ok salt here's the shirt im wearing ,joe what do ya think? :D charging the camera batteries now . raining like crazy here :( see everybody at the start area. :rolleyes: lol

I love it, very cool! :)

looks good....hope to see you all guy sthere

ok , we made it back in 1 piece. wife is a little sore, lol poor girl ,but she made it :). riding thru greek town was fun .rode past house of blues ,harrycarrys thru down town chicago. riding thru traffic downtown was hectic at times,specially on a tandem.but once we got out of downtown and into the more residential areas it began to strech out and was more pleasant.the ride down the lake shore bike path was wonderful and we watched a beautiful sunrise while eating at the rest area in lincoln park.very memorable ride.salt, sorry we missed ya so many bikes in such a area.here are the best pics we took ,so enjoy them we did:)

and the rest:)

I did not participate in the late ride in Chicago, but I was unpleasantly introduced to it when I left out for my 5am morning ride. I jumped onto the bike path at Grand heading south, forgetting that the late ride was happening. Well, about a block into it, suddenly I became aware of all these people on bikes, and I remembered that the late ride was going on. Far from wanting to continue with them, I really wanted to escape the riders as soon as possible, since they were going so slowly that I knew I'd never be able to do a good timed ride, but I was stuck once the bikes got back on the path at 150 north. Then some idiots see me on my bike and start hissing and screaming "Cheater, cheater!" at me. Turns out, they didn't bother to ask me what was up, just assumed that I had crashed the ride and was now on my way to Buckingham fountain for breakfast with them. I didn't appreciate the catcalls, and seriously, I found the riders annoying. I seriously don't equate that group of riders with every late rider, but what a bunch of inconsiderate do-gooders. Bleah.

I did see the pictures on television, though, and it did look like people had fun. It still doesn't inspire me to participate. I guess it's not my thing. I will do my best to avoid them at all costs next year.

Koffee

it would not be fun if you lived there and had to deal with it .but at 130 in the morning most peeps r in bed , except for the club areas. trying to ride fast ,yeah, not a good thing in this ride.i know what u mean koffee,but im trying to get the mrs to join me on more rides and this is the kinda of thing to get her on the bike to see that cycling is also fun too.i like to go ride by myself and ride at a pretty good pace,but i also would like her company too.

I feel you, but this was at 5am. What, they don't think that people could possibly be out riding that early? Just dumb, dumb, dumb.

Koffee

Here are some jpg's of the ride. Couldn't get them up sooner because I was a a teaching seminar from that afternoon and since.

Thanks for all the pictures guys, I was born in northern Illinois so I enjoy seeing Chicago pictures a lot.

nice skit,i liked the lake trail,it was calming

I rode the LATE in 2002 (I believe), but didn't like the fact that I had to basically walk my bike for the first 5 miles due to the congestion of all those riders. I hope they changed how they do the send-offs since then, but maybe it's better if you're in the first wave - we were in the third or forth. However, that last 10 miles, along Foster and the lake-front path was pretty enjoyable, watching the sun come up over Lake Michigan.

It is definitely something to experience at least one time in life though.

yeah definately a one timer .the traffic congestion wasnt fun .im looking foward to moonlight ramble in stlouis in aug. they close the route off .its lot better. no sharing with cars:)bout the same amout of bikes bout 12 to 15 miles.1 rest stop.40th anniversary