St. Clair Shores Woman's Fundraising Bike Ride Helps Kids Stay Fit

This story includes reporting by Joni Hubred-Golden.

Bicycle enthusiast, and St. Clair Shores resident Kathy Falk, was scheduled to take to the roads of Metro Detroit Saturday to help support a program which helps reduce childhood obesity.

Falk, who is taking part in Saturday's Motor City Bike Ride, initially started her love of cycling from taking a spinning class at her workplace, Compuware. While taking the classes, she met Compuware's Global Director of Wellness and Work Life Tom Anderson who convinced Falk to join him on a 3-day/300-mile ride for charity.

Despite being a major undertaking, 300-miles, Falk became an enthusiastic participant for another nine years. When Anderson organized the first Motor City Bike Ride for Danialle Karmanos' Work It Out program (DKWIO), she got her bike in gear for the event.

According to a release, Falk was excited to support DKWIO’s programs alongside her co-workers and especially the goal of helping support children – believing the DKWIO program’s effort to help young children de-stress, build self-esteem and learn about healthy living a unique and worthwhile approach.

The Motor City Bike Ride took to the streets Saturday for a pair of rides which included a 62-mile Metric Century Ride from Campus Martius in Detroit to Metro Beach Metropark. There is also a 20-mile Fun Ride around Belle Isle.

The 62-mile ride includes stops at the Grosse Pointe Public Library and Fishbones in St. Clair Shores. At Metro Beach, Gourmet Everyday will serve lunch, and bikers can have any kinks massaged away before heading back to Campus Martius. 

"We were trying to think of a really innovative way to do something great for the charity that aligns with our values," Karmanos said of the ride, which is now in its fourth year. 

DKWIO uses a yoga-based approach to help children stay fit, improve their self-esteem and reduce anxiety.

Grammy Award-winning artist Kem was scheduled to take part in opening ceremonies and encourage riders, and GM has offered a custom convertible Camaro for Kem and a group of children to ride in to Belle Isle. 

Karmanos said DKWIO has thus far seen nothing but success.

"We've worked with 3,000 kids without a single negative incident," she said. "We've just had success story after success story. The kids are amazing, they really inspire us."