The Mower Gang cleans up Detroit Velodrome

Walking through a maze of shrubbery, trees, tires, paint cans and logs the size of wheelbarrows, it was hard to imagine that people raced bicycles there. "I cannot believe that this has been abandoned in time," said Tom Nardone, founder of the Mower Gang. The small group of volunteers was standing on the Dorais Velodrome in northeast Detroit on Friday. The motto on their shirts said it all, "Winning Detroit's Other Turf War." Nardone, looking for volunteer work that was fun, started the Mower Gang to revive unkempt public land in Detroit. This was the group's first project. Detroit Free Press