Could Chicago look like this?

Today, I am recycling some of my favorite images from last year's trip to San Francisco: the DuBoce Bike Mural.

Chicago is becoming a city of cyclists, and as more and more drivers give biking a try, I believe attitudes will change, and the use, enjoyment and safety of bicycles on the streets of our town will grow. Since biking (and walking) encourages closer contact with our surroundings and fellow humans, I hope this will lead to creating stronger and more engaged urban communities within the city.

Here are some efforts underway to turn Chicago into a more livable city:
Bike 2015 Plan
Bloomingdale Trail
Healthy Streets Campaign

Comments

[Farrin]

Hi, I appreciate your posts regarding Chicago cycling and I too have dreamed of Chicago being the city of cyclists. However, and this is a BIG however, for me, my uncle was recently seriously injured during the annual Chicago L.A.T.E. ride. He was riding at least a mile or so in front of me so I did not see what happened. He was among 10,000 cyclists and one would therefore assume that someone would stop. NO ONE was with him, except for a ride marshal that didn't see what happened, when I arrived. He was in the hospital for 2 weeks, one week in ICU...and no one ever came forward to say anything about the accident.

I am deeply disturbed and sickened by the lack of caring in this community--not average of a "cycling city". I'm scared to ride my bike, even though I rode over 500 miles within a few months last year.

I'm terribly saddened by the state of Chicagoans and their inability to look out for one another.

I'm also amazed at how few ride with helmets here. My uncle would be dead if he hadn't had his.

[Leah]

Hi Farrin,

I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle and I too have noticed that despite Chicago's biking population, there's no real "community" of bikers. That's why I created a website to build community around biking in Chicago [Justyna please pardon my mentioning it here]. It's called The Chainlink (www.thechainlink.org), and the goal is to bring together group rides from all over, valuable bike resources like this blog, and allow people to connect around biking. It's only one site, but I hope it'll help engender a sense of community so that what happened to your uncle won't happen to anyone else.

Leah
www.thechainlink.org

[Justyna]

I too am saddened to hear about this incident. And, Leah, you're welcome to put the information about your website here, in fact, I'll add it to my sidebar.
I don't know if I entirely agree about the lack of cycling community here. Maybe I'll write it up in more detail...

[Leah]

Hi Justyna - in your work you see a lot more of the cycling community, so I'm eager to hear your thoughts!

My opinion comes from my own experience which is: if you're not a messenger or a racer (which leaves the majority of us), then I feel that there's little organization around your type of riding. Yes, there are clubs like Chicago Cycling Club, Evanston Cycling Club, but they live in little pockets. For many bikers who I talk to, for whatever reason, cycling is a solo sport. Many people probably wouldn't know that this week in Chicago, there were 13 group rides! We're so lucky to live in a city that encourages biking - let's do our part as bikers to welcome the many types of riders and make sure cyclists never feel like they're going it alone.

[Greg]

Hi Justyna! I was in Chicago last week and saw what I thought was a lot of cyclists. It was a real trip to see messengers ripping by. I was shocked that more often than not they were on freewheel with a front brake, instead of the classic image of fixed gear. Goes to show that I had the fashionable view of fixie riders, not the practical side of riding with a brake. I was always calling out to them, "Fixed or free?" and they would just look at me with no emotion and ride on. Check out my blog sometime for a look at the opposite side of biking in the city. Later!

[Justyna]

Hey Greg,
I wonder if the stone-faced response you got has something to do with the lack of community Leah and Farrin were describing?...
I'll definitely check out your blog.

[Suzanne Nathan]

I was in SF earlier this summer and also totally fell in love with the DuBoce Bike Mural. I wish/dream that Chicago could have a corridor as magical as that was!

[Justyna]

Suzanne, I agree with you. Seeing that mural was the highlight of my visit there. And I wouldn't even have known about the mural, except, by sheer chance, the map I picked up to familiarize myself with SF was a bike map!