions

Interested in contributing content to Driftless? Know of an incredible small business that would make a great feature? Have a seasonal recipe you just can’t get enough of? Just got back from an unbelievable adventure? Let us know – we would love to hear more!

Our content is based on contributions from our readers, and we highly value the interest and expertise that local stories bring to the table. When accepting submissions for print, we are looking for content based around Midwest America. Our definition of the Midwest includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. 

Submissions for Issue 7 – Spring + Summer 2017 – are now open. In order to submit a feature for consideration, fill out our online form and submission fee of $12. Submissions will not be considered until the fee is paid. This submission fee helps support the cost of printing – Driftless is completely ad-free, and by paying the submission fee you help ensure we can continue printing physical copies of the magazine. You’ll also receive a complimentary issue for submitting.

Any questions can be directed to info@readdriftless.com with a subject line of "Issue 7 Submission Inquiry." We couldn't be more excited for this 2017 Spring + Summer issue, and look forward to seeing your work!

2017 Subscriptions

Our 2017 Subscriptions are now available! Subscriptions include our two 2017 issues, in both print and digital versions. You'll receive Spring + Summer in May, and Fall + Winter 2016 in October. Exact release dates to be determined based on print timeline. More information in our online shop.

Bikes N' Roses

Interview by Sami Ross with David Pohlad of Bikes N' Roses
Photographs by Kaitlyn Herzog

Nestled in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood and a hop, jump, and skip away from the Kedzie Brown Line 'L' stop, is a sunny sanctuary that's changing young lives one spoke at a time. Since 2011, Bikes N' Roses has provided local city youth with a safe community that teaches them the fine art of bicycle maintenance. I had the pleasure of visiting their newest location and chatting with Program Director David Pohlad. Basking in the natural light of their open space while sitting at a countertop across from David, it was easy to see how friends of the organization often found themselves spending hours in the shop drinking coffee and catching up. Big thanks to David for giving us the lowdown on this special Chicago gem.

S: What is the history of the organization?
D: It all started in this neighborhood by a group of teenagers over at Roosevelt High School. It originally started as a bike club, there was no storefront or central location, they would just go to churches and community centers and help people fix their bikes and organize group rides. It was entirely started by youth, which is cool — that's as grassroots as you can get. After a few months of these kids working, our umbrella organization Communities United found them and started funding them. With the help of a professional mechanic, they were able to open an official storefront in 2011. Since then we've had three other storefronts before this one. Now we're at this point where we have this really big, pretty place and a second location on the West Side. 

S: What does a typical day at Bikes N' Roses look like? If there even is a typical day! 
D: On an average day we usually open at eleven and the kids don't come in until about two or three, because they're either in school or sleeping in on the weekends. I like the mornings because it gives me a chance to catch up on repairs. Around three, another paid mechanic and I work together so that one of us can work with the youth and one can work with the customers. Usually I work with the youth because I like it more. 

S: What does the future hold for Bikes N' Roses?
D: There's a lot of talk at our umbrella organization about capacity building and autonomy. I don't make enough money to support my salary, our mechanic's salary, health care, our rent, and so on. So, most of our support comes from the umbrella organization, though eventually we'd like Bikes 'N Roses to support itself. We're getting more efficient as we go and applying for grants and fundraising. We're also working on capacity building. We want to work with as many kids as possible. Obviously, this storefront is big, but it's still a limited space so we're looking at opening multiple locations and building partnerships outside an actual store. We'd like to have kids doing
group rides, immigrant outreach, and organizing bike clinics at community centers. We want to work with as many kids as possible. 

S: How can people outside the organization get involved?
D: A lot of adults come in and want to volunteer, but since we have limited resources, I generally hoard our bikes for the youth. There's a few adults who know what they're doing so they'll fix bikes that we sell in the storefront, which is fine because it brings in money. We have a couple hundred bikes in the basement right now and I want those all for the kids, for the learning process. The best thing for people to do is contact us and ask. There's always something going on that's way over our heads so we can always use the extra help!

S: What are some springtime tips you have for bikers? 
D: Well, if people have been riding all winter it's time for a tune up, or a really involved check up. The winter is really harsh on anything mechanical. As far as preemptive measures, buying a bike in the spring is always very expensive. If you're trying to get a deal on a bike, it's better to buy in the winter. Spring is a great time to ride!

S: What do you think makes Bikes N' Roses so unique? 
D: It's not a business — we're a registered state nonprofit. It runs like a business and some people come in and treat it like a business, while others come in and treat it like a nonprofit. There's no real way to train yourself for a job or program like this. Each kid is different and being able to work with twelve kids at a time and catering to each of their preferences and needs when it comes to learning is a little bit tricky. I think they come here for a reason and bikes are an easy medium to work with when you're trying to interact with kids. There are a lot of interesting parts, every day is new. 

Visit the Bikes N' Roses website or Facebook page to learn how you can get involved. Give your bikes the love and tuneups they need after a long winter. For local Chicagoans, keep an eye out for awesome events hosted in and outside the Albany Park storefront!