Now that the sun sets completely by 4:30, I’m sad that my evening commutes are always in the dark. On the bright side, this gives me the opportunity to enjoy all the beautiful lights that are now decorating downtown for the holidays. Kind of makes my commutes feel magical.
Of course, I have my own lights, too, but those are not pretty.
Maybe this will be the year when I finally take the time to figure out how to string Oma with Christmas lights. 
When I start to look like the Red Barron -
And I have to remove and carry around a bunch of layers and accessories -
Before I look like myself again.
Is everyone else pulling out their hats, ear muffs, gloves, scarves and coats? (Snow is in today’s forecast!) Or are you smarter than me, living in a warm climate?
Here’s our advice on dressing for winter biking, if anyone needs it.
The past two days, I have worn skirt and blouse outfits similar to what I wore in my last post, with a helmet, and drivers were pretty nice, but not as totally nice as before. Again, maybe it’s in my head, but it’s interesting to ponder.
For anyone who is “meh” about the Mary Poppins Effect talk because they don’t experience it – Mr. Dottie is right there with you and he’s perfectly content to ride a faster bike in construction-site work clothes, thankyouverymuch.
In an unrelated observation, the skirt below came down to my mid-calf, but was nowhere near my back wheel when I sat on the saddle. There are very few skirts that require a skirt guard, so I encourage those apprehensive about biking in mid-length skirts to give it a try. Just make sure your skirt is not touching your back wheel before setting off.
Hey, today’s Friday – happy Friday! I’m excited for the weekend because Trisha, Melissa and Erin, another friend from Nashville, will be in Chicago. I don’t know if Erin will be up for riding in the city, but I know Trisha and Melissa will be. This is when having multiple bikes comes in handy. I’ll be a mini bike share system.
Now that Labor Day is behind us, the crowds are starting to thin out on the Lakefront Trail. I’ve avoided the trail most of the summer because dodging hundreds (thousands?) of other trail users is not my idea of fun. I plan to take the trail much more often during the fall, when I can relax and enjoy the crowd-free and car-free goodness.
I have missed the beautiful view of Lake Michigan and the fresh air that comes off it. So far early fall has been perfect in Chicago – hopefully we’ll have at least two good months before winter begins.
In other news, a new bike joined my household today! The bike is Mr. Dottie’s, which is good because he loved to tease me about our 3-to-1 bike ownership ratio. I wonder if anyone can guess what kind of bike he bought. Hint: it’s not the same brand as any of mine.
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 appalled by the situation on Lincoln Avenue. The cars sped from red light to red light, the huge intersections were like gladiator trials for bicyclists and pedestrians, car doors flung open left and right, buses heaved, and large trucks blocked the bike lanes on every block.
At one point, I was going straight through an intersection with a green light and a driver turned left riiiight in front of me. I looked at him in horror and saw that he was holding a document up in front of his face, reading it. What the what?!? And last Friday, my husband was side-swiped by a driver who veered into the bike lane. His pannier bore the brunt of the impact (with a big mark to show for it) and he was able to keep his bike upright. The driver had the decency to stop, apologize, and ask if he was alright, but maybe drivers could LOOK FIRST?? Pretty simple.
I don't *think* I'm invisible
Greg is definitely visible
All this on a popular marked bike route, which is a joke (on us bicyclists). Despite the fact that people on bikes make up a substantial amount of the traffic, all we get is a strip of paint dangerously close to parked cars and some sharrows.
Door zone
Our beautiful bike lanes
If Chicago is going to be anything near a world-class bicycling city, this key route from the northside to downtown must be improved. While a buffered or protected bike lane would be the bees freakin’ knees, I know that will not happen. I would be content with colored bike lanes that extend through intersections, bike boxes at stop lights, fewer potholes, red light cameras, enforcement of cars parked in bike lanes, and attention-getting signage*. Such improvements should not be an afterthought. If a street is not safely servicing up to 40% of its daily users, the street is a failure.
Until then, I’ll be on the side streets, getting to work 15 minutes later but in a much better mood. And here, hoping that loud complaints will somehow beget real change.
*Something like, ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO FLING OPEN YOUR CAR DOOR WHEN YOU HAVE NOT LOOKED TO SEE IF THAT ACTION WILL KILL ANYONE??????? I’m just brainstorming here, but you get the idea.
Although there are thousands of interesting bicycles in Chicago, I almost never see any bikes like mine – Rivendell, WorkCycles or Velorbis. In the past week, I had the good luck to spot two Rivendells and speak with their owners. As expected, women who ride Rivendells are super cool.
The first was Rachel. I locked my bike next to hers while stopping for an afternoon cupcake. I was admiring her Honjo fenders and Brooks saddle, but I did not realize it was a Rivendell until she came up and we started talking. Apparently, her frame was a prototype that combined two of their regular models…I think. Something like that. You can see that it says “Protovelo” on the front. Very interesting!
Rachel and her Rivendell
Two Rivendells
The second was Cara. As I biked down the Lakefront Trail on my Betty Foy in the morning, I spotted her and her Betty Foy. Of course, I had to come to a screeching halt to drool over the bike’s build. Check out the cream tires and leather wrapped bars. Mmmmm, lovely! Luckily, she knew of this blog, which helped me to not come off like a crazy stranger lady. Hopefully
Cara and her Rivendell Betty Foy
Beautiful Betty Foy
Spotting these lovely bikes (and bicyclists!) was a real treat. Fun to find some kindred spirits out there.
Betty Foy and Me
Does anyone else get excited when seeing a bike like their own in the wild?
This is a post about a fan. F-A-N. Other corny title options: #1 Fan, Office Fan-tasy, Fan-cy Pants. So feel lucky you got the title you got.
As I’ve mentioned before, Chicago summers can be brutally hot. At least for a few weeks. Long enough to make me miss winter a little bit.
During those hot weeks, I wear gym-type clothes during my commute (not that I ever step foot in a gym, but you know what I mean). I sweat a lot, so wearing proper work clothes is a bad idea.
summer heat commuting outfit
When I get to the office, I change into my skirts and suits. Until last month, I had to use an Action Wipe or something similar to cool down with before changing.
That’s before I got my fan.
A colleague, who happens to work for facilities, noticed me fanning myself with a sad piece of paper after arriving to work and later magically appeared with a sleek floor fan.
sorta like this one
Since then, the fan has been stationed next to my desk. I turn it on first thing in the morning. After 3 minutes in front of the fan, I am 95% better, no action wipe needed. It’s pretty amazing. And then 15 minutes later the fan is off and I’m wrapped in my pashmina because the air conditioning in the building is so cold.
How do you cool down in the summer? Anyone else discover the power of the fan?
As the heatwave continues, I find it’s a good idea to treat myself on the way home every now and then. Keeps morale up.
My usual indulgence is a stop at the grocery store for a cold six-pack or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (Americone Dream!), but recently I kicked it up a notch. Mr. Dottie and I met at a French bistro for dinner on our way home from work in the middle of the week. Dripping with sweat and hauling our panniers and helmets, we were too excited about the delicious aromas to care whether we fit in with the other patrons.
Here was my reward for biking through a heat wave. Bread, butter and a lillet blonde – parfait!
Additional rewards: mussels in white wine, coq au vin, creme brulee. Hells yeah. That certainly gave me the motivation to make it through another sweaty bike commute.
I hope you’re treating yourself! And don’t forget to drink lots of beer water to stay hydrated! 
Before I get to the main point of this post, let me mention that I was thwarted from riding my bike today. Last night a severe storm knocked out power for about 18 hours. No electricity meant my garage door opener would not work and my bike was trapped inside (a detached garage). That’s something I never considered before. I guess there’s some sort of mechanical opener on the inside, but figuring all that out early in the morning was beyond me. So I took the L train instead. Boo.
And now for something completely different.
Bike Snob recently mentioned (which means made fun of) a Kickstarter project for creating a turning signal bike glove. While the idea of a bike turning signal is…interesting, I prefer to use old fashioned hand signals that no one understands. When I feel like increasing visibility, lately I’ve been using this slap bracelet that came in my bike-to-work week goodie bag.
That’s right – slap bracelet. Remember those?
Makes me think of Smurfs and Fruity Pebbles.
When I’m not wearing the slap bracelet, I keep it slapped on the handle of my pannier. I’m not really big on neon, but this thing is so easy and increases my false sense of security, so I haven’t found a reason not to carry it.
Do you do anything to make your turning intentions more visible?
While I wait for Chicago to be covered in gloriously safe bike infrastructure, I have to work with what I’ve got. As some mentioned in the comments to yesterday’s post, small side streets can provide a calm and safe way to travel through the city – no special bike infrastructure needed. Using such routes to get from one place to another may require practice, familiarity and extra time, but it can be well worth the trouble for those who value peacefulness above efficiency.
Over the past two years, when it no longer made sense to take the car-free Lakefront Trail on a regular basis due to the location of my new office, I have been adjusting my 5-mile commute route from the efficiency side of the scale to the peacefulness side of the scale.
Happy to be cycling on Chicago's peaceful side streets this week
I started with the most obvious and direct bikeable route: a left and a right and I was there (Lincoln to Wells). Most of the ride consisted of a diagonal street with either sharrows or bike lanes the whole way, popular with both bikes and cars. Unfortunately, vehicle traffic moved quickly and there were lots of trucks, buses and giant six-way intersections. After a while I grew tired of the traffic and aggression, such as drivers shouting at me to get out of the way or just generically being awful. The stress was really getting to me.
Looking for an alternative, it occurred to me last summer to sacrifice some efficiency and try taking slightly calmer streets. The new route amounted to a right, left, right, left and right, instead of a straight diagonal (basically, Southport to Armitage to Wells). I still had to deal with congestion, often riding down the bike lane past grid-locked vehicle traffic, but the cars moved considerably slower, the intersections were smaller, and the bike lanes more consistent.
This route served me well for a year, but lately I have been craving a more peaceful commute. Participating in the super calm Critical Lass rides helped me realize that Chicago has lots of small, tree-lined, neighborhood streets to ride, as long as one is willing to meander: these magically quiet streets have a tendency to end or become one-way suddenly. For the past few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with different side streets, backtracking and exploring a lot.
As of today, I’ve finally discovered The Calmest Route from My Neighborhood to My Office (patent pending). My route is now: right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left. That is no exaggeration: I typed while visualizing my ride with my eyes closed.
The difference in my stress level from my first commute route to my current commute route is night and day, with my current route being virtually stress-free. Of course, this comes at a cost. First, it takes about 10 minutes longer than more obvious route. Second, the potholes are especially bad on side streets. Third, this route probably won’t be an option during the winter, when side streets are neglected by snow plows. Finally, I have to be extra cautious at each block’s four-way stop sign because drivers in neighborhoods love to roll through stops, unless there’s another ton vehicle staring them down. Despite these costs, the calmness of the route is worth it to me.
I wish I’d thought of adjusting my route like this a long time ago, but I guess such a paradigm shift is obvious only in hindsight.
I know this kind of meandering commuting is not for everyone, but I’m curious: does anyone else seek out the most peaceful routes possible?
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