I missed the past couple of Critical Lass rides, so I was happy to catch up with the group for May's ride. Coolest bicycling group in Chicago, for sure, including a couple of baby-bicyclists. We started in Roscoe Village and enjoyed a leisurely ride through Lakeview and Lincoln Park, ending at a Mexican restaurant for margaritas.
Many thanks to our fearless leader Ash, pictured first below.
We got rained on a little during the ride, but hail and lightening waited until we were safely...
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I recently received an email from Jana Kinsman, a long-time reader and year-round Chicago cyclist, about a very cool project she is beginning with the help of Kickstarter called Bike·a·Bee.
With Bike·a·Bee, Jana aims to bring beehives to community gardens all around Chicago. She will be an urban beekeeper who visits every hive herself by bike. The entire operation will be car-free.
She had me at bicycles and honeybees, but I especially enjoyed hearing that "honeybees are a female-run society. The queen ...
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Trisha and I have started a cycling-themed podcast series! We'll talk to creators of sites and bicycles we like, other bloggers, each other and more.
I encourage you to subscribe to the LGRAB Podcasts for free via iTunes to stay up-to-date on all future podcasts. Simply click on the link, then "view in iTunes" and "Subscribe."
Our first podcast is an interview with John Greenfield and Steven Vance, co-creators and writers of Chicago-based sustainable transportation blog Grid Chicago. Both have past insid...
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Imagine my surprise when I visited the main page of the Chicago Tribune this evening and saw the big lead story: City to rent thousands of bicycles. Apparently, city officials just announced plans for a large scale bike-sharing system. Oh yes yes yes!!
The system is still in the planning stages and a company has not yet been picked to implement it, but it's expected to start in the summer of 2012, with 3,000 bikes at 300 stations around the city, most 1/4 of a mile apart in the most dense areas. By 2014, t...
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One of the most popular and vital bike routes from downtown Chicago to neighborhoods on the north side is Lincoln Avenue. I've read that 25-40% of the rush hour traffic on Lincoln is people on bikes. I certainly see lots of bicyclists along the way.
One day last week I decided to take this route to work, since I was on a tight schedule and Lincoln Avenue is by far the most direct and quickest route. Perhaps I have been spoiled by my super long and winding but super calm route of side-streets, but I was appall...
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As someone who rides my bike everyday, I get a lot of questions and comments about bicycling in the city. When people tell me (so many people do, especially women!) that they wish they could bike BUT they do not feel safe and are afraid of being hit by a car, I do not launch into a stump speech about the benefits of bicycling. I may say something like, "It's not so scary once you learn the rules of the road and get used to riding in traffic," but I always say something like, "Yeah, it can be scary, I know."
Al...
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Chicago's second Critical Lass ride rolled out last Thursday, this time with a group of nearly 30. Like the inaugural ride in May, the ride was so much fun. I love it!
As you can see in my photos below, it's a women's ride, plain and simple. All lasses are welcome! I guarantee you will be greeted by the friendliest group of women in Chicago.
(Saying goodbye to mom)
Chatting with others and riding side-by-side was easy due to the super calm route. ...
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Last week was Bike to Work Week in Chicago. We celebrate it later than the rest of the country, waiting until June to make sure it does not snow. 
I volunteered at an Active Transportation Alliance commuter pit stop one morning. The stop offered free coffee and Clif bars, various swag, tune-ups and general encouragement. I mostly just stood around chatting with friends, though.
This particular pit stop was co-hosted by The Chainlink and REI.
Julie of The Chainlink worked the megaphone with...
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Last week, I logged onto the Chicago Tribune website and the headline proclaimed: Police Crackdown on Bicyclists: 240 Warnings, 1 Ticket.
That got the public's attention. Readers left 340 comments on the article and recommended it on Facebook 1,000 times. The majority of the comments were ridiculously anti-bicyclist and rejoiced at the comeuppance.
And all of that is good. I'm totally cool with it.
Because the crackdown took place at the very intersection where the city is quickly constructing its first p...
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Yesterday, while waiting at a red light on my bike, a woman with a baby on the back of her bike rolled up and stopped next to me. I waved and cooed to the baby until he smiled. Then his mother said, "Say hi," and he did, flapping his chubby little hand, eyes shining under his helmet. The light turned green, she told me to go ahead and I told her to have a good day.
In an ideal world, sweet meetings like that would happen all the time. In reality, I very rarely see anyone bicycling on Chicago streets with a...
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