Bike Salute

This is from May 30th, 2010, during Bike the Drive. Just got it off my camera.

Bike Salute!

#'s 13, 14, & 15. And #'s 25, 2, & 1

So, I've been riding but not writing about rides, though I was quoted in the RedEye about riding. But now that the weather has turned I more or less ride for everything. I've been riding to class, I ride to Dominick's, I ride to the post office, I ride to Wrigley: no desire to get behind the wheel anymore, which is good given the newly discovered cracked radiator. And though I try to change things up as often as possible a lot of the routes are very similar, so in order to avoid redundancy I'm going to focus on new paths, exercise rides, and pavement bombing routes as opposed to the "for fun" and short zen rides.

So since my last ride post I've gone on three document-worthy rides, numbers thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen. Thirteen was pure exercise, I raced myself every minute of the ride. Saturday afternoon... Saturdaaaay Afternooon  ...April 10th, 1pm to 3pm and it was my exact throwback route.

Ride fourteen was a mad dash from point A to B to C. I had 10 minutes to get from Bryn Mar and Kimball to Wrigley Field for the 1st Inning. I made it with 3 minutes to spare, even squeezing out a twitpic walking in. Google Map'd.

The following pictures are from Wrigley. Cubs rallied for four runs in the eighth to win 7 - 6 over the Brewers, great game. Theriot, Fukudome, and Lee all hitting real well.

Addison & Clark Entrance, 04/14/10 - Walking in during the National Anthem

A beautiful day at The Friendly Confines

Five dollar tickets on Stubhub. Of course I snuck down seven rows

Ride fifteen was today. I reversed my normal route and headed Southeast on Lincoln towards the lake, then South into Old Town, East on Division, and then back North on the Lake Shore Bike Path. Winds were around 25 mph and I was hoping to catch the stream heading North but they were crashing in from the West pretty heavily. Google Map'd.

Pictures below are in order corresponding to the numbers listed on the map.

The Hancock Building in the distance from the corner of Division and Astor

#Chicago #Beach

Lake Shore Bike Path on the left, facing North

Starting the hunt for a new bike this weekend. I want to go into this as educated as possible so I'm taking my time doing as much research and test riding as I can. Any suggestions or advice is always welcome and greatly appreciated.

Happy Official Awesome Spring Chicago Weather Riding Season!

-Zach

@thegratefulone

Chicago, Illinois April 6th, 2010

Click for larger images.

Pictures numbered below.

3D Picture Map

(1) Took this shot while riding, just out of excitement 

over the 180* turn the weather took today.

(2) Chicago, Illinois April 6th, 2010

@thegratefulone

North Pond

So far I've taken three shots of North Pond in Lincoln Park, just North of Fullerton right off the lake, adjacent to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Click image below for large version.

My ride today, number eleven, took me right past there for shot number three.

Bigger versions of the three shots from North Pond.

Cheers!
-Zach
@thegratefulone

Excuse Me, Lollygagger: I've Got Some Pavement to Shred

So, ten rides into the season and I've already grown tired of my original route from last year, the route highlighted here in Ride Number Eight, so I decided to mix it up on Friday and rode South into Wicker Park on Damen. Pretty scenic, very "city." But it was still extremely windy out, especially heading South, so I cut the route short and dove East at North Avenue, and only ventured slightly into Old Town before hitting the Lake Shore bike path and heading back North (though I must say heading North on the bike path, riding with the winds, is a world of difference compared to riding South against the winds along the lake). Google map'd.

This is the time of year when it seems like the number of people outside increases exponentially by the hour. And with more people bring more obstacles which in turn brings more fun! I've realized the last few days of riding that everybody who rides is riding for a different reason. Most ride to lollygag, lazily enjoying the scenery around them; others are riding for pure exercise, zooming past in spandex suits; while others are riding for commuter purposes, taking them from point A to point B. There are hundreds of reasons why any individual is out on a bike, and they are all good reasons.

I ride for sport. I ride aggressively. I ride the shit out of these roads. I ride in front of traffic; I do not slow down; I get in your way and I pedal with full force; I bomb every bit of open pavement using every muscle in my body. And as the city grows to life throughout the summer, the same trails get increasingly challenging, bringing more and more adventure to the sport of city bike riding.

Here is my route from Friday's ride. While it was shorter than usual, around 14 miles, it was a step in a new direction, finding new routes and new trails to take me on new adventures.

Here are some pictures from this ride. Click any of the shots, including the map above, for larger slides. Pictures are numbered according to the map above.

(1) Chicago river from North Avenue facing Southeast

with the N. tip of Goose Island on the right

(2) At North Beach, facing West, away from the lake.

You can see the wind in this picture.

 

(3) North Ave. Beach facing East towards the lake.

Really quickly I want to mention "30 Days of Biking," an event taking place throughout all of April. The idea, pretty self explanatory, is to ride every day of April. It's a national thing and a topic that has started gaining attention on twitter. You can find more information about it here: 30 Days of Biking

And here is the twitter search for it: #30daysofbiking

Happy Easter!

-Zach

@thegratefulone

Arboreal Sunset and the Lakeview Night Riders

9th Ride: Documenting for the sake of documentation; I said I would so I will. 

Night Ride: Got to watch the sunset at Grant & Lee (pictures included) then got back into the city around 8:30 pm. Took off shortly after. No pictures from the ride and the route was short, around 9 miles, and identical to ride number two, which is kind of my throwback route. It is still crazy windy out but beyond enjoyable nonetheless given the eighty or so nighttime degrees we have going. Lots of other evening folk out and about Lakeview and the surrounding neighborhoods.

The picture below is from Grant and Lee, a field in the North suburbs, taken today, April 1st, 2010.

 

This next picture, also from Grant and Lee, I tidied up a bit on photoshop. The original two shots were taken from my phone, an LG Chocolate 2nd Gen with a 1.3 megapixel camera. Does the job sometimes. 

 

Cheers!

@thegratefulone

Like No One Else Was On The Road

Ride number 8 : 72 Degrees and Sunny : Windy, Gusts up to 25mph : Around twenty-one miles

Totally shredded The Micky Bomb today, catching every green light on the way down. Got some great speed while staying ahead of the traffic: like no one else was on the road. Went a rare one full week without a ride and today definitely made up for it.

It was extraordinarily windy out, especially heading South along the lake on the bike path, but once I got into the Loop and started back up North it was pretty much smooth sailing from there. Below is a Google Street View shot, with my route in blue, showing The Trump Tower at Wabash and Wacker.

From here I take Wacker to Michigan and head North, crossing the river, and around Ohio street you start heading downhill and the Michigan Avenue Bomb begins.

Took some more random on-the-go shots from my cell phone. They are in order corresponding to the route map above. Click any of the photos for larger shots. Quick side note: I took a picture of the Alta Vista neighborhood to follow up from my 6th ride but as I was snapping the photo from my bike a woman honked at me from behind to let her pass (it's a narrow road) and the photo didn't get sent properly, as if she didn't want me to take it. Weak. It will get taken.

(1) This building always reminded me of 

Pink Floyd and The Wall

 

(2) At Fullerton and Lake Shore facing South,

lots of people out early today

 

(3) Buildings and Trees

 

(4) From the bridge heading into MP2000 

aka Millennium Park

@thegratefulone

-Zach

Dismantling The Michigan Avenue Bomb

Hi! My name is Zach, and I am a 25 year old Chicago bike rider.

I love Chicago, and I love riding, and every day I get to spend outside on the streets brings me a step closer to nirvana.

For the beginning of the season I have been working on a nice, easy at times/treacherous at others, 24 mile bike ride that takes me North to Foster & Damen, using Winnemac Park as one anchor, and South to Roosevelt & Lake Shore, using Adler Planetarium as another, hitting up several primo neighborhoods in between, such as Roscoe Village, Wrigleyville, Ravenswood, Old Town, and the Loop, just to name a few.

Part of the ride through the Loop incorporates a slightly insane, mostly harrowing, and somewhat reckless bomb up Michigan Avenue, heading North. Riding alongside the gawking rental cars, slicing taxi cabs, and impatient bus drivers who seem to transform into ferocious tribal warriors atop twelve ton metal elephants that are purposely trying to crush you and your bike below, you start to understand that you are now in the machine: you are the city. As I go barreling down the hill between Ohio street and the Hancock building, survival rests on comprehension. Rapt with heightened awareness, I rise up from under the brick and steel shade and navigate from above: the streets, the sidewalks, the people, the traffic lights, the crosswalks, the cars, the turn signals, the potholes, the more people! All a flash of a moment and a blur through my eyes, but all worthy opponents and dangerous obstacles that become even more real when riding alongside them.

Atop my bike, these become my most lucid moments, and this is when I love my city the most. Riding on Michigan Avenue is one of the best adrenaline rushes you will find around here. And after being thrust out of the Loop and finding the winds at your back, when you finally get to Mariano Park where Rush and State meet, it's like you've stumbled upon a slice of heaven that lay completely unaware of the madness below.

And that's the Michigan Avenue Bomb.
Cheers!
@thegratefulone

Oh High on the City Trail

7th ride of the season, first ride of Spring! And my first completion of 2009's full route. Which, when google map'd, came out to 23.2 miles, 1.2 miles longer than I thought. If I'm hitting up this route in March, which is the route that capped my season last year, I can only assume it will grow from here.

Northern most point: Foster and Damen. Southern most point: Roosevelt and Lake Shore Drive / Adler Planetarium.

Ride Number Seven:

Click map for magnified image. 

Took lots of pictures. I tweeted the hell out of the ride, too. Click any of the images for slightly bigger pictures. To be able to see so much in one ride, from the Northern suburban-like neighborhoods, all the way down to the grandeur of the new city, it's a pretty awesome sensation.  I want to start exploring the world on my bike.

 Old Chicago College. NM point of ride: 

Foster and Damen

Crew putting up a Toyota sign at 

Wrigley Field

Fullerton and Lake Shore Drive,

facing South

Flipside: about 12 minutes later from the Shedd 

Aquarium back lawn, facing North

From my Chocolate: an amazing 1.3 megapixels. 

Great shot of #chicago

I used the gravitational pull of Adler Planetarium

to slingshot myself back into the city!

The Trump Building. One of my favorite new 

additions. From Wabash & Wacker.

A true "on the go" snapshot! In Old Town

at Menomonee and Sedgwick.

First ride of Spring went well. Things are warming up here in Chicago, although we'll probably get at least one more snowstorm before it really starts to get warm out.

Happy City Trails!

Cheers!

@thegratefulone

ISO: One Charismatic Solar Deity

6th ride of the season so far. That season being Springter (or Winting as some prefer, though most have trouble with the pronunciation). A rough mash up of almost all four seasons, March can provide quite the sensory experience while riding through the city. The sun warm and new, inviting; after months of hibernation it only takes seconds to remember. I bow. The moving air still crisp, remnants of Autumn and reminders that this isn't California, this is Chicago: a city of four seasons, today we get to see them all. People in shorts wearing sandals, people in scarfs and wool jackets; squirrels searching through dirty snow mounds, a bit confused... but happy nonetheless.

Shortened my ride today in favor for a slower pace: we're supposed to get some good old cold rain and snow this weekend, so I went zen. Mental health is just as important as physical health.

One part of this ride I would like to point out really quickly is a section of brick houses near Wrigley Field called Alta Vista Terrace. The district was built in 1904 in imitation of the rowhouse style of London (this sentence was copy & pasted directly from Wikipedia). It is an awesome street with a super homey feel, probably one of my favorite blocks in the Northside neighborhoods, and definitely worth checking out. There are pillars on both entrances to the street that point it out.

And here is the route I took today, pretty spot on to my old school, and I guess new school, half route.  12.5 miles.

I only took one photo on the go today. The photo I did take, however, is from the exact same spot at which I took a photo during ride number 3, which you can find in this blog, from March 10th. The photo was taken from a walking path behind The Nature Museum off of Fullerton and Lake Shore. In the 8 days since the 1st photo the small lake has thawed. I'm going to try to document the spot over the year.

Alright, that is all for now.
I'm ready for the snowstorm: go springter!
Cheers!
@thegratefulone

5th Bike Ride of Pre Spring

Just Mere Hours Before Announcement, Without a Worry in the World...

Took off on my fifth bike ride of March earlier today around 5 o' clock in the afternoon. First ride of daylight savings.

I almost completed my 22 mile OG Summer Run from last year, coming just 2 miles shy: I stopped at Millenium Park and turned right on Monroe instead of continuing down to the Adler Planetarium.

The sun was hot but the air was cold, the smell of burning leaves in the air and snow still on the jetties; it was as if all four seasons were sharing the sunlight of the same day.

Here is the route I took. 

And here are some pictures I took on the go, though take caution: tweeting while biking is not recommended and is a highly dangerous activity. 

I only took pictures during the North part of the ride. Once I got into the loop I wanted to focus more on the road (obviously); first ride down Michigan Avenue of the season. It was fucking stellar!

Taking advantage of daylight savings, ~5:30pm

at Homer Park, California and Montrose

Heading South on Ravenswood, old Bowman 

Dairy factory on the right.

Controlled fires, brush clearing at Winnemac

Park on Foster and Damen

Now back to tour planning! 

Cheers!

@thegratefulone

Getting Closer to the Loop

Took my fourth ride today, Thursday, March 11th. The day started out cloudy and raining again, but by 3pm the sun had broken through and has yet to retreat. I extended my route further South today, riding to Oak St. Beach from Addison on the Lakefront bike path. I did not, though, add the Northern part of the the ride, so it still ended up being only about a 12 mile round trip.

Here is a map of my ride:

And, of course, a few pictures from the ride:

Heading South on the Lakefront Trail, just South of Addison and Lake Shore Drive.

The Hancock Building with the famous Drake Hotel in front. Facing South.

Oak St. Beach. Facing North, with Lake Shore Drive on the left. Walked out on to the sand, pretended for a moment I was back in California. Twas nice.