Joy Ride

Mr. Dottie and I did not leave town for this American holiday weekend, but the city can be beautiful and relaxing if approached with a fresh eye.  When we woke up early Saturday to a bright, clear and crisp 51 degree morning, we headed straight for our bikes.  A leisurely ride along the lakefront and [...]

Pashley Princess Sovereign: Impressions

Sometimes it’s possible to write a basic review a bike after a spin or two around the block. But my time with the Pashley Princess Sovereign in NYC resulted only in impressions, since I was faced with both the novelty of the bicycle AND the novelty of riding through bumpy, busy streets. Negotiating traffic, even [...]

The Last Weekend of August

Yikes – this is the last weekend in August. Where has the summer gone? To enjoy as much of the remaining warmth as possible, I spent Saturday experiencing a new-to-me Chicago summer tradition: the Ravinia music festival. There the music takes a back seat to enjoying time outside – Chicagoans so love [...]

Bike Fun with Girls & Bicycles

On Saturday Mr. Dottie and I had the privilege of spending the whole day with Miss Sarah of Girls & Bicycles and her husband Don. We showed them Chicago, local style. First they came to our place to get fitted on Oma and Sir Raleigh. Despite the height differences, the bikes worked [...]

Friday Unwinding

This morning I almost took public transit instead of riding my bike, as the news predicted a sweltering 90 degree day with thunderstorms. I decided to ride anyway. By the afternoon, the official thunderstorm watch was the talk of the office, with heavy rain and lightening strikes predicted…any minute… But the rain [...]

Meeting Miss Sarah

When I first started riding a bike over two years ago, the internet was my best resource for information: how to pack a pannier, change a tire, signal turns, etc. All very technical and masculine, but I accepted that as the bicycling culture. Then one day I stumbled upon Girls and Bicycles. [...]

“Excessive Heat Warning” Commute

Today there was an excessive heat warning in Chicago, the first since 2006, due to a top heat index of between 100 and 107 degrees. I rode my bike today, as I have every day this week. It wasn’t a big deal, nothing dramatic. I went slowly and sweated and that was [...]

Beautiful Bicycles: Kangaroo Family Bike

Allow me to introduce you to the Kangaroo, the most sophisticated cargo bike I’ve met. The Kangaroo is a Danish bike, designed specifically – and wonderfully – to carry children. Although I was initially skeptical of a bike made of such modern materials and with such a narrow purpose, after my test ride [...]

A Hot Ride

The heat wave continues in Chicago and around the country. In the 90 degree temperatures, this dress helps me look put together while sweating bullets. Although the black material attracts the beating sun, sweat marks are completely concealed.
I love this Diane von Furstenberg dress because I bought it from the [...]

LGRAB in Yes! Magazine

Let’s Go Ride a Bike is featured in the upcoming issue of Yes! Magazine, an award-winning, ad-free, non-profit publication that supports people’s active engagement in building a just and sustainable world.  The issue is on building community resilience and one of the features is 8 Crash-Proof Ideas, highlighting people and places building skills now that will come [...]