Bike The Drive - Chicago
 

Anyone else planning on going for >2 laps?

jeremy, you'll finish in two seconds!!
i cant hang like that.

ill be there with the girlfriend... slower pace to enjoy the sights.

everyone here riding fixed? I know skitbra will be there. Salome will be helping out on the northend I believe. I will be in PA, possibly Lehigh Valley, this coming weekend

what's with all the recent gear talk?


makes me feel like i dont know you guys at all.

does [165] live here anymore? you're never in town.

yeah i will be controlling the northside, making sure none of you bikers get out of control. if you see me say something. i'll either be talking with the volunteers or riding. probably on the surly but who knows, may get the ol' pinarello all dolled up for her debut. she's geared but when you have a pretty much flawless 25 year old beauty with full campy record there's no reason she shouldn't stay that way. by the way if anyone b!thches about the early time, just remember that i have to be in grant park at 3:30. AM. from the southside.

val.

Grant Park at 3:30am? What are you doing? Hunting rabbits?!

no, i hunt rabbits down on 47th street where they run around in masses.

i'm actually managing the north course. so i have to get everything together and distributed before the ride begins.

I'm going. The SS is packed and ready to Represent the Keeping It Real.

i'll be riding my commuter, fixed- no doubt.

I'm gonna start before 6:00am and go for two laps. Should finish before 9:45 so I don't get kicked off LSD :D

When is it?

And when does it start?

Does it cost anything?

Will there be a million annoying people ala The Taste?

The ride is sunday morning and it costs $35. Yeah, there will be thousands of people...
more info at: www.bikethedrive.org

my plan is to ride lickety-split, wouldn’t mind doing it twice if I had a partner although 6 AM is too damn early. anyone interested in, say, 8 AM?

i'm set to be a safety marshal at 18th at 8:50 so i'm hoping to get 1.5 laps in before then. anyone else riding up archer around 4:45am?

Do I really have to pay?

Is there anyway to sneak on?

Seriously. Let me know Marshalls.

- Eric

its actually pretty tough to sneak on. they check a lot at balbo and columbus. your best bet would be to sneak on around 47th or some other place in between balbo/57th or balbo/hollywood. if you have an old race number you could fold it around your top tube. i usually do that and all they do is glance at it to make sure i have it, but they don't look at it too closely. the numbers for bike the drive are those fiberglass styled race numbers you apply with safety pins. even as a marshal they make me get a number and be official so you know they check.

or....hang around balbo right after the start and grab the inevitable number drifting around the pavement.

i think a helmet is required, also. not sure if they enforce it though.

yeah, they do enforce it

thanks

raygunner - I rode in the first one and caught up with some guy riding a super sweet cinelli Gran Crit. We started chatting and he realized what I was riding and commented, blah blah blah. He had snuck on the course too b/c registration was packed and he was moving to South America. I tell ya - there is nothing like sprinting down LSD car-free, shooting the breeze with a total stranger, at any time of day.
Good luck to you in getting on and enjoy the ride!

Mayo - you up for the BLT? Yeah, slower paced, but fun none the less. I'll be there as will skitbra.

pay. it helps the chicago bike federation who do a lot for this city. a lot.

sidebar: being a member gets you a discount at most stores especially Yojimbos

jeff

edit: http://www.chibikefed.org/

Jeff, good call. That slipped right through.

I dunno. A discount is nice but the last thing I want to do on Sunday morning is be around thousands of people.

And 99% of the streets are vacant at 6am on Sunday morning, of cars & people. Maybe I'll treat myself to a nice ride to E-Town. Maybe coffee & bagels at Cafe Express are in order...

it is fun to ride in around 5 am and only see bikes on the road. the only cars you see have bikes hanging off their trunks. then when you get downtown there are bikes everywhere. its very cool, even if though these sites don't happen often enough.