Cherry Season
Dear Hyde Park,
This year marks the 40th anniversary of BIKE THE DRIVE, a celebration of all things cycling in our fine city, and a beautiful institution like no other. For the uninitiated, the entirety of DuSable Lake Shore Drive is closed for the morning, and a sea of cyclists of all stripes will take over the road. It’s also the annual fundraiser for the Active Transportation Alliance. Stay tuned for information on how you can help, as well as a series of novice-oriented practice rides to get you ready for the day!
Dorchester resident MATEO has been riding the event since 2023, and to celebrate his ninth birthday, he plans on riding all the way to the northern end and back!
Some fresh refurbished & closeout have been posted to the website. For those of you looking to upgrade (or move), remember that trade-ins & DONATIONS are welcome. Now more than ever, the Hyde Park Refugee Project is in need of your old bikes!
Shop rides are for everyone! Tell your friends, or come make new ones.
18 July, 7pm: Festival of the Lakes Carnival - $1.25 rides and a free AKON concert, anyone?
19 July, 530pm: Movie Night! Oldboy - some light fare for a Saturday evening.
20 July, 830am: Fruit Picking Road Trip - it's CHERRY SEASON!!! Bring a backpack.
For those of you new to Chicago who are interested in bike racing: there are two remaining high profile ROAD series to consider. Chicago Grit begins this week, followed by the Gateway Cup in August.
I hope everyone is enjoying this year’s Tour de FRANCE.
Our local library did not have the New York Times, so my adolescent self was wholly unaware of Samuel Abt and his excellent TOUR coverage. Instead, in order to follow the trials & tribulations of my then-hero, one Bernard Hinault, I’d have to find a copy of Le Monde. That I could not read French and the nearest international newsstand was some located some 100km away did not phase this young tifosi in the slightest.
Page one in my Trapper Keeper contained every important step in my plan.
Learn French [X]
Buy a French-English pocket dictionary from the Salvation Army
Find a Copy of Le Monde [X]
Located in Pasadena at the Vroman’s
Make a Map of the Route [X]
Steal relevant pages of a Thomas Guide from the library
Food [X]
Two salted baked potatoes in jersey pockets
Steal Twinkies from the Circle-K in Santa Clarita
Collect oranges from trees along the way
All that remained was to do the actual ride. The first stretch of road was both familiar and fun. San Fransisquito is a twisty bit of TARMAC so picturesque that it’s commonly used in car commercials to this day. I knew every corner by heart, and being an idiotic young racer, naturally flew through the canyon using the entire gutter to gutter width.
There are three blind corners on the way to the Santa Clara river, and as I approached the final one, I could hear the telltale BURBLE of a naturally aspirated boxer engine. “You’ve got this,” I muttered to myself, shifting into a higher gear and smashing into the slight descent and into the bend. Surely I would beat the 356 Porsche to the apex.
I did not beat the Porsche to the APEX. Instead, we reached it almost simultaneously, and for a brief moment the driver and I made eye contact as we barreled toward one another. He flicked the steering wheel just in time to avoid me, and I zipped into the (opposing lane) gutter. The sound of squealing tires and a naturally aspirated boxer engine was drowned out as the sound of my own pounding heart filled my ears. It’s a good thing those things don’t have non-driver’s side mirrors, I thought, pedaling away.
A few minutes later, I stopped at the Circle-K and carefully stashed my bike behind the building. I bought a 32 ounce Thirstbuster (49¢, Dr. Pepper) and hid two packs of Twinkies in my jersey. Sitting on the curb behind the store, I carefully unwrapped the first Twinkie. At that moment, the back door swung open and a tall pimpled clerk stepped out and flung a garbage bag into the DUMPSTER. He clocked me, slumped onto a milk crate, and flicked the switch to a small portable radio. Bananarama’s Cruel Summer played as we shared a cigarette and a stolen packet of Twinkies.
Trying to smile, but the air is so heavy and dry
Strange voices are saying (What did they say?)
Things I can't understand
