Summer

the curious half smile came from the snorkel

Happy Summer!

We have been riding a little more, writing a bit less. Many exciting developments have come our way this summer in Chicago.  We rode Wood as the new green pathways for bikes were painted in and finished, there are lots of ersatz new protected bike lanes in our neighborhood as the El construction on the blue line at Morgan is completed and concrete barriers have made bike and pedestrian only pathways enhancing our commute over the bridges. and Go PilsenGo Pilsen has launched practically in our back yard.

  Go Pilsen is a partnership among Active Transportation Alliance, Chicago Department of Transportation, and Pilsen community members  intended to foster walking and biking among all residents of the neighborhood and anyone else who wants to take part!. It follows quickly on the heels of last fall's success of a similar group, Go Bronzeville.

This Saturday, July 12, the Ciclovamos riding group is hosting a  Bike Treasure Hunt through Pilsen. Tricky clues and many surprises are in store for anyone venturing out to join the fun. Details below.
It is on our to do list for the weekend!

We will be walking along co-hosting the Ping Tom Park family walk from Pilsen to Chinatown on July 19th. There is an old post of ours about the water taxi here, but the park was recently at least doubled in size and it now has a fieldhouse as well. Keep your eyes open for the August calendar - we are in Go Pilsen's August events too.

Ciclovamos Bike Treasure Hunt

Saturday, July 12, 7pm-9pm

Dvorak Park (behind the field house) @ 1119 W. Cullerton

Do you think you know Pilsen? How about by bike? This Pilsen-wide treasure hunt will test your local knowledge with riddles and clues showcasing some popular spots as well as unique hideaways. Learn more details here and be sure to RSVP for this free event.

Ping Tom Memorial Park Family Walk and Picnic

Saturday, July 19, 11am-2pm

Plaza Tenochtitlan @ 18th & Blue Island

Bring your family and join our group walk to Ping Tom Memorial Park where kids can play and adults can relax by the beautiful pagoda and bamboo gardens. This event is BYOPB - bring your own picnic basket. Find updates about this free event

"We'll never get to Pilsen from here if you don't get your foot off my bike!"

Biking Lakeshore Drive Again

Early in the morning last week, through the city...

one in the cargo bike, one in front

And they're off!

The bridge over the Chicago River is always our favorite part even if the
Active Trans people keep shouting at people not to stop

Rest area featuring water, welcome green bananas,  cookies and energy bars.
Uptown Bikes had a firepit going near their rickshaw.

There weren't many people with lights and fenders

   

A well deserved hot chocolate and
pastry for the pedalers

Bike the Drive is Tomorrow

Here is a link to our old post about Bike the Drive with the whole family.  It's May 26th this year, but not much has changed besides that. There are some new protected lanes in the Loop area to get you to  and from the start, Dearborn probably the most useful.
See you there!

Lulla-bikes at the Humboldt Park Lagoon

The Lulla-Bikes led the audience around the lagoon
to discover its mysterious scenes

Opera-Matic had a performance at Humboldt Park last week called New Moon On the Lagoon, featuring these "Lulla-Bikes" built at West Town Bikes, the Moon, a downed pilot, many flashlights, and a lit-up whale. The Moon snoozed and the audience sang it lullabies. Later the Moon sang back. 

Follow the Lulla-Bikes and the lullaby leader, and sing your way to each lost light station. At each station, the parade will join together to help each lost light find its way with a flashlight serenade. 

The performance made slightly more sense at the time, but the main event was a big walk around the lagoon led by lulla-bikes while singing and playing with flashlights. Some of us got pretty wet in the lagoon, too. 

If you get a chance to see Opera-Matic turning a public space near you into a community spectacle, it's worth a visit. Look at their upcoming events.

Hop! Hop! Hop!
Coquis in Humboldt PArk!

Women Bike (Your City Here)

Yesterday we held our first Women Bike Chicago women's bike conference. Our conference yesterday was plenty of work but well worth it. It was also incredibly fun, building fellowship and encouraging new women riders.  Find great pictures of the day on our Women Bike Chicago group blog.

My last post about getting the summit up and organized had helpful information to get started. I hope that post and this one can be a useful springboard for you to create your own women's bike gathering of any size in your own community.  If women riders are the key to creating more riders we need each other to turn the wheels. The best place to start them turning is together in our own backyards.

The genesis of our day was the community we already have as women transportation cyclists here in our city.  Chicago has an online cycling forum called the Chainlink that connects cyclists across the city. There are over nine thousand members. Also, we have robust Kidical Mass, Critical Mass and Critical Lass rides going monthly. We also benefit from a strong community of long term tenacious women cycling advocates ready to help out with younger women riders eager to make change.

You may have less of this going on in your corner so you would rearrange your women's event to encourage what you see missing for women around you.  Your community will probably be very different from ours and your organizers will find their own purposes and develop the special things that will drive your presentations and activites. We started small but mighty and the Women Bike Chicago conference took on a life of its own.  If we can do it so can you!

Feel free to steal what might work from our day below as you build your own.  For more inspiration, our organization has also found a wealth of information from the Washington Area Bicycle Association's Women and Bikes initiatives.



Activities and Presentations to take away from Women Bike Chicago


The Bike Testing/Woman Mechanic/ Skills Corral

We did not want our day to be only about visiting with women that know and see each other all the time and who are strong riders already. We wanted to use the power of our fellowship to help other Chicago women ride.  Our location this year seemed small enough to reach each of our attendees personally and allowed us to have a safe calm outdoor space for women to try out bikes we all brought to let other women try out. Attendees could check them all out and see what felt comfortable to ride. We called it the bike corral. Each of us brought one or two different kinds of bikes — step throughs, cruisers, old Schwinns, kid carrying set-ups etc.  Like a bike test potluck.

Women mechanics from both West Town Bikes and the Cal Sag youth bike club shared basic maintenance advice at the corral too. Alta Bike Share brought one of the prototype bikes for Chicago's soon-to-be bike share and let us all ride it around.

Lastly we had certified cycling instructors on hand to help teach basic bicycling and city specific riding skills. Most women stuck to the testing and mechanics though.

Ride Buddies and Quieter Route Maps
Indoors, we had a registration table, coffee, two presentation rooms and a kids' area. In our hall between the registration table and the coffee, Julie hung maps of the city and brought colored dots coded to each area to stick onto attendee name tags. The colors let any woman know which other attendees ride in her area and facilitated an ersatz ride buddy meet-up at the conference. The dots got snapped up immediately and plenty of women found potential ride buddies.  Some women dotted their tags with a mix of colors since so many of us ride throughout the city.

The maps were also marked with less trafficked alternate routes to busy streets. This way attendees could find a quieter commute if they wanted one. Attendees wrote on the map where they wanted a less car trafficked ride and others highlighted their favorite quieter streets on the map.

Our Unique Presentations
The three national women's bike forums we researched had their own unique presentations. As we wanted to reach out beyond the existing cycling community, our forum reflected the idea that many of those coming to our day might need a fresh look at what the rest of us are used to doing every day already. We organized seating so questions were easy to ask, since we imagined they would be a big part of how the presentations worked.


Here is a list of our presentations:

Getting Back Out on the Bike at Any Age

Our keynote was given by Lisa — an amazing Chcago rider who spoke about her own experience returning to riding last year after decades off her bike. She made clear that every women in the room could too, if she could!  Our attendance really reflected Lisa's experience. The majority of our attendees were women from age 55 to 80 who wanted to get back out and ride for transportation. 

Practical Advice for Using Your Bike To Commute In Chicago

This presentation included using the bike not only on the streets but as a multi-modal tool with trains and buses. Given by Anne, a total expert who is also funny and compassionate.

Dressing for Comfort and Work Realities
Nuts and bolts advice for dressing for the work commute with comfort and work practicality from Julie and Cynthia, who are professional women well-versed in riding to work in all kinds of unfriendly weather and serious traffic.

Women Owned Bike Shop Owners Demystify the Bike Shop Visit for Women
Shop owner Justyna answered questions and gave advice for getting the most out of a bike shop visit including clues to knowing if a shop is friendly to women.

A Family Biking Sit Down
A roundtable with bike moms visiting with other wanting-to-bike moms to answer practical questions. Kids climbing all over were included.


Good luck creating your own Women's Bike gathering in your own town or city.  Reach out to me here at Chicargobike or to us all at Women Bike Chicago if you think we might be able to provide any encouragement or information from our own experience. Happy planning!

Bike Swap Today

logo stolen from Chicago Bike Swap website

The Chicago Bike Swap is HAPPENING TODAY! Quick, take all your money out of the bank (IN CASH- many vendors are normal people and don't take credit cards) and go have a look what you can buy with it. Who wants to pay the gas bill?  Bring a big pannier to carry your treasures home. And a good lock for your bike if you're leaving it on the street while you are inside.

It costs $10 to get in for regular people, $5 for Active Transportation members or UIC i-card holders, but you're likely to make it back on your first impulse buy. This year it's in a NEW place - the UIC athletic department at 901 W Roosevelt near Halsted.

In past years, there have been really good deals on oddball things you didn't know you needed, like formerly-$200 lightweight 2005 model stem extenders or something for $5, and pretty good deals on great things everybody needs like hardly used Continental tires, 10 for $20, or Brooks leather saddles for the same price as a Wal-Mart model. I have no idea what exactly will be there this year but that's a start. Many people sell bike parts, reflectors, buttons, memberships in bike clubs, rain gear etc., and there will be many many bikes to try out, ride and maybe buy. Shops and private owners bring bikes to sell that are often interesting in some way.

There will be a collection of CARGO BIKES to try out, possibly some for sale but many that you can compare, probably most of which you can read about on our site here. Presentations and demos are planned as well, with Bike Polo, the bike-dancing Racketeers, discussions about taking kids on bikes, and more.

The whole event is planned by and benefits Chicago Bike Winter and Active Transportation Alliance.

There is food there and in the nearby area, but it's a quick bike ride to Chinatown or Pilsen or Little Italy-America or Greektown if the mood strikes you. (And if you'll be back in the neighborhood on Sunday the Maxwell Street Market will be taking place, the best place for Mexican street food and trinkets. But not today. ) So we'll be looking for you there - we'll be the ones carrying armloads of something like $2 reflector generator hub titanium rim tape . . .

Come Bike the 25th Ward on Sunday

Sunday brings us the Third Annual Bike the 25th Ward ride with Alderman Danny Solís, who has been a voice in favor of bicycle infrastructure in Chicago the past few years. It starts at 9 am, leaving after snacks at 10 am, at Harrison Park in Pilsen just near the Mexican Fine Arts Museum. The past couple of rides have been fun, well attended, and last year not only the Alderman but also the Commissioner of Transportation Gabe Klein rode along and chatted with people.  The 25th Ward includes Little Italy, Chinatown and Pilsen, so it's a fun place to see by bike. We wrote about it last year too. Come on down to our neighborhood and check it out.

Here's the information link to the 25th Ward website

"This year’s 6 mile, leisurely ride features the new 18th Street protected bike lane and winds through the great neighborhoods of the 25th Ward – Pilsen, Chinatown, University Village and Little Italy. All ages are welcome to participate in this FREE event!There will be free kids bike helmets, bike safety tips from the Bike Ambassadors and healthy snacks. Join us for this family-friendly event!"

We recommend: Bathrooms at Harrison Park. Good food at the Maxwell St Market stalls, basement of San Pio church, and many great inexpensive restaurants near the ride.

Open Streets Was Really Fun - Did You Go Too?

Went to today's Open Streets on Milwaukee Avenue, and it was really enjoyable. Two of the kids took their bikes and zoomed around mostly safely, there was a lot to do and see, and many many other people (and dogs) were there enjoying the perfect sunny weather and the relaxed atmosphere that comes with not having to think about cars. A couple of pictures came out:

The blue things always draw a big crowd.
It was hard to pull the kids away. Again.

Some areas were wide open to ride, others had
lots of fun activities to try out or watch
like dancing, playing, drawing or fencing !

Lots of people took advantage of the
chance to get the family out onto
Milwaukee Ave without traffic.

Today's festival was a nice complement to the Open Streets that have occurred downtown in the Loop. This one on Milwaukee Ave was great for riding a distance without thinking about traffic much. The events down in the Loop have concentrated on using the street for many different activities at once so they weren't as bicycle oriented. Instead they demonstrated the scale of the Loop buildings in a pedestrian environment and brought fun activities to the middle of the road in the commercial heart of the city. 

Open Streets on Milwaukee Ave also offered many fun activities in the middle of the road - fencing demonstrations, Bhangra dancing, blue foam things, skateboarding, four square, chalk drawing...   These planned activities were expanded by the businesses along the route that joined in, putting furniture on the street or sidewalk for example, and made the festival even more fun. 

It had a real neighborhood feeling, more so than the Loop events which celebrate Chicago's public face. It felt accessible. Three families we know who never go to street activities found themselves there, riding bikes or scooters and joining in and having a fantastic time. I think they'll be back. One hallmark of Chicago is the individual feeling of each separate neighborhood, and this event reflected the best of Wicker Park / Bucktown. The same event in a different neighborhood would be completely different. What could this kind of event be like in Pilsen or Devon Avenue or Bronzeville?

Some smaller members of our group would have enjoyed even more space for balance biking crazily back and forth without getting in anyone's way. Open Streets did address this issue somewhat - they put the REI demonstrations in the Aldi parking lot, which freed space in the street. This could serve as a good model for more activities in the future. This has been the approach used by NYC's Summer Streets, which took most activities off the main avenue and used smaller side streets instead. On the other hand, the advantage of the approach today on Milwaukee Ave was that it slowed traffic enough in several places that the spandex "on your left" riders spent the day somewhere else, leaving the strollers and balance bikers in peace.

It's really exciting that Active Transportation and the many Open Streets volunteers did such a good job planning and carrying out this nifty event today. Good work!

We also got to one of the Summer Streets festivals in New York this summer, and just found some pictures: 

Popular!

Plenty of space to ride, walk, skate or anything else for miles,
but many main street crossings along the way

Extra events took place on small side streets off the main route.
They were also teaching adults.

coming through Grand Central Station

The Summer Streets route went all the way
from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park.
Everyone should ride a bike over this bridge once in their lives.

A Streetfilms video about the Ciclovía in Bogotá, Colombia is below (higher quality here). They have been doing Ciclovía (Cycleway) there since at least 1985 when I lived there, and it's the model for Summer Streets, Open Streets, the events in Paris, and around the world. If Bogotá can do it, why not every city? What's more, Bogotá is the model for bus rapid transit (BRT) coming soon to Chicago. More about that later? Streetfilms has something about that too I think. Meanwhile, this video is worth a view!

Open Streets again this Sunday - Hooray

Once again Chicago will offer a place to play in the street this Sunday the 16th from 10 to 3 on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park/Bucktown from the Polish Triangle at Division/Ashland to Western/Milwaukee, with most planned activities near the Blue Line stop at North/Damen/Milwaukee. You should really go. It's fun.

In New York we rode on Summer Streets this year, with a zillion biking, skateboarding, roller skating or walking others - it was a longer route but a similar idea. Being able to walk safely in the middle of a main street in a major city gives you a remarkable view of space and community that you just don't see when you have to be careful of the cars the whole time. When I lived in Bogotá in the 80s, the Ciclovía was the same: bustling loud dangerous downtown avenues turned into places for families to stroll in their jogging suits, and ring roads and highways gave aspiring racing cyclists a long loop to practice.

Now Chicago is expanding Open Streets out of the Loop neighborhood into a part of town with more to see and do. Go early and enjoy yourself, and let the organizers know what you think afterwards.

This map expands so you can read it if you click. Link is here too.

There are a hundred good places to grab a bite or relax a bit nearby. Near the Polish Triangle, the Boring Store is secret agent supply shop with an after school reading program hidden in back, and Podhalanka on the south side of the triangle is a great inexpensive place for a bowl of soup or a schnitzel or pierogis.  Lovely bakery is just south of the triangle on Milwaukee and has yummy baked goods (meh coffee); Bake also does great pastries with better coffee but is not quite on the route, on North near Western. Buzz, north on Damen, has the best coffee near the route. Piece and Big Star have pizza and tacos a step away from the main intersection on North and Damen respectively. The teacher supply store up Milwaukee near Western is good for kid supplies. Margie's Candies is at the north end of the route with old fashioned sundaes. There are many, many other places too.

Wicker Park itself, just down Damen a block from the main intersection, has bathrooms, as does the library up Milwaukee a block toward Western, and Open Streets will have them too.

If you need to buy a bike for the event (or fix one), Copenhagen bikes is on the route, Rapid Transit nearby on North, and The Bike Lane up a block or two north on Milwaukee; Quick Release is never open when I go but near Ashland and North.

By the way, the Travelon Gamelon we mentioned earlier this week is still looking for volunteers...

Bike Parade, Or Art Performance?

If you want to participate you have to sign up before the 15th of September by calling the U of C Film Studies Center at 773-702-8596. The parade is on Saturday October 13, noon to 3:30.

The event will take place at the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park, just down the Lakefront Path from downtown. What will it look like? here's a link to a good video of a performance in Amsterdam,

and here's another one we found online from Missoula, Montana:

Tell your friends, and see you there!

Open Streets- Hooray!

This is a late, short but sweet heartfelt plug for today and next week's Open Streets.


If you have never had a chance to be a part of Open Streets please give it a try! We take our smallest  guy's balance bike and try to make sure the older guys are each on their own vehicle. It's the weekend so kid bikes can roll on the El.

  What a huge surprise to be free on a no car State Street surrounded by hula hoopers and walkers chatting and looking up at the skyline in the middle of the road.

Look back to our last Open Streets post for good routes and snack and food suggestions for today. We'll work up a post of routes and suggestions to next week's Milwaukee Avenue event coming up later this week.

Many thanks to the Active Transportation alliance and everyone who has made these two days happen for us all!  Thank you for the second and third helping.


Maybe the CPS and CTU negotiators can strap on their skates and take a whirl around together (ok probably not). I do wish I could take all the hardworking, unthankable teachers and staff  at my son's school for a happy twirl. Good luck to them and all of us this weekend.

Pride Parade Chicago 2012

We were invited to hand out ("Don't throw them!") beads from our cargo bike for an alderman's office uptown, and we gave them out until they were all gone. We loved the Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps (ROTC),  groups of dancing people and  of course, the cowboys.

Thanks for having us!

"Bikes! The Green Revolution" at the Notebaert

Flash! We've heard that the news is out on the new exhibit at the Notebaert Nature Museum: Bikes! the Green Revolution.

We have been excited about the exhibit since since early in the winter when Martha Williams, who is the great photographer behind Bike Fancy (link on our sidebar), let us know she was working with the museum by sharing some of her photographs with the curators.


How great, because we love the way that Martha pictures bike life here in Chicago and hoped the infectious feeling of her blog would infuse the exhibit. Seems this might be the case as the guys at Grid got a sneak peek and much of Martha's work is included.  Looks like the exhibit should be great fun.


Click to the sidebar on the Grid Network for their take. Know that a kid at the exhibit will not be a transportation journalist and may have a totally different take on the exhibit, of course! If your read us much you know that we have already covered the ride to the museum. Don't forget extra clothes for anyone who might spend time in the river and waterways exhibit! Splash!


The Notebaert Website


Looking at what else is going on at the museum might color which day a family might choose to visit! Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays have plenty of excitement at the Notebeart these days. If you are hoping to avoid a crowd other days might be good....


Thursdays are free for Illinois residents! Hooray.

Fridays and Saturdays feature nature movies for kids from the International Children's Film Fest (you'll need tickets):

Weekday Screenings at 9:45 & 11:45 a.m. Friday April 13Weekend Screenings at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. & 1:30 p.m.  April 28, May 12, June 16, July 21 & August 25

Sundays during the exhibit, a cute bike drop in is happening called "Garnish your Gears," and Green City Market is in residence (until the farmers give up on being inside while the weather is so good).  The market could take care of the snacks ($$$) and there are always great snacks — but bring cash!

Rumor has it that Kidical Mass is hoping to do a ride along to the museum but you need to check the Chicago Kidical Mass page to check up on that.

Recopied below are our food and bathroom tips from last winter along with favorite routes. 

Happy April! 

Routes and Suggestions for Eating, Coffee etc. from our older posts:

From Humboldt Park or Logan Square going west I try to take little streets and eventually reach Belden or Webster streets going east. From Bucktown I follow Cortland or Webster and go north on Racine to Belden, which is quiet and all stop signs and lights from just west of De Paul all the way to the lake. Once at the Lake just turn north and coast up to the Nature Museum. The Belmont bus also runs east with room for two bikes or as many people as you can fit, and it stops right in front of the museum.

From Hyde Park (south) or Rogers Park (north) there’s the Lakefront Path. The LFP can be challenging in winter for family riding, but it isn't bad now except for construction areas.

From the West Loop I would take Peoria to Lake, cut along Wacker by the river on the sidewalk, and then go north on Wabash all the way to the Gold Coast. I cut east to State from Wabash as it disappears just by the Sofitel, then walk / ride State or the sidewalk on Astor or Lakeshore through the Gold Coast to Lincoln Park. I ride in the park past the zoo and up to Fullerton and the Nature Museum. This route is mostly a quiet path through a busy area.

There are lots of good places for an emergency bathroom stop heading both east and north on these rides and of course the museum has plenty of bathrooms.

Goodies at Bake.

Bake is good but hard to see 

without a big sign. It's on the north 

side of North Ave near the Handlebar.

Coming from the west, we stop early in the ride at Bake on 2246 W North Ave,  Floriole Bakery on 1220 W Webster, a quick jog from Belden, or Sweet Mandy B’s next door.  Coming from the north, Bittersweet Bakery is at 1114 W Belmont. Baked goods and hot chocolate are great there but Kickstand Coffee has better coffee if you must have it. It’s a crowded trafficy ride east to Kickstand from Bittersweet for about seven blocks. I wouldn't take Belmont the whole way east to the museum - a side street would be better. Not sure which.

The Red Hen Bakery on 500 W Diversey (just north of the park/museum and about two blocks west of the giant Goethe statue) does breakfast, coffee and sandwiches. North Pond Cafe has fancy brunch on Sundays but it’s too fancy for kids! 

These places take care of a morning treat, but for later I’d pack lunch and a snack too.  Bike parking is good at the Museum or along the park that surrounds it. You can bring your unsorted recycling to the bin out front. Don’t forget to bring some crumbs for the ducks and geese and walk around North Pond, which has one of the best views of the city and a playground. What could be more fun? 

You'll see us there!

Make Your Own Spoke Cards And Photos from the Bike Swap

see the contact paper around the unfinished card?

Kids made homemade spoke cards by decorating cards with stamps, glitter and pastels, then they were sealed in contact paper. You slide them between your wheel spokes and they spin happily as you ride.

Heat laminating might work better than contact paper (except maybe for the glitter) but we had neither electric power nor enough time to supervise the potential burns. 

To make your own, have 8-1/2 by 11 inch (or A4) 110 lb heavy card stock cut into sixths (or smaller if you are going to use them on small kids' bikes) at the office supply store. Gather stamps and ink pads, pastels, markers or anything else you can think of. Decorate the cards and seal them inside the clear contact paper with some edge overlap. We found contact paper at our office supply mega store. They may have it at the hardware store as well.

Lots of families stopped by and it was very fun. Many thanks to Active Transportation Alliance and Bike Winter for welcoming us to give it a try. Bionic bike mom Jane Healy- leader of Cal-Sag cycles- and her amazing daughters were our partners at the table. Jane shared her stupendous collection of bike stamps (there must be 80 of them) with us all- including a much-coveted Edward Gorey stamp with two kids flying on a bike.

We had a do-it-yourself how to make a balance bike display, and a few people put together spoke noisemakers from plastic picnic plates or cardstock and zip ties, like at our bike party.

The family riding presentation was great. There were plenty of very cute babies there. It won't be long before the babies are out riding the neighborhood greenways and protected lanes coming to Chicago. They'll be the first generation of Chicagoans to grow up with safe sheltered spaces for children to use their bikes as transportation. I can't wait. 

The swap itself went well downstairs, with plenty of interesting stuff and lots of people saying, "You should have been here a few minutes ago; I just sold a guy a bucket of the best stuff for $5!" One bike in the Bike Corral, for $20, was a Bridgestone Disney Princess bike with a roller brake and Japanese stickers all over it. There was a Rivendell Bleriot and a RRB and a bunch of Waterford Treks and titanium frames and, and... but no cargo bikes and no tandems. Only 2 kid seats, and they were pretty standard. 

You should try to make it next year! 

Come to the Bike Swap today!

Are you looking for bicycle-related bargains and camaraderie this weekend? Maybe you didn't think so, but it's worth dropping by the Chicago Bike Swap, at the Pulaski Park fieldhouse on Blackhawk just northeast of Division/Ashland/Milwaukee, today, March 3, 2012, from 10am to 5pm. We take our kids and they have lots of fun for a much longer time than you'd think.

There will be a chat at 11 a.m. to learn about family riding. We'll be hosting a family craft table upstairs on the second floor where you and your kids can make decorative spoke cards starting at about noon on until 2 pm. As for goodies to buy, last year we found tons of great stuff, like $60 tires for $5 and piles of odd bits and pieces, there are often bike-themed arts and crafts, and they have a bunch of interesting bikes to admire, buy, or swap. People will be available to talk about any aspect of bicycles or riding them in the city, and we'll try to bring along some of our cargo bikes and things for you to check out.

Considering the crowds, it isn't a bad idea to bring or plan your lunch ahead (edit: they did have food and drinks from Goose Island there, the lines today were short).  It's also handy to bring small bill cash since many vendors can't take any other kind of money and the ATMs aren't that close to the Pulaski fieldhouse.

If you are stuck for lunch one nearby option you might not usually consider is Podhalanka, an unlikely looking Polish lunchroom with plant grow lights in the windows, delicious homemade soups and Polish standards on Division between Milwaukee and Ashland. The woman who runs it always spoils our children with attention and red hibiscus Kompot to drink, and you can hear the kitchen staff (usually the waitress/owner) bashing the fresh schnitzel flat after you order it. It isn't a very expansive vegetarian option but there are potato pancakes, meatless pierogis and salads. There are tacos on Ashland at La Pasadita's three restaurants, and Lovely is a bakery and coffee shop just south on Milwaukee with good morning snacks, some lunch options, and adequate coffee. Bucktown/Wicker Park is just a few bicycle minutes west, with many more choices including Cumin, which has many veggie and some meaty Nepali/Indian dishes in a buffet, and Buzz coffee on Damen.

Here's the Chainlink description of the swap:

Spend your Saturday with hundreds of other cyclists from across Chicagoland at the Chicago Bike Swap!
Shop for parts for your bikes, great gear or stop by our bike corral, to get a new bike or “swap” your old one (for $5/bike)!  We’ll also have great informative presentations, bike games, delicious lunch for sale and hot coffee.
Admission is $5 at the door for Active Trans members, $10 for non-members.  No need to purchase tickets in advance.  

Here's the map:
http://chicagobikeswap.org/location/

Maybe see you there!

Yearly Patagonia Winter Sale begins tomorrow morning --January 25th

I know there are plenty of other sales going on out there but if there is a layer at Patagonia you have been hankering for their annual sale begins in the morning tomorrow. Last year we found some of the prices less slashed than previously but hopefully they have plenty to get rid of this season. It usually runs on-line as well.

Also there are Ibex wool underlayers on sale now, http://shop.ibex.com/specials/woolies-sale.html

Mid Southwest Streets for Cycling Meetings Today, Tuesday and Wednesday

Our Mid Southwest CAG for the Streets for Cycling Campaign will be having a sort of not quite Christmas extravaganza week. We will be meeting tonight the 19th of December at 6.30 at Working Bikes Cooperative, Tomorrow again at Volunteer Night at Working Bikes and then Wednesday the 21st at Blue City Cycles in Bridgeport at 7.15 p.m..
Feel free to stop by and help us mark the maps for our region!
Here again is the basic place to find the information on Streets for Cycling and for our region as well:

http://www.chicagobikes.org/public/SFC.php).
Here is our particular section the "Mid-Southwest Side" (it is a 2MB pdf)
http://www.chicagobikes.org/pdf/MidSW%20Side.pdf

Kids Bike Sale - $5 each!

Working Bikes at 2434 S. Western Ave (312 421 5048) is having had a children's bike sale on Saturday 12-5 pm for kids up to 6 years old - next time they have one you can bring your kid and choose one for $5! Here's the link again.