A free bike rental program in Cadillac was expanded this summer. Today the city is loaning out 30 bicycles at two locations. The original location remains at Mitchell State Park. The city has added a second rental location across Lake Cadillac at the downtown After 26 Café.
Mayor Carla Filkins says the program, called Bike Cadillac, is designed to encourage more visitors and residents to use the area’s bike trails.
“They can bike around the lake, or just around downtown Cadillac to go shopping,” she says. “Or they can hit the White Pine Trail and head on down to Reed City if they wanted to.”
Filkins says the original 20 bikes in the program were all for adults. They were unclaimed, abandoned or stolen bikes that wound up in the city’s possession.
This year Cadillac also used grant funds to buy 10 children’s bikes for the program.
Bike Cadillac is one of six regional award winners who will compete for a statewide honor from the Michigan Municipal League at its annual convention in October.