We’ve done some urban riding in the past, but nothing
prepared us for the craziness that awaited us on the Lakefront Trail in
Chicago. It was a beautiful fall day, we
met our friends Jill, Nancy and Jeff at 7 AM and off we went to the Windy City. Since Jill needed to rent a bike, I did some
bike rental research and we decided that parking at North Ave. Beach would give
us a safe place to unload the four bikes we brought and give Jill an easy place
to rent a bike. We were right about the
safe place and rental but it was more difficult to get to North Ave. Beach than
we thought….we met a Chicago mini marathon was just finishing on Lake Shore
drive south of downtown, so we had a bit of detour…Tom’s fabulous driving and
Jeff’s great navigating and we soon found ourselves at North Avenue beach,
ready with our bikes.
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| Looking south, soon after starting at North Ave. Beach |
The Lakefront Trail goes along the lake front, often
parallel to Lake Shore Drive, for a total of 18.5 miles. It was a bit windy
along the Lake Michigan (well duh…it is the Windy City) , but the biggest
challenge was the crowds of people
riding, walking, jogging, running, roller blading and everything else along the
Lake Shore Trail. The crowds weren't so
bad; it was the speed with which some people were traveling….it was challenging
not to get run over while on our bikes.
Not only was the lakefront busy, but the lake too had lots
of boaters enjoying the day on the water. We stopped for a quick snack we
brought along and the first of many unusual sights: a Chicago Police boat with
several Chicago Bears fans on it….it looked like a pleasure ride, but it was a
bit weird! Chicago tax dollars at work.
Did I mention that there was a home Bears game that afternoon….against the Indianapolis Colts? Bears fans, and the occasional Colts fan, also joined us on the path, adding to the general traffic and mayhem.
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| Chicago Police boat w/ fans!! Tax dollars at work! |
Did I mention that there was a home Bears game that afternoon….against the Indianapolis Colts? Bears fans, and the occasional Colts fan, also joined us on the path, adding to the general traffic and mayhem.
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| Soldier Field, Home of Da Bears! |
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| Water Propelled Air Pack rider |
It was incredibly beautiful and festive to be riding along
the lake. Many football fans were tailgating on the boats in the harbor and we even heard the Super Bowl Shuffle being played on one boat, presumably by optimistic Bears fans..before the season becomes hopeless!!!
A stop at Buckingham Fountain,
a quick spin around the aquarium, and a
nod to Soldier Field (rapidly filling up with fans) and we made it through the
bulk of the crowds. It was here that
the 2nd of our unusual sightings occurred, a man flying over the
water with a water propelled jet pack (and a friend on a jet ski) providing his
fuel. Quite the crowd gathered to watch,
including one of Chicago’s Finest who appeared to be making a call to find out
if what the guy was doing was legal….apparently it was as he kept on flying
around for quite a while. It was an unusual sight to be sure!
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| Water spraying along the bike path |
The path crowd eventually thinned until, at McCormick’s
Place it was finally easy to ride without worrying about someone flying up
behind you and dashing around you! We
decided to turn around and rode back closer to the lake…..being careful to stay
out of the water being sprayed up on the
path. (NOTE: I found out 2 days later
that some of the Lake Shore Path was closed the day before we got there because
high water was knocking down joggers and bikers…I can certainly see why!)
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| Northerly Island Prairie |
As we traveled south, Tom spied a section of land that
appeared to be jutting out in the water with people riding bikes on it. I recalled from studying the Lake Shore map
that there was a peninsula that could be accessed by the Planetarium, so that
became our goal. We were glad for Tom’s
sighting, as we continued north, biked to the Planetarium and the found the
path to Northerly Island.
Tom and I put our collective memories together and recalled
that Northerly Island must have house the small airfield known as Meigs
Field. We shared with our friends the
sordid story of Mayor Dailey presumptively closing the airfield, sending out
bulldozers to destroy the landing strip in the middle of the night, effectively
closing the airfield and stranding many private and corporate airplanes to
boot. While the control tower is still
present, the island is a large expansive prairie within the shadow of Chicago
Skyline, a surprising natural element in the vast ocean of concrete that is
Chicago. It was there that we enjoyed
the singing of National Anthem at Soldier Field and saw our third unusual
sighting….a very LARGE and dark and ominous jet, appearing for a fly-over at
the game. It was one of the largest
airplanes I have ever seen and it commanded one’s attention. Awesome!
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| Flyover of Soldier Field |
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| Jill, Nancy, Jeff and Tom enjoying Giordano's pizza |
With the Lake Shore path empty of the football fans, it was
an easy ride over to Michigan and Jackson Avenues to the Aon building plaza to
drop in at Giordano’s Pizzeria for a late lunch. We locked our bikes on the plaza, and ate
outside on the dining patio, enjoying the fabulous weather and the TVs that
were broadcasting the game.
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| Stuffed spinach pizza.. a Chicago visit necessity. |
Some of us were cheering for the Colts, and some for the Bears, but mostly we were cheering for the stuffed spinach pizza!!
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| An unusual sight for Chicago parallel parking |
When we were leaving we jealously gazed on a
parked truck containing a kayak AND a bike….that owner would be a great paddle
and peds person!
We were more than halfway back to our car, but we were headed for the most challenging ride of our
day. The brisk wind of the morning was
now a severe head wind and we bravely fought it by pedaling our hearts out…straight
into it! We were able to only go 6 mph
at max, while those passing us going the other way were smiling and relaxed. It was THE HARDEST pedal I have done all
summer…and it was on flat land no less.
Again, we had to avoid getting swept away by the waves, but it still was
one of the most beautiful rides all summer.
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| Heading south, and into a headwind while avoiding the waves on the path! |
With this adventure along Lake Shore Trail, we have now
ridden in 4 states this summer…and brought along more friends to help us
commemorate this urban adventure.
The stats: 15.4 (RT), Time: 2:10 , ODO: 431.53
Notable Sightings: A
Police boat with Bears fans, a water propelled jet pack rider, a flyover of a
VERY LARGE military airplane. COOL!
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| Chicago Skyline from Northerly Island |
Whoa Sue! This was so super-fun to read, as I could literally imagine you in all these places. Too many funny comments to comment on, however, I loved the one about EVERYONE cheering for the pizza! It sounds like you had a fantastic day!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful pictures and story - having been by the lake with a strong wind blowing, we could easily feel what you were writing about. Nothing like good Chicago style pizza at Giordano's. Many a time as a child I walked along the lake when the rocks were not flat like now, but were helter-skelter and in between you could see the water. It was very scarey to me. We had forgotten the story about Meigs field and Mayor Daley's antics in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeleteOne correction at the end of the story,under the picture. You must have been pedaling North into the headwind and not south. It was a beautiful and fun story since we could visualize it and the pictures were top-notch.