Happy Bike to Work Week!
I biked to and from work today—WITHOUT CRASHING ONCE, although the Navy Pier Trolley did want a piece of me—and was surprised this morning by a cheery crew on the lake path around 31st Street. A guy in full bike regalia was yelling through a bullhorn for bikers to pull over for free water! free coffee! free vitamin water! And so I did the sensible thing and pulled over.
They were from the Chicago Bike Federation and were celebrating Bike to Work Week. One of the guys struck up a conversation with me, wanting to know how often I biked to work, and he told me a little bit about the bike federation and all the work they’ve done to make Chicago the bike-friendly city that it is. (When I lived in Indy, I biked to work every once in a great while, and feared for my life every second of it. You’d think the drivers had never seen a biker before. I am in awe of my friend Carol who takes her life in her hands several times a week.) As I biked off, a couple bike geeks had collected around the kiosk and were discussing which brand of pedal clips were best. I felt a little out of place; after all, I don’t even have spandex that matches.
But did I mention that I didn’t crash once in twenty-four miles? I think that’s badass enough for me.
* * *
current book: I think the only problem with biking to work is that I lose 40 minutes of reading time each day.
current music: The Shins’ Wincing the Night Away.
current socks: Just boring Smartwool® athletic socks. But they do have a bright orange racing stripe on them.
Posted 12 June 2007
No Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
Now that I work AND live in downtown Indy, I’ve considered biking to work, but I’ve wondered how I could do it without dying! There’s no place for a bike to be.
I love that a much bigger city like Chicago can make it easy for bikers, but Indy can’t.
I’d also like to say that the guy was more than likely flirting with you and you didn’t have the SLIGHTEST clue ;)
Eeek, I hope he wasn’t flirting with me, as he was about 400 years my senior!
Indy isn’t the best, but it’s still possible to find a decent and safe route, as long as you get a little creative. My route went from an original terrifying traverse across downtown to now only slightly risky for one small stretch of it. And that isn’t even bad. It’s getting easier and will only improve once they finish the “cultural trail.” Don’t give up biking to work aspirations! I see more and more people out on bikes downtown every day.
[just make sure you wear a helmet]
Give me an old cool bicycle, and I’ll ride around the city for days.