August 2009 Critical Mass

That was Interesting!

Leaving my apartment at around 4:00 a got to Daley Plaza at 4:45 and it was empty. Maybe 10 or 15 bikes were there. I took Halsted to Taylor and then Taylor to Jefferson and then Jefferson to Washington. I haven't really found an easy way to get downtown during rush hour.

The Plaza slowly filled and by 6:00 we had maybe 1500 people. It was definely less crowded than last month! Around 6:10 the horns started and people slowly rode out onto the street. We rode three times around the plaza and then finally west down Randolph. This ride was on a much faster pace. I was averaging over 10 miles an hour. We turned off Randolph onto La Salle and headed north over the bridge. La Salle to Division and then west on Division. When we got to the Division Street bridge, just west of Halsted we encountered our first obstcale.

The bridge was still under construction and we slowly went over the bridge with the police blocking the traffic to the west of the bridge. We took Division to Elston and then diagonally southwest to Milwaukee Ave. We proceded down Milwaukee to it's end at Desplaines and then Desplaines to Adams, Adams to Halsted, Halsted to Taylor and Taylor to Canal.

We took Canal to 18th street and 18th back to Halsted. Halsted to Archer and Archer to Ashland. The mass was pretty long and broken up by this time by the fast riding. We turned down Ashland to 35th and then 35th to Morgan. We procedded down Morgan to 31st and then all hell broke loose!

Some sort of police activity was happening with around ten squads infront of Brideport Homes. I couldn't find any info out of any news agency as far as what was going on but it disrupted the mass. The part of the mass I was in broke apart and I took Keely to Lyman and then Lyman to Throop to 29th and 29th to Halsted. Halsted to 33rd. I stopped at my place, trying decide if I was going to end the ride or continue. I saw it was 7:47 so I decided to continue on. Since we were meeting at the 31st street beach, I continued north on Wallace to 31st and then straight east on 31st. Once I passed King Drive, a group of about 10-15 riders were behind me and as a group we were the first to arrive on the beach. I really didn't find out were they came from :) Ten minutes later the rest of the mass began to show up. I do know that the Mass stayed on 35th street and I guessing they took 35th to King Drive, and King Drive to 31st.

I hung around for about a half hour chatting with an older gent with a tricyle who also lives in Bridgeport. I then headed back home along 31st and then Wallace, got home a just about 9:00pm. All and all not a bad ride :)

A Day of Clouds and Rain

Thursday was a good day for a cloud fan :D The weather was unsettled all day with periods of rain followed by blue skys. We even had a brief shower right after sunset. I took photos at various times and the work is above. Enjoy!

51st Annual Air and Water Show

The annual Air and Water show is in the books. The weather mostly worked out for the event. I went down on Saturday and despite the haze from the pollution it was a fun show. The sun was behind clouds more so than out and with a lake breeze it was a pleasant four hours outside. Sunday appeared to be more problematic for those that went. Several rain showers and an approaching Thunderstorm force the Thunderbirds to move up their act.

I was almost at the north entrance at Navy Pier and though the foucs of the event is at North Avenue Beach, you can get a good view of the big acts like the Thunderbirds. Above is several shots I took at the event

Golden Hour

The Golden Hour, also known as the Magical Hour, in regards to photography is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. It's during these times the low position of sun will cause golden hues to come about. This past Monday, as I rode my bike right after sunrise I was able to capture these photos. I didn't know about the Golden Hour at the time. They just looked like really nice photos.

UFO

UFO, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Finally after a 2 month delay the second pavillion of the Burnham Centinnal is finally finished. It certainly looks weird :D I'll have to go back and shoot it in the evening since it has enternal lights.

It will only be up until October!

Critical Mass Newbie

I've had heard of Critical Mass for many years but it wasn't until I got my new bike that I was willing to participate. In it's simplest form Critical Mass is a bike ride, there's no one who actually leads it. It's the most organic organization I've ever heard. People can make it more as a protest against cars or anything else really.

So I get to Daley Plaza around 5:00 pm, there's already a least a hundred or more cyclists there. Despite the fact the meeting is at 5:30 we don't get started till 6:15. I count at least twenty police on bikes and countless other cyclists. I don't know if there's any stats on how many actually attended but it took three rounds around the streets of the Daley Plaza to get everyone onto the street and off the Plaza.

In the downtown area the police block off the traffic to allow the mass through. Outside this area cyclists "cork" the traffic which isn't actually legal but does allow the mass to continue. We head east on Washington and then north on Michigan avenue to Wacker we then go east on Wacker. I'm not sure if they were trying to go to LSD or not which the police wouldn't allow anyway. Then we turned around at Columbus and head back to Michigan Avenue. We go very slow through this area and it's hard to control the bike since were almost walking the bike. Below is a picture waiting to get back to Michigan Avenue.

We then headed north down Michigan to Walton street and then over to Dearborn, and up through Oldtown, Crossing Clybourn then Larrabee and then North Avenue back to Wells and then up Clark Street. We headed down Clark into the Lincoln Park and LakeView neighboorhoods, through boystown to Addison and then headed west on Addison.

Riding down Addison past Wrigley field was fun because the street was cut up for resurfacing. We went maybe two-thirds of a mile down Addison to Lakewood and then south to Belmont and then Southeast on Lincoln. Not to sure what neighboorhood this might be. We headed south on Southport to Fullerton and then West to Ashland. We go through Wicker Park from Ashland west to Damen and then Damen south to Chicago and back east to Ashland. We then rode Ashland all the way to Harrison (The map had Van Buren but Van Buren goes west) Then Harrison to Loomis where we are at the historical Tri-Taylor area. Finally Loomis to Taylor and Taylor to Halsted.

The ride continued north on Halsted to a party at around Kinzie street. Myself and several others turned South on Halsted and I headed home. My total ride milage including leaving my home was 25 and a third miles. I had a great time and look forward of doing it again! Below are a few more pictures from the mass