Whippersnapper...
 

I was out riding today. 'Twas a fine day, to be sure, a bit chilly and the winds were gusty, but the sun was shining. What's not to like? I stopped to take a quick pic in Glencoe at the entrance to Ravine Bluffs.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3915afc7dc.jpg
I turned at the Fort and headed back south. As I was entering downtown Highland Park, I was passed by a young gun on one of those plastic fantastic bikes. I don't know what it was. He passed me in a blur. Just after passing me, he charged through a four-way stop, forcing an oncoming car (who had the right-of-way) to stop, then continued on his way. About a half a block south, he quickly looked back in my direction. What? Are you hoping I will give chase? I'm no fool. My bike is probably 10 pounds heavier than yours. I am probably 20 pounds heavier than you. I am also probably at least 25 years older than you. I'm not going to chase you.

Then I had a vision of George Lucas's next Star Wars rewrite:
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d077485ae1.png

Never mind the fact that you may have had to be the one to call the EMT's when he failed at running the next stop sign. :twitchy:

Hopefully he'll live long enough to grow out of the "look at me" phase :)

DD

There are old cyclists,
and bold cyclists...

Cat 6 at its finest.

Strava Slave

What a cool Arts & Crafts 'signpost/sculpture' I thought. Then I looked up Glencoe and the houses.
Righteous!

Ha ha - I read this as "Strava Steve" - and from now on, that's what I'm gonna call them!

No offense intended to those BF members named Steve :)

DD

ME TOO!! :lol:

Also no offense intended. The guy who taught me how to machine metal, his name is Steve and I love him to death. More into motorcycles than bikes though. Maybe he does have strava and uses it to set ridiculous KOMs on his Kawasaki, just to be a troll.

Fred and Steve walk into a bar.

Steve says to Fred as they sit down, "Look, bro...your bike is ancient and that T-shirt/New Balance 624 kit is lame. Can you even climb on that heavy, old, piece of crap? Was that a freewheel?!"

Fred replies, "Oh, ok! Mister no mirror, no lights, lycra whizz bang hot shot. Got enough gears back there, or has your new group already reached its expiration date?”

The argument gets louder and louder until the guy sitting on the next stool down finally has had enough.

“Guys, please! Some of us are trying to relax here. Besides, you both have more bike than you could ever possibly need. Give me an hour out in my shed and both of those bikes will be free of all that unnecessary junk the bike shop ripped you off on.”

Fred and Steve reply in unison, “Who the hell are you?”
The guy says, “The name’s Drew. I’m a bike mechanic.”

This. Is. Awesome. :)

DD

Classic!

I think you'll find that the correct dialogue is:

​​​​​​"Obi Wan never told you how old I am, Luke."
"He told me enough. He told me you're really old."
"No! I am old enough to be your father!"

[/pedantic nerd mode]

That reminds of those old stories in Cyclist magazine about someone only identified as “the marketing man”.

Definitely should have chased him. Show him what passion is.

Thanks. You inspired my inner smartass.

Ha sometimes I will pedal a little harder to delay the catch but I never chase any more. On the plus side, they never catch me on the downhill! Sometimes though, the whippersnapper pass has its benefits. A couple years ago a young guy caught up tom me and slowed down to chat. He admired my Carrera and Campy bits, then asked me since he upgraded to Campy 11 speed did I want his old 10 speed parts? I said of course!, so we met later and he gave me a box full of nice parts. Included in the box was a nice Record titanium post and I said "dude I can take this", so helped him sell it over on Paceline - everybody wins!

BTW, I always enjoy your and thinktubes ride pics. My wife is from Lake Bluff and I love those North Shore villages. If we go Downtown, I like to take Sheridan all the way rather than the freeway for the scenic views.

If we didn't have the North Shore, riding would be dismal. Fun to ride through a lifestyle I'll never afford :rolleyes:

When driving, I'll take Sheridan whenever time allows - beautiful year-round.

Yeah, makes me regret not starting that meat packing company BITD.

LOL!

Used to live a few blocks from the Oscar Mayer mansion, which sat abandoned for many years - creepy…

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c2/c1...f4c33d8136.jpg

You could have been the next Abe Froman!

You might get a bang out of this...
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e968323235.jpg

yep, Prairie Style all the way!!!!

skip, that’s where Tower road Tee’s into Sheridan, right? When I was a kid we would start a now-forbidden sprint at that light!

Spaghetti Legs, where is that one?

A bit further north, at the southern intersection of Meadow and Franklin:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/V9inURyBPWjYUBmW8
There's a matching one at the northern intersection. Most of the Wright-designed homes are on Meadow.

I think you're referring to three ravine on Sheridan just north of Tower.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QpJXWHA4zJaMufzC6

Yes, riding Sheridan between Your and Scott has been forbidden since someone in the 90s. I got a ticket in (I think) the summer of 2020 for taking that route. Presumably, bikes are excluded for safety reasons, but I've never gotten a clear explanation of why it's still off-limits. Once upon a time the road and sidewalk through there weren't in very good shape, but the resurfaced everything a few years ago. Still paternalistically off-limits...