Yes Virginia you can ride a bike and still be
a functional, contributing member of society.
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Because David and I had to go out to Plano
Illinois so that he and his family could have a portrait
taken while they were all in town for his sister's graduation
from law school.
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The picture was supposed to be taken at
2:00 and we hoped to be back on the road into Chicago by
3 or 3:30 at the latest. We did not even get into the city
until about 5:30 thanks to traffic and a late photographer
and subjects.
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We did not get to the Daley Plaza until 6:15.
Of course there was not a soul to be found. The only thing
at the Picasso were three plastic harmonicas.
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At this point the three of us decided to
head out to Michigan Avenue and then north with the idea
that the Mass would probably go up to Wacker and then back
south.
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Well as I had hoped we ran into the Mass
right at Washington and Michigan. It is always a pleasure
to see a large group of bicyclists filling the streets in
a major metropolitan area.
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This ride was once again a bit confrontational
with the 18th precinct. We again approached the area from
the West. |
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This time we headed up Halsted and East
on North to the park. About halfway through we picked up
three officers on bikes.
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These guys were all we (read ME) could ask for.
They were not in our face as we were not in theirs either. |
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At one stop I looked over and wanting to
start some sort of dialog I asked one of them what he thought
about his tyres.
He responded "I don't".
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I don't really think he meant to sound like
he did at first because as soon as he said it his tone changed
and he told me that he had just bought them and that he felt
they were better than his last pair. |
As we made our way across the 18th all
of a sudden I spied a rider in our midst's who was not riding
with us, yes there are some. This guy had one cool trailer. |
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This ride was on the Friday preceding Memorial
Day. This is the official end of Winter in Chicago and to
mark the occasion the temperature jumped from 55 to 85 and
the humidity from none to about 65%! |
Now don't think I am complaining because
I could complain even more! No really it was a beautiful
day and awesome sunset.
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What a glorious day for a bike ride. From
the looks of it 144 others thought the same! The next evening
was just as nice for our picnic |
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This ride was attended by many riders that
I had never seen before.
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It is my sincere hope that all the fliering
that we did at the Hiz Honor's Bike Week helped bring out
the new blood.
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It is crucial that we continuously have
new riders. It is with the additional support of these riders
that we grow stronger and represent more of Chicago
and the World at large.
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On our way out of the park Ed, David and I rode
past the officers and wished them a good weekend and our hopes
that it was as quiet as it started. e.g. No Arrests. |
