BTD 2011

The camera cord got packed away this weekend so more interesting pictures of the mall in front of Science & Industry swarming with riders and the hellish conditions in fog and rain are trapped on the camera for a while, but I can post this out of focus, too far away shot of a rental bike rack.

I actually saw a few people on these borrow bikes during the ride, which struck me as a brilliant idea. Especially after having my bike strapped to an suv and sprayed with I-80 juice the entire way into the city that morning. They might not be the funnest bikes or easy to go fast on, but renting a bike just outside of the starting area seems like a brilliant way to handle Bike the Drive.

Possibly more pictures to come, but they'll have to wait until after the wife and I close on our place tomorrow. And move a bunch of boxes, and then find everything I would need for the camera. So it will be a while. We've got stuff to do.

ETA: some shots from the ride. It was surprisingly crowded already at the first turn, we got started a little late. Still cool to see all those riders out.
Soldier Field in the fog/rain. I got a good action shot of my mustache near here too.

Current beer-scale: 8.8

Up & away

This was at about 4:45 this morning before heading out to BTD. The non-rain rain made picture taking an issue but not a bad ride for shitty conditions.

Current beer-scale: a sleepy 5.5

I know how I want to bike the drive this year

That's got Pedal Pub written all over it.

God I hope someone does this, and I hope they're passing out beers.

Current beer-scale: 8.1

Wow; that was way more fun than I expected

I don't know if it's the 3 cups of coffee I've already had this morning or the sneaking onto Bike the Drive before work, but I am in a fabulous mood for 10 AM Sunday morning. Let's peep some pics, shall we (sounds like that's the coffee talking)?
I managed to get up before the alarm actually went off so I didn't wake the wife while I snuck out way too early to get in a sizable ride before work.
Although I do feel mildly guilty for not fully registering this year, that did add an element of feeling like I was getting away with something which only made things that much more fun. The cop blocking the Belmont ramp gave me a nice wave when I went by.
Getting on at an unofficial starting point was odd; I felt like I was merging just like a car would. I ended up doing this twice b/c after I made it to the turn-around point and back to Fullerton, it was way too early to go to the office so I went back up to Belmont for an extra couple of minutes.
Conditions were perfect; sunny but windy enough to feel like you were really working at points. Especially over the Grand/Illinois bridge. People were really struggling back up the north-bound portion. Even against the wind, back down was a blast. I stopped to take a self-indulgent picture of my bike in the sun.I also took a shot of my new bike pants. $8 steve & barry pants cut way short and had hemmed to just below the knee. Perfect for the temperature in the mid-50's and very comfortable. Outstanding.
All in all a great day. Of course, as soon as I got on the first time a roadie went flying by advising me my seat was set too low. Thanks guy. I'm only out here year-round, I never would have thought to put the seat in a position less comfortable than I've already got it in. Oh well. If you're surrounded by bikers, odds are there's going to be someone giving you advice whether you want it or not. The sun was out, I put in an extra ten miles or so before work, and now I'm off for more coffee and whatever beer the wife picks up while I'm at work today. Fantastic. Happy Memorial Day!
Current beer-scale: 3.9 (mellow, but I could crack one)

Short week! Only three days! Today's my Friday!

I have literally nothing to complain about (which could make some people wonder why say anything at all I guess), other than the Penguins getting a win last night and having to wait until Saturday for another game. So instead of writing, let's do a picto-blog from BTD. Better late than never.

Here's an opening shot of the south-bound ride just as we were getting on. I think this was at about 5:15 that morning. We were later than the in-laws would have liked but plenty early for me.

A shot the other way. Pretty empty.

Here's my pelaton passing Soldier Field. The best part of the ride was sprinting to get ahead then trying to get decent shots of everyone as they passed. Then you got to sprint to catch up again until the next picture. I realized early on that I sucked at timing how to take these pictures as people were moving, which is why this rapidly lost its novelty during the ride.

A panoramic from the way back. We were still early enough that down and back on the south-branch was pretty empty the entire time. The crowds picked back up by buckingham as we started the north-bound loop.

Eventually, I was just taking shots from the bike as I got separated from the group for a while. This one by Oak Street beach actually turned out okay. The rest of the ride was so incredibly bumpy though, that this didn't really happen again until the ride was over. Huge potholes, and in one asinine case, someone going the wrong direction in the north-bound lanes, made for some slightly less tranquil riding.

Our meeting point at the end of the ride. It was only about 8:30 by the time we were done, so the fountain was as good a place as any to meet up. Until someone wiped out on the gravel, when they tried to turn too sharply and forgot they were wearing clip-in shoes (not me). No pictures of that though.

Turns out 35 miles was about all the Frankenbike could handle. He/she/it performed admirably though, and the chain only came off once after bouncing off an absolutely horrendous pothole at the bottom of the downhill after crossing the river. Sitting at the fountain, I could imagine it sitting there, almost like a dog with its tongue hanging out. There are times when I have very fond feelings for Frankenbike, like when I'm zooming down belmont and manage to snake between a bus and someone trying to turn onto clark through cubs traffic (just like yesterday). BTD was one of those times, even though by the end of the ride I felt like it could fall apart out from under me like a cartoon, parts falling off left and right.

Riding with a camera was fun too, and I'm starting to think I should just carry one with me at all times. Earlier in the week, on my way back to Lincoln Park for our late softball game, I was cruising down lincoln while the "Public Enemies" Dillinger movie with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale was setting up. Each side of the street was lined with old fords and edsels, and all the stores by the Biograph had 30's-style awnings up. Pretty cool to see up close and not something I would have seen if I wasn't out riding. My ride might not always be the most interesting, but it has it's moments.

Current beer-scale: 2.2