ViciousCycle
12-15-01, 05:59 PM
There were about 20 Santa cyclists on this year's Santa Rampage. Plus some elves and driedels. We cycled through the Chicago Loop throughout the afternoon. We brought a lot of smiles to people's lips and so many people pulled out cameras to take pictures of us that one is left with the impression that every pedestrian was a tourist.
Of course, we had to make fun of the commercialism of Christmas. We went to the Water Tower Place (the Loop's version of a mall), and were prevented from Water Tower Place security from advancing into the place, so we get to make a fuss about the irony of Santa Claus getting banned from a store during the Christmas holiday season. (Meanwhile, traditional department stores had no problem with us. We stormed one department store so that we could have our picture taken with the store's Santa there, and the security had no problem with us, and the employees and the customers seemed to enjoy our presence.)
I don't have any pictures yet of this year's rampage, but here are the pictures that someone did from last year's rampage. http://www.bikewinter.org/santarampage01.html
On the way home from the rampage, I was no longer dressed as Santa, but I biked home in the dark, temperature just a little above freezing, with a cold but not too strong of a wind. I passed two pedestrians and I heard one of them say, "You've got to be jack-@$$ crazy..." I wasn't sure whether or not he was talking to me or not, but I actually hoped that he was. For there are times where one considers it a compliment to be regarded as crazy by a complete stranger....
Of course, we had to make fun of the commercialism of Christmas. We went to the Water Tower Place (the Loop's version of a mall), and were prevented from Water Tower Place security from advancing into the place, so we get to make a fuss about the irony of Santa Claus getting banned from a store during the Christmas holiday season. (Meanwhile, traditional department stores had no problem with us. We stormed one department store so that we could have our picture taken with the store's Santa there, and the security had no problem with us, and the employees and the customers seemed to enjoy our presence.)
I don't have any pictures yet of this year's rampage, but here are the pictures that someone did from last year's rampage. http://www.bikewinter.org/santarampage01.html
On the way home from the rampage, I was no longer dressed as Santa, but I biked home in the dark, temperature just a little above freezing, with a cold but not too strong of a wind. I passed two pedestrians and I heard one of them say, "You've got to be jack-@$$ crazy..." I wasn't sure whether or not he was talking to me or not, but I actually hoped that he was. For there are times where one considers it a compliment to be regarded as crazy by a complete stranger....