Chicago Bike Blog

Where the heck is the Weber Spur Bike Trail?!

In the last twelve years, we have walked down this abandoned trail track virtually every week. When we first moved int our house near the corner of Bryn Mawr and Kostner, there was an occasional rail maintenance car that went along the track. For many years, there has been nothing. We, and many of our neighbors use the right of way for walking, jogging, skiing, and as an access route to the adjacent LaBagh Woods Forest Preserve and Chicago River.

I have conducted nature walks with my kids along this track, spying on wildlife large and small, and picking out the native plants from the invasives.

Deer like to hang out in the clearing in the woods visible from the train track.


We have found praying mantises and their coccoons along the tracks.

Goldenrods, milkweed and native asters grow abundantly here, along with attractive but terribly invasive teasels.


A dilapidated rail bridge offers glimpses of the Chicago River.

This quiet and somewhat forgotten corridor is hardly a place of pristine and undisturbed beauty. It's strewn with broken glass, beer cans, discarded car tires and other debris that people frequently leave in places that no one seems to own. But with a little work, this route would make one heck of a bike path.

Imagine our surprise, when one day we came home to the sound of heavy machinery working, accompanied by loud metallic clanking. We went out to the track to see what was going on, and discovered that the track was being ripped out. The workmen said something about rails-to-trails, but were unable to provide any more information. They were simply hired by Union Pacific to rip out the track.

A call to alderman Margaret Laurino's office also produced no immediate insights. The person we spoke with was unaware of any plans for the railway corridor. However, she took down the information, and the next day we received a call from a representative from the Pulaski Industrial Corridor and explained that Union Pacific has lease the land it owns to be converted to a recreational trail.

I sent an email to Randy Neufeld of Active Transportation Alliance asking if he knew what was being planned. He wasn't sure, but forwarded my email to Keith Privett at the City of Chicago. Usually, bike projects create a buzz in the Chicago cycling community and among the neighbors. The proposed Bloomingdale Trail in Bucktown even has its own website, and last year, a short, one mile section of trail along the old Valley Line Rail was inaugurated with great fanfare. So, although what the lady from the Industrial Corridor said sounded really good, we were skeptical.

However, after a couple of days Keith Privett sent an email back, confirming the plans. He stated that a trail is being planned for the Weber Spur, which will run through Lincolnwood from approximately Touhy Avenue south toward Elston. He explained that Ald. Laurino herself is familiar with, and has long supported the trail project, but her office may not have known that the Union Pacific crew would be out there removing track metal already.

This is approximately where the new bike trail would be. It would give southbound suburban and northwest side cyclists access to downtown via the Elston bike lane, and northbound riders from the city access to the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park trail.

Exciting stuff. Why aren't more people talking about it?

Biking for wimps

My morning began with a slap in the face.
In my previous post, I had imprudently revealed myself as eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring, and being tired of the trudge of winter. A reader took advantage of this weak moment, and accused me of having a "delicate constitution".
Humph.
I jumped up from the computer and took a few indignant paces across the living room. I must defend myself. I must protest and set the record straight. After all, not only do I have years of all weather commuting under my belt, I also have a proven track record of turning other people into...
But then the coffee kicked in and my brain started working again.
Where is it written that cycling is something that can only be practiced by people with strong constitutions?
Like it or not, the majority of people in this country still view cycling as a fair-weather activity whose purpose is primarily recreation, rather than transportation. There are many reasons for this, chief among them perhaps the long tradition of cheap, accessible and abundant fossil fuels, resulting in extravagant urban sprawl. Because of deeply ingrained habits and social conditioning, changing people's views to accept the bicycle as a viable form of transportation has been a bit of an uphill battle.
This battle has been fought on several different fronts, through advocacy, street happenings such as Critical Mass, even fashion. It has also been fought day in and day out in forward thinking urban bike shops, such as my own Rapid Transit in Chicago.
For the past fifteen years, we have been engaged in the battle for the hearts and minds of cyclists young and old, would-be and practicing, new and experienced, timid and die-hard, fair-weather and all-weather. And we have come to the conclusion that you can't win that battle with shock and awe. Chances are you will not entice a new cyclist by painting visions of snot icicles, foggy goggles, blue fingertips and admonitions about the importance of layers. You will not smooth the way for him by describing the joys of your 40-mile daily commute. I do not mean to deny that there is a contingent of folks who do find this appealing and fun. But if the point is to create more cyclists, than this is not a winning strategy.
The truth is that few people are warriors, and even fewer are warriors every day.
Most of us (including myself, my earlier indignation notwithstanding) are wimps. Different things is our lives make us wimps: habits, children, distance, weather, aches and pains, fear, sometimes age, sometimes youth, winter colds, whims, moods, barometric pressure, stress. And frankly, while the heroic feats of others may sometimes inspire us, they probably won't motivate us on a daily basis. If the bar is set too high, we won't even make an attempt to reach it.
So I make allowances. Bike a little. Bike when the weather is nice. Bike when you feel like it. I would rather have a million wimps rejoicing in biking one mile, than feeling guilty about not biking at all.

Related posts:
Biking goals
Some of us are wimps. Others - ninja warriors.
Bike if you want to
How to get more people on bikes
50 ways to leave your car
Riding motivation

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Art credit:

At spring's door

Any day now.

One morning, we will wake up, look out the window, and all the snow will be gone. Crocuses will be erupting from the sodden turf and the robin will await the worm with cockeyed anticipation.

Riding a bike might seem like fun again.

To some, of course, riding a bike is never unreasonable. Cutting a singletrack trail through freshly fallen snow has its unquestionable charms, and arriving at a destination with one's own power, and icicles forming under one's nose, can be quite ennobling.

But it's hard to be a hero every day.

Day in and day out winter commuting takes it's toll. It's impossible to be footloose and fancy free in heavy boots, windpants, snow-caked gore-tex, balaclava and goggles. And, as happened with me, my bicycle, usually a symbol of freedom and fun, becomes an obligation, the thing whose accusing gaze I avoid as I slink past it on my way out the door.

So here's what I'm looking forward as I await the crocuses and the robin: shedding the winter weight of excessive clothing layers; replacing the winter tires on my bike with skinnier ones, colorful grocery panniers (like these perhaps); leaning the bike against the wall of my front porch, so always ready for spur of the moment biking; being able to carry more groceries than I can when walking; riding in whatever I've got on; filling my trailer with gardening supplies; riding home with freshly picked veggies wrapped in newspaper; not minding getting caught in the rain on my bike...

Are you impatiently awaiting spring?

Hybernating cyclist wakes, seeks hidden nuts

Yaaaawn!...

I figured it would take me about 20 minutes to ride from my house to Montrose & California. But just to be on the safe side, I started getting ready forty minutes before my appointment. After all, I haven't been on my bike for weeks, and it might take a while to gather up everything I would need.

Fortunately, clothing was not much of an issue. The weather on Thursday was still relatively mild, and ordinary street attire would do just fine. But I needed my lock, helmet, and at least one grocery pannier. And yeah, since I took the locking skewers off last fall when I had to carry the bike on a roof rack, I should probably bring a cable to secure the wheels.

Walking into the garage, I practically tripped over the grocery pannier, and in it, miraculously, was my lock and bike keys. One down.

A cable was a little trickier. There were several cables on the floor and in various containers around the garage, but they either required keys which I did not have, or combinations which I didn't know. At last, I spotted one I could use with my u-lock inside a trailer.

Encouraged by such quick progress, I looked up at the hooks to grab my bike, but it was not there. It must be in the bike garage (what we affectionately call our front porch), I thought. And my helmet is probably hanging on the handlebars. I headed to the front of the house. I located my helmet buried on a hook under several layers of canvas grocery bags. But there was no sign of my bike.

I walked back to the garage. I probably just missed it. There are quire a few bikes in there. Our kids' two bikes, our family tandem, Chris' Slingshot, his street bike, his folding bike, somebody's Kona, a couple of trailers... but where the bleeping heck is my bike?!

No sign of a break-in, and even if somebody did try, there surely are more tempting choices here than my twenty-year-old beater!

Could it be at the shop? I asked my kids. Was daddy trying to surprise me by getting it tuned up for spring? My son suggested I try the basement. Dejectedly, I headed downstairs. Historically, the basement is reserved for bikes that have been outgrown, or stripped of parts, or... only used infrequently for highly specialized uses... like, ahem, winter riding...

There, hanging sadly between the furnace and the water heater, was my bike. I guess Chris thought I was done using it for the season.

I'll have to show him!...

Rats!

We abandoned the ship. Not exactly a sinking ship, but one frozen under layers of snow, ice and poor economic forecasts.

We went to Florida.

Yep, intrepid winter bikers. We cheated. While you trudged through the poorly plowed and pothole-ridden streets of Chicago, vying for shoulder space with aggressive and oblivious drivers, we wallowed in Florida sunshine, pedaling for many miles on impeccably groomed off-street trails, and were greeted kindly and given the right of way by smiling, unhurried drivers, wherever the trails happened to intersect a roadway.

On a very, very cold December day, I believe the radio said it was -6 degrees, Chris packed up our van. I was going to do it myself, since I generally don't approve of the way he packs the car any more than I approve of the way he loads the dishwasher (OK, fair enough, that's another story), but I was unwilling to brave the elements that day, and he was. Here he is: Gore-Tex, goggles, layers, nary an inch of skin showing, thick clouds of steam emitting from his mouth. Let him pack!

We drove for many miles through spectacularly beautiful midwestern countryside, shrink-wrapped in ice after a recent storm, which gradually gave way to dry, barren woods of southern Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, and started to green up someplace south of Atlanta. We stripped off our layers, and on the second day of our trip, we enjoyed a cold lunch at a rest area wearing short-sleeved t-shirts.

We had two recumbent bikes strapped on the roof of the van. We find that we feel less guilty about taking these vacations when we can justify them as a way of doing some important research for the shop. In this case, the research involved exploring the handling characteristics of different recumbent bikes, comparing levels of rider fatigue on upright vs. recumbent bikes, evaluating the relative merits of on and off-street biking facilities, and assessing the impact of dedicated biking facilities on local economic growth.

I will endeavor to bring you the results of our rigorous research in the next few days, as soon as I recover from being back in the snow-shrouded Chicago.

Rats!

Winter TLC for your bike

After you come indoors from a brisk winter ride, I know the last thing you want is to fuss with your bike. You want to warm you hands, have a nice  meal and perhaps a warming beverage. But at some point, perhaps after feeling returns to your fingertips, you'll have to attend to your bike. Snow and icy slush, especially  combined with salt and street grime, make a corrosive mixture that will eat through your bike and all its delicate systems.

To start off, use fenders. Not the kind that go on the seatpost. Real ones, front and back, that attach with struts and stay on. Like these:

They cost about $45 plus installation, but they will keep you and your bike drier and cleaner.

There is a some controversy about whether a bike should be stored indoors or out during winter. Without taking sides, I think it's safe to say that in Chicago you're usually better off storing your bike indoors to avoid theft. If you have the luxury of a porch, garage or basement, that's probably ideal. Otherwise, spread some absorbent matting in your  living room or hallway where your bike can drip dry. Storing your bike in a vertical position may help in draining any water stuck inside the cable housing.

If your ride has been particularly messy, brush off as much accumulated slush as you can before bringing the bike in, and rag off excess water. Lubricate the chain with an oil formulated for use on bicycle chains (not WD40).  Drip a little oil on each chainlink, and wipe off excess by running the chain through a rag with one hand while you slowly spin the pedals backwards with your free hand. Drip a little oil on the pivot points of both derailleurs (any hinge points at which the derailleurs flex), and a little more inside the jockey wheels on the rear derailleur. Do this at least weekly, and each time you ride through real slop. Following this ritual will protect your drivetrain from corrosion, excessive wear through the winter, and sudden breakage.

In winter, you should also regularly clean your bike, focusing especially on the drivetrain (the chain and everything it touches) and the wheels. This is also a good time to check your brakes. Pads can wear out a lot faster when exposed to salt and debris. If the pads get worn down to the metal, they will damage your rims (and fail to stop your bike). Keep the rims clean too, because this process can go both ways. Gritty stuff accumulated on the rims can speed up the wearing of the brake pads. Don't wash your bike at a carwash with pressurized water. That can knock grease out of bearings, and allow water to enter places it doesn't belong, like the rear freewheel or cassette, where it can later freeze causing all sorts of problems. Instead, use a bucket of hot soapy water, a rag and a stiff nylon bristled brush. Brush off the chain, all cogs and the rims of your bike. Dry everything thoroughly and re-lubricate as described above. (Find more winter bike maintenance tips at Chicago Bike Winter).

Rapid Transit Cycleshop does offer a winter tune-up package, where, for one set fee, we will take care of cleaning and maintaining your bike throughout the season. If you don't have the time, the space, the inclination, the patience or the ability to do it yourself, it just might be a great deal for you.

Winter cycling challenge? Changing conditions.

Today was a perfect day for winter cycling. The morning was relatively warm, dry, with hazy sunshine, and, a little after rush hour, traffic was sparse on the stretches of Bryn Mawr, Central Park and Elston I traveled, thinking about how different the riding was just two days ago.

If my husband's face registered surprise, when I agreed to ride over to  West Rogers Park for a party, I didn't notice. I'm thinking he must have been surprised, because, while cold temperatures don't generally stop me from riding, precipitation of any kind usually does. You know, snow  accumulation, falling snow, snow mixed with rain, sleet, ice, ice covered by snow, black ice, slush frozen into a bumpy ridge right in the bicycle lane, etc, etc... all those things I personally consider to be serious obstacles to winter riding.
But the day had seemed so cold and dry, and there had been relatively little light, fluffy, drifty snow in the days past, that surely, any trace of it would be gone by now. The streets would be bone dry, and, as long as we were properly dressed, we'd be invincible.

There may be places in this country where it never snows, and then there are undoubtedly places where snow is on the ground most of winter. Chicago is neither of those. Our winters are marked by sporadic, often abundant, precipitation of every conceivable type, fierce winds that blow the stuff all over the place, and temperatures fluctuating from mild, spring-like ones to positively arctic. This is coupled with somewhat unpredictable snow management strategy on the part of our city officials, who sometimes plow and salt without restraint, and other times not at all, and, in any case, focus most of their attention on major arteries, while neighborhood streets suffer from neglect, and develop treacherous patches of nearly invisible ice at every stop sign.

My first sense that things were not as I expected came as soon as I pulled out onto our own street. There were a good couple of inches of packed snow on the ground. But traction was OK, and I assumed that the city simply forgot about us again, what, with the Cook County woods facing our street, they probably lost track of who had jurisdiction. Surely, other streets would be OK. And they were, for a while. We deliberated for a few minutes at the corner of Cicero and Peterson, deciding what route to take. At my request, we decided to stick to the side streets, and avoid Devon at any cost. After all, there would be less traffic, and if we just went slowly, it wouldn't be too bad.

Well, where our street was packed snow, these side streets were covered by loose snow concealing patches of compacted stuff that had turned to ice. Well-heeled residents in their SUV's were making their way out of their homes to holiday parties, with little regard for intrepid cyclists. Chris began to note that his new windfront tights were not keeping him as warm as he had hoped. I was glad he talked me into windproof over-pants before we left the house. On the other hand, his knobby Conti Vertical tires were digging admirably through the snow, while my Double-Fighters were pushing through and gripping the snow, but they were no match for the ice underneath. After about two blocks of this, I got off and headed for the sidewalk. You know Streets and Sanitation has some work to do when residential sidewalks are better than the street.
"I don't feel safe riding." I proclaimed.
"OK, suit yourself. Let's go and get the car," agreed Chris "but we still have to bike home."
"Don't tell me what I already know." I responded huffily, and got back on my bike to pedal home.

But we had not gotten to the end of the block, when the going suddenly got easier again. The snow was deeper, more crunchy, and there was no sign of ice.
"I think it'll be OK if we just make a straight shot down Devon." I said, completely contradicting what we had just decided, and also my usual instinct about that street.

Devon turned out to be more or less of a nightmare. Although it appeared to have been plowed, patches of suspicious slush lurked around the edges. We decided to take the right lane, but just as we were making some headway, we came to a section where the streetlights were completely out. My blinkers were no help in searching out potential hazards in the road, and Chris' more powerful light had to do the work for both of us. East of Lincoln, the streetlights resumed, but traffic got worse, with cars pulling in and out of parking lots, and depositing ridges of black snow as they went. Further east still, where the Indian neighborhood begins, snow remained on the ground, and the safest place to ride was in the tracks left by cars. We got off Devon with relief, and traveled the remaining few blocks on side streets of the type I already described.

Interestingly, the trip back, with bellies full of food and warming drinks, was a breeze. Chris borrowed some lightweight track pants from our host to pull over his tights. We made a conscious decision to stay on medium-sized streets, California and Bryn Mawr, which were mostly cleared and relatively free of traffic. We were home in less than half the time it took us to get there.

Lessons learned:

• Plan your route. On warmer days, it is easy to wing it and improvise your route based on traffic conditions and your mood. In winter, it pays to carefully evaluate where you're going and what is the best way to get there.
• Carry lights capable of illuminating the road, not just blinkers. Don't rely on streetlights. Again, in winter it is not as easy to get off a poorly lit road and choose a different one.
• Dress in windproof layers that will trap warm air and help insulate you if you have to travel slower than your accustomed speed.
• Avoid trying out new items for the first time on a lengthy winter ride. Test them before you head out.
• Realize that the effects of winter weather in Chicago are very unpredictable, and even with well designed equipment and planning, you may not be fully prepared for what you encounter. If that happens, chalk that up as a lesson learned for next time.

Rapid Transit Winter Biking Guide

"Will people still ride their bikes this winter?" I wondered.

I was driving back from Florida, and was filling up my rental car somewhere around Mt. Vernon, Illinois, where the marquee advertised gas at $1.99 per gallon. While it is unlikely that we will see gas prices like these in Chicago, it is undeniable, that, at least for the moment, they are going down. Before I returned my rental, I filled it up at $2.67, and later that afternoon, the same gas station posted a price of $2.58.
In case you haven't figured it out, high gas prices are great for the urban bicycle shop, like Rapid Transit. When they start falling, especially at the same time as mercury does, we worry.
A little.
Bicycle retailing is an emotional business. Two months ago, a line at our counter was several layers thick. Today, hours may go by before anyone enters the store. Is it the weather, or the price of gas?
More rationally speaking, we know from experience, that many people will continue to use their bikes without regard for the price of gas, and despite the weather.
Unlike fluctuating gas prices, winter weather cannot be disregarded by the winter cyclist in these latitudes. For you, brave souls, I have compiled what I hope is some useful winter cycling advice in one convenient spot: right here.

• Why ride in winter in the first place? 10 great reasons, courtesy of RocBike.
• Think it's cold here? Here's a kick you in the butt for you.
• Some winter riding essentials.
• What would your mother say? Advice on keeping warm. And some more.
• A story about winter riding hazards, and some other things (like tires).
• Tips on how to keep your bike in good shape this winter.
• If you're gonna ride your bike in Chicago this winter, you'll need service. This is it.

(Photo from Dingbat)

How to disappear...

The day woke up cloudy and cold on Boblo Island. We took our coffee out to the edge of Lake Huron and peered up at tentative spots of blue sky above the distant trees. We have gotten pretty far away from urban biking. We came up here one last time this year to close up the tiny cabin for the season.

In the summer, the days here are spent in an on the water. Now, the water is so cold you feel icicles forming the the marrow of your bones when you step in. This lonely island has a remote kind of charm in the cooler season. You feel a little special having come here when hardly anyone else does: braver, hardier, more pure... The air smells of rain and moldy leaves and damp earth, and yet has a kind of crispness in it that foreshadows the coming of snow.

This time we all brought our mountain bikes. Although there are no hills on this island, there is a single unpaved road that runs its perimeter, and a network of rolling ATV trails that take you into its interior. Another such trail runs to the island's northernmost tip, where an old lighthouse stands. A three-mile ride from our cabin, this seemed like a good place to bike with the kids.

After riding about a mile on the gravel road, we turned onto the trail. The road was pleasant, rolling gently up and down, with an odd washed-out rut, a stone-cobbled descent and intricate networks of tree roots providing some challenge and surprise. Our first stop was the entrance to a sandy beach, a rarity on Boblo.

Most of the way we rode under a canopy and on a carpet of gold and rust-colored leaves, as resident maples and birches shed their foliage.

We ran into some other residents, too.

The lighthouse, boarded up and somewhat forbidding. The sign warned us not to trespass. But since no one was there to enforce the sign, we enjoyed a picnic in  sheltered sunspot: sandwiches accompanied by homegrown tomatoes (yep, we still have'em), tea for the grown ups and hot chocolate for the kids. No food tastes as good as the stuff you consume kneeling on a blanket in the grass, after riding a bike in cool fall weather.

Our kids eagerly took to off-road biking. Although Peter complained a little about being tired on the way back, he still banked into his turns with relish, and tried to catch some air on the descents. Nadia, hampered somewhat by the smaller wheels and number of gears had to push her bike a few times, never lost the spirit of adventure.

The day ended as it had begun, on the shore of the big lake by the fire. The wind fanned the green smoke out over the water, as the chill from the damp rocks worked its way up our backs, and we thought of the summer that faded away.

Bike if you want to

With Labor Day weekend around the corner, summer seems to be drawing to a close.

In fact, there are still more than three weeks of summer left on the calendar.  And even after that ends, Chicago often experiences some of the best cycling weather of the year. Fall days can be sunny, mild, or pleasantly cool, and turn the sweat-drenched cycling of the summer months into a truly refreshing experience.

Don't see yourself as a bike commuter? That's OK. I happen to believe that you do not have to "become" anything if you just want to try riding your bike. My mother-in-law and her 80-year-old husband recently started riding their bikes to the grocery store. I don't think they ever stopped to figure out if they are "bike commuters".

The best tip I have for riding a bike is to do it when you want to. Here are some other tips for incorporating biking into your routine this season and through the fall:

• Keep your bike where it's easily accessible, with all your gear near at hand (helmet and lock at a minimum). This will reduce the frustration of trying to find a key item when you're in a hurry to get out the door.
• Carry a backpack. It will turn any bike trip into a potentially productive one without a major investment.
• Don't bite off more that you can chew. Rather than trying to build your whole day around the bike, start by planning short trips: post office, library, coffee shop, small shopping errand.
• If you were planning a major shopping expedition, see if instead there are a few things you can pick up locally, and put off the big trip until you have to be out with the car for another reason.
• If you are traffic-averse, ride your bike to places you can reach using small neighborhoods streets.
• If needed, give yourself a small push once in a while.

Here's the thing: just because you drove your car or got on the bus today doesn't mean you can't ride your bike tomorrow. Conversely, if you ride your bike today, It doesn't mean you have to cycle everywhere for the rest of your life. It only means that you will use your bike sometimes, when it makes sense to you. Personally, I am much more likely to use my bike if there is no external pressure on me to do so, such as a guilt-trip from someone who cycles more than I do.