Bike excitement in December

When: 7-11 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4
Where: Dank Haus, 4740 N. Western Ave., Chicago
Cost: $35 solo or $60 for couples. (Price includes two free drinks per person, appetizers, entry into the raffle and an evening of fun.)

Register: www.activetrans.org/bash

The Bike Town Bash benefits the Active Transportation Alliance’s work to improve biking, walking and transit in Chicagoland.

The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel.

The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. The Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by nearly 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

Approximately $49 million will go to bicycle projects, which is the largest pool of money ever awarded to improve bicycling in Illinois through ITEP. The Chicago region alone will receive approximately $45 million for active transportation improvements.

“Everyone wins with this funding announcement,” said Ron Burke, executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance. “We’re very excited that important projects like the Burnham Greenway, Veterans Memorial Trail and a cycle track pilot project on Chicago’s South Side will receive money.”

Burke explained that a cycle track is a type of bikeway, common in many other countries, that separates bikes and cars. Burke said the Chicago Department of Transportation is taking a bold step in building the first cycle track in the region on Stony Island Avenue.

“Large and small projects around Chicagoland now have financial backing to improve opportunities and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians,” said Burke.

Among the projects Active Trans supported, the Calumet-Sag Trail will receive $2.8 million to fund its final engineering phase and its construction costs.

“This is a big leap toward completing the 26-mile Calumet-Sag Trail,” said Steve Buchtel, Southland coordinator for the Active Transportation Alliance. When completed in 2012, the trail will connect 14 communities and a handful of regional trail systems, said Buchtel.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress asked the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to rescind almost $80 million in transportation projects. After a request from Active Trans, IDOT carried out full funding for this round of ITEP money.

In addition to pushing for two Calumet-Sag Trail projects, Active Trans worked closely with successful ITEP awardees in Skokie, Wheeling and Lincolnwood. The organization also partnered with the Will County Forest Preserve District to ensure funding for the Veterans Memorial Trail.

See Governor Quinn’s news release for the full list of projects to be funded.

The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit. It  is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by nearly 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

Related articles

• Interview with Ron Burke, the new executive director of Active Transportation Alliance (timeoutny.com)

They blaze through red lights, skid around pedestrians and nearly collide with oncoming traffic. Sergio Rodriguez, a criminal defense attorney from Chicago called them “a nuisance.”

Who are they: Urban bike messengers.

“What these people don’t know is that the bicycle is more than a sport and more than a job. . . the bicycle is a philosophy, a way of life,” explains Chicago bike messenger Travis Hugh Culley, author of The Immortal Class. His book reveals the art of bike messaging through his firsthand account, shedding light on a misunderstood group.

Among Chicago’s 200 bike messengers, there is a sense of pride in what they do. Mike Malone, 27, has worked two years as a bike messenger in Chicago, “it’s partially my love of biking;” he said, “but it’s also just the freedom of not having someone look over my shoulder.”

On a typical day, the messenger will get a chirp from his boss on his Nextel with information about where to pickup and drop-off a package; he scribbles down or memorizes that information and takes to the street.

So what exactly are bike messengers carrying? For the most part, they deliver architectural blueprints, court documents, camera parts and subcontracts. Messengers can carry up to six or more packages at one time.

They also buy their own gear and carry it with them all day. A messenger’s equipment in addition to his bike includes a walkie-talkie, tire pump, spare tire, levers to take a tire off, bike lock and a collection of tools.

As soon as the messenger receives orders from dispatch, the focus becomes moving the package from point A, to point B as fast as possible.

“It’s like being in a videogame all day.  That’s why people love the job, because you’re getting paid to race,” explains Grant Fator, 27, a messenger who has worked in Chicago for a year and messaged in Austin for six months.

Messengers are sprinters; getting on and off their bikes as fast as they can and locking them up in three seconds or less. Most runs are a mile and a half, and to put that into perspective, the distance from 1200 South Michigan to 1200 North Michigan is about three miles. Timing is everything, so messengers have to plan their routes carefully.

Nico Deportago-Cabrera, 26, a veteran bike messenger explained that “with time you learn how to be more efficient.” A good messenger will make about 30 runs and earn about $100 a day. That is one a good day, Deportago-Cabrera said.

“They’re going to pay you more the faster you get to a place, the more red lights you run. I have literally seen messengers plow pedestrians down; I have seen messengers try to gun the red light and get smashed by a bus,” Fator said.

This is not a job for the fainthearted.

“In order to do the job that’s required of you, you have to be willing to break the law all day long,” said Chris Horner, 27, who has worked as a messenger for 2 years, adding, “you basically have to be fearless.”

Messengers are expected to know how to get around the city and where to take packages.

“When you hear, ‘take it to 233 S. Wacker,’ if you take [that package] in 233 S. Wacker, security guards will literally come up and ask if you’re a bike messenger and tell you to go around the back,” said Fator.

In order to avoid encounters with security, messengers must learn how to be unseen. This is one of many unwritten rules in this line of work.

At lunchtime, messengers congregate at the Thompson Center, mostly because of the cheap food, public bathrooms, protective awnings and because its central location. On nice days, it is a place where messengers do bike tricks outside.

At the end of the day, each messenger turns in a manifest, a record of when and who signed for each package. This is how a messenger is paid. They bike home and, because messengers are often roommates, swap stories over beers and cigarettes before going to bed.

“In general as a bike messenger if you’re going to last long-term it’s because you love the lifestyle,” explains Fator. “When you’re working from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days-a-week it pretty much envelopes your life. You are just dead tired all the time, but you are doing great work. You’re living that lifestyle all the time so you have to love it because you’re not making that much money doing it.”

“When you’re riding as much as we do you start to use all five senses to get around the traffic. It’s really impossible to explain,” said Malone, “another messenger, Josh Corby said ‘it’s kind of like watching a river flow over some rocks you can’t pick out the path the river takes it just flows around and through and just gets past the rocks’.”

Deportago-Cabrera said: There’s a rhythm that goes with [messaging]. You feel like you’re a part of this organism that is the city. It’s like you’re delivering oxygen to different parts of this body. You’re an insignificant part of it but you’re essential to it.

The job of bike messaging, when described by messengers, is an art form. It is something not everyone can do and few people master.

Messengers describe weaving through traffic like following a line through the city.

“There’s no stopping, that’s why guys ride without brakes. You just want to keep going around things and through things. You don’t want to stop,” Fator said.

“It’s when the pedestrians do the deer-in-the-headlights thing that we run into trouble,” said Fator. “If no one ever saw bike messengers and they just kept walking, we would be an inch away from you but we would be fine.”

The need for speed extends past the messenger’s workday into the nightlife. “Alleycat” races are high-speed scavenger hunts for bikers. Racers show up to a place at a certain time, pay a few bucks to the organizer, and right before they get the signal to go, each racer is given a manifest with a list of checkpoints.

At each checkpoint there is someone waiting to sign off. The first one to complete their manifest wins.

“Basically you’re doing your job afterhours and trying to be the fast guy,” said Fator.

Deportago-Cabrera was the 2009 Cycle Currier Champion, and he has competed in cities all over the world, taking him as far as Tokyo.

“It really got me amped on my job,” said Deportago-Cabrera of alleycat races.

For messengers, street credit means everything. That credit comes from surviving the winter in Chicago as a messenger and winning alleycat races.

The lifestyle of a messenger is high-risk. Injuries are part of the job. Of 113 Boston bicycle messengers who responded to a self-administered Harvard survey 90% reported injuries on the job; however, only 55% of those injured sought medical attention. In total, there were 25,000 “close calls” reported by the messengers over the course of their job experience.

Fator, like many messengers, does not have health insurance. Messengers can buy liability insurance through their companies, but it does not cover hospital stays.

“If any insurance stuff needs to be taken care of and it gets sent to your dispatch; 8 times out of 10 you lose your job over it,” said Fator.

When messengers get into accidents, they try to escape that situation as fast as they can. Fator expressed more concern about his bike braking than his body. He has had eight collisions with cars, and has been “doored” (hit by a car door) three times.

“Whenever [messengers] heal they’re out there doing the same thing because it’s a passion, it’s an adrenaline thing,” said Fator.

Of course, messengers know there is a risk. For many of them that is part of the job’s appeal.

Travis Hugh Culley said this his book The Immortal Class: Unforeseeable problems can surface, threatening serious injury, extreme fatigue, and frustration. But if a biker can keep a good outlook in the face of wrong addresses, rude recipients, flat tires, dying radio batteries, unruly cops, hotheaded security guards, and injured friends, he can become indispensable to a company.

People become messengers for different reasons, but they all share the passion for riding their bikes through a beautiful, living, breathing city. As Malone said, “I’ve found something that I love to do and can make a living at it. At the end of the day, it makes me happy. At the end of the day I feel satisfied that I’ve done my job. To me, that’s all that matters.”

Take on Lance, on your own terms

Admit it, when you are pedaling away down any Chicago street the bike lanes fade and in your imagination it’s just you and Lance Armstrong leading the peloton.

This year, cycling site MapMyRide is offering you a chance to map your ride miles, and times against Lance Armstrong and the riders in the Tour de France. You can win prizes, but mostly it’s about the enjoyment and competition of comparing your best times with the best cyclists in the world.

If you haven’t seen MapMyRide, be sure top check out this program and its other features. Including, an ID bracelet you can buy (with or without a RFID chip) that will identify your location at all times. An application to track your map your rides and track your progress. You can also share your “secret routes” with the world.

See you on the trails, and don’t forget your helmet.

Over 300 volunteers gather twice a week at  Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago where they donate their time to fix bikes that end up at both local charities and in underdeveloped countries.

Each week between 60 and 100 bikes are repaired at the North Lawndale shop, which is the only bike shop in the city that is restoring old and used bikes found in both junkyards and back alleys.

Working Bikes Cooperative each year donates over 4,000 bikes to various underdeveloped countries, and has given away nearly 500 to local charities and shelters.

Working Bikes is a non-profit organization that keeps its doors open through generous donations, grants and support from other local businesses. Lee Ravenscroft, president and founder of Working Bikes Cooperative, said it is not only helping people in local, national and international communities during a rough economy; it is also helping local bike shops gain business by working together.

Opened in 2000 in a two-car garage, Working Bikes has worked its way up to a two-story building at 2434 S. Western Ave.

Ravenscroft said he hated seeing old, used bikes on the side of the road or left in alleys. A self-proclaimed environmentalist and husband of a Peace Corps member, he said he decided to create a place where old and broken bikes could be restored and brought back to working condition.

“I wanted to save bikes,” Ravenscroft said. “A couple times a year Pastors for Peace takes a truck to Central America and distributes sewing machines, bicycles and supplies. So we started collecting bicycles (to contribute to the cause.)”

Open just twice a week, Working Bikes accepts bike donations from anyone. Ravenscroft said people simply come into the shop or use one of Working Bike’s designated drop-off locations.

Once the bikes are donated and brought to the shop, volunteers repair and restore the bikes getting them ready to be sold in the store or donated. One of the local charities often used is World-Relief Chicago, Ravenscroft said.

Keri Lucas, director of Educational Services for World–Relief Chicago, said she greatly appreciates the help she has gotten from Working Bikes over the past six years. She said her organization uses the bikes for refugees who have recently arrived in the United States.

Ravenscroft said most charities prefer mountain bikes, not racing bikes. He said once enough bikes are prepared they are shipped through the country to the most needy locations.

Locally, Working Bikes sells about 1,500 bikes each year. Working Bikes also sells what Ravenscroft said are the bare minimum in necessities, such as headlamps and tail lamps. He said they generally raise $300,000 each year – money that is spent on rent, bike shipping costs and employees.

Working Bikes has shipped to the Gulf Coast, Ghana, Tanzania, Angola, Cuba, Guatemala and Peru, and the group often pays the shipping costs.

“We made it cool and possible to ride the old bikes,” Ravenscroft said about the types of bikes that sell locally. “It used to be that people would just go to Target and buy a bike, but now people want to ride the old bikes, and we take credit for that.”

Ronald Boi, owner of RRBcycles, values the purpose and model that Working Bikes takes on.

“It works well for all parties involved,” he said. “And it keeps these bicycles from going to the landfill. The customers are very pleased to donate bicycles to this.”

Vince Boyer, owner of Village Cyclesport in Elk Grove, occasionally partners with Working Bikes. He said its an organization that really helps a lot of people.

“Customers are happy to help people that are in need of bicycles,” he said. “Instead of selling them (bikes) for $20 at a garage sale, they’re going to someone that could really use them.”

Working Bikes does not repair bikes that have been purchased at other bikes shops in Chicago. Ravenscroft said this helps other bike shops in the city. Instead of fixing the bikes for free, they send potential customers to other bikes shops, like  Blue City Cycles located at 32nd and Halsted.

“It’s really helpful to have a really good working relationship like we have with them, so you can direct people to the right places,” says Clare Knieper, co-owner of Blue City Cycles. “They have the cheapest used bikes in the city, and we send a lot of people over there, and often when people come in looking for repairs, they send them to our bike shop.”

Ravenscroft is satisfied with the productivity of Working Bikes.

“A grand total of 6,000 bikes have been rescued from the smelter each year in the Midwest,” he said.

Illinois lawmakers are currently pondering two child helmet bills. HB 6114, introduced by Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) at the urging of the American Academy of Pediatrics, would require kids 17 and under to wear helmets while biking on any public road or sidewalk, or their parents would face a $30 fine. Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) is leading a similar bill through the Senate, which would apply to kids 15 and younger.

Helmet advocates and doctors argue the law is a common sense way to prevent brain injury. Wearing helmets would prevent up to 45,000 head injuries per year in the U.S., said Scott Allen, executive director of the Illinois chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children ages 5 to 14, the age bracket where bike injuries are most common, would especially benefit, he said.

But not all biking advocates are on board with the bill, and motorcyclists and equestrians – leery that their heads will be lawmakers’ next target – are fighting it too.

Rob Sadowsky, executive director for the Active Transportation Alliance, said his group supports helmet wearing for all ages but has found that helmet laws are not effective. Supporting this is the fact that Chicago has one of the highest rates of helmet wearing in the country, he said, even though it is not required by law.

Bike safety education is a better way to get the message out, Sadowsky said, but neither Hamos’ or Silverstein’s bill comes with money for a public awareness campaign.

“The law alone is not enough to change behavior,” Sadowsky said. “You have to tie it to education.” He likened the helmet legislation to the state’s seatbelt laws, which did not gain traction with motorists until the state poured money into a “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

But opponents’ biggest concern is that a helmet law could open the floodgates to a number of intrusive laws.

“The risks of a head injury while biking is comparable to walking, rollerblading, even showering,” Sadowsky said. “At some point, we have to be very careful. Do we need a helmet for every activity?”

Motorcycle advocates say we don’t, and argue that a helmet law would be a step in the wrong direction toward big government. They successfully lobbied against an earlier bill by Hamos that would have required children to wear helmets while riding on the back of motorcycles.

“The belief is that government is there to protect you from yourself,” said George Tinkham, spokesman for the Illinois motorcyclist advocacy group ABATE. “The situation is not so dire that mommy and daddy have to be pushed aside and big brother has to step in.”

Child helmet laws are already on the books in five Illinois cities – Barrington, Cicero, Inverness, Libertyville and Skokie.

Kathy Phelan, trauma coordinator at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, said she has seen a “significant decrease” in bike-related head traumas in her 29 years at the hospital, largely because of a surge in helmet wearing. She was unsure if the drop was due to the city’s 1997 law mandating helmets for children under 17 or changing public opinion.

“When I was a kid, you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a helmet. You’d be a total dork,” agreed Mike Deering, spokesman for the Barrington hospital. “Now you wouldn’t dare let (your kids) go out without a helmet on.”

Advocate Good Shepherd has held several bike helmet giveaways, Phelan said. The hospital also gives free helmets to bike injury patients when they do not own one or when their helmet has been cracked in an accident.

Columbia Sportswear and the non-profit Active Transportation Alliance are teaming up to celebrate the opening of Columbia Sportswear’s first Chicago store.

For the store’s Grand Opening weekend, from Friday, March 12 – Sunday, March 14, the Active Transportation Alliance will receive 10 percent of all gross sales at the store. Active Trans members will also get a 20 percent discount through a members-only coupon. There will also be live music and giveaway prizes.

WHAT: Columbia Sportwear Grand Opening

WHEN: Friday, March 12 – Sunday March 14

WHERE: 830 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago

You can register now for Bike the Drive 2010

This signal event allows bike riders to pedal up and down the entire length of Lake Shore Drive, from the Museum of Science and Industry to Hollywood, while the Drive is closed to auto traffic.

Bike the Drive benefits the Active Transportation Alliance’s work to improve biking, walking and transit in Chicagoland. There are rest stops with refreshments along the way, first-aid and emergency care if there are accidents, and a host of friendly photographers will snap a picture of you in action as you pedal along. This year, you can attend without having to drive downtown. Stay at The Fairmont Hotel Chicago, Bike the Drive’s official hotel, located less than a mile from the start/finish area. Pay just $149 for a room at this luxurious hotel that offers valet bike service!

Learn more about this deal and other great opportunities when visiting Chicago for Bike the Drive. Bike the Drive 2010 merchandise like jerseys, shorts and more are available when you register, if you want to remember your ride with a t-shirt or something.

Sign up for Bike the Drive or for more information, contact, director of communications for the Active Transportation Alliance, at (312) 427-3325, ext., 224.

The reviews and ratings help you figure out which one will give you the kind of information you need to get around. How about giving one of these apps as a holiday gift? If someone uses it to get around and save time or energy, it’s a little green for the holidays, right?

Chicagoland bikers can choose from Ride the City (4 stars), Bike Your Drive (2 stars) with its attempt track your bike mileage in terms of C02 offsets, or EveryTrail (2 stars.)

The site has a larger agenda, and that is to encourage government agencies to open up public data to the public in order to make public transit more convenient. The more convenient public transit is, the more we will all use it, thus conserving energy and curbing CO2. The site is supported by a Rockefeller Foundation grant, which is deliciously ironic because it was John D. Rockefeller who transformed oil into “black gold.”

According to the site, “lack of open data is the biggest barrier to software innovation. One of City-Go-Round’s goals is to make all public transit data public. To do this, we show the benefit of providing open data (innovative apps built on top of that data) and also provide a list of agencies who haven’t yet opened their data.”

They match two public transportation databases to identify which agencies do and don’t provide open data. And if you work for a transit agency, they tell you how to make sure the data from your organization is open.

See a sample for zipcode 60605.

Left for bikes.

The City gets points for leaving old parking meters in place in some busy areas, with signs explaining they don’t work as parking meters anymore, but they are for bicyclists (check the corner of Roosevelt and Wabash by the Jewel, for example).

Tracy Schwarz has a great short piece in The RedEye about the inequality of distribution of city services expressed in terms of access to bike racks. However, this might be your fault, or your neighbor’s, not the fault of anyone downtown. Bike rack installations are triggered by citizen calls to the general purpose city services number, 311. So if there are more in some neighborhoods than others, bicyclists need to get on phone to City Hall. Schwarz notes that,

West Town, which includes Wicker Park, Noble Square and  Ukrainian Village, is the friendliest community area for cyclists. West Town has 306 bike rack locations, not including racks at public transportation stations, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.

But if you’re on the South Side, specifically in Riverdale, Burnside or Oakland, you may be forced to lock your ride to a street sign. Those locations have the fewest bike racks, CDOT data shows.

If you are a rider who lives outside of West Town, you can get on the phone and register your request at 311. West Towners can call, too, but in the interest of fairness, and fostering cycling as a viable alternative to driving around the city, it will serve the public domain to spread the bike racks around wherever they are needed. There is hope, continues Schwarz,

In the next few years, the city plans to augment bike parking, specifically in office buildings, universities, hospitals and retail centers, under Mayor Daley’s Bike 2015 plan, which seeks to increase bicycle use among city residents so that 5 percent of all trips less than five miles are by bicycle.

This is from the City of Chicago Department of Transportation‘s Bicycle Program about how to get a bike rack near your favorite hang-out, or to locate one before you travel to mass transit:

Steve Vance has this fantastic image and a brief note about his work behind the scenes with the data that goes into an excellent infographic like this (from the RedEye) on his Flickr.com site. This is a concrete example of how opening up data can serve the public on many levels and make government officials and workers feel good about their works, because they can document how they are serving the needs of those they represent.

Communities around the region are taking part in Chicagoland Car-Free Day with events and special offers, including Break the Gridlock’s One Million Less Cars rally at Daley Plaza at 5:30 p.m. and I-Go Car Sharing’s special discount.

“You will be amazed at the sights and sounds you can experience without a car,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director at the Active Transportation Alliance. “You will feel re-energized by your new routine while cutting down on carbon.”

Resources like RTA’s trip planner, www.goroo.com, bike commuting tips and www.PaceRideShare.com will help commuters every step of the way.

“The RTA is pleased to partner with the Active Transportation Alliance on Chicagoland’s inaugural Car-Free Day,” said Steve Schlickman, Executive Director of the RTA. “This is a great opportunity for the transit agencies to collaborate and remind commuters that our region has an all-access transit system that’s easily accessible, saves time and money.”

Organizations and communities can still partner with Chicagoland Car-Free Day. Contact Ethan Spotts at [email protected] or 312.427.3325 x 287 to learn more.

Chicagoland Car-Free Day Sept. 22 coincides with similar events around the world that encourages people to go sans auto for one day.

Find out more about Chicagoland Car-Free Day at www.chicagolandcarfree.org

Contacts for further information are:
Margo O’Hara, Active Transportation Alliance
312.427.3325 x 224
[email protected]

Diane Palmer, Director of Communications, RTA
Office: 312-913-3282
Cell: 312-907-6902
[email protected]

ABOUT METRA
Metra provides more

Image via Wikipedia

than 80 million rides annually on 11 rail lines serving more than 100 communities at 239 rail stations in the six-county metropolitan area. For complete schedule information, customers may contact Metra Passenger Services, 312-322-6777, during business hours, visit www.metrarail.com, or call the RTA Travel Information Center at 836-7000 (city or suburbs).

ABOUT ACTIVE TRANS
The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. Formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

ABOUT RTA
The RTA provides financial oversight, funding and regional planning for the three public transit operations in Northeastern Illinois: The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and train, Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban bus and paratransit. For more information, visit www.rtachicago.com and www.MovingBeyondCongestion.org.

ABOUT CTA
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) operates the nation’s second largest public transportation system providing both bus and rail service. On an average weekday, 1.7 million rides are taken on CTA. The CTA is a regional transit system that serves 40 suburbs, in addition to the City of Chicago, and provides 81 percent of the public transit trips in the six-county Chicago Metropolitan-area region either with direct service or connecting service to Metra and Pace.

ABOUT PACE
Pace, the suburban bus division of the RTA, provides fixed route bus, ADA paratransit, dial-a-ride and ridesharing services throughout northeastern Illinois. Pace has the seventh-largest bus fleet in North America, one of the largest vanpool programs in the United States, and its regional ADA Paratransit service is estimated to be the largest such operation in the world. In 2008, total ridership on Pace service was more than 40.5 million, its second largest total in the agency’s 25 year history.”

Summer and vacation go hand in hand. But for too many kids, “vacation” just means a break from school, because they rarely actually go anywhere. Instead, they spend most of their summer inside the house, or hanging around the neighborhood. But for the last ten years, Andrew Dortch of Dortch Enterprises has offered inner-city youth a unique and productive alternative: exploring Chicago on their bicycles.

“Chicago is a big city with a lot to see,” Dortch said. “Most of the kids out there don’t know how to get around.”

Dortch Enterprises' Cycling Voyagers embark on another adventure.

Dortch and his 27 Cycling Voyagers set out every other weekday on their bikes in search of something new. The program, based out of East Garfield Park, runs from June to August and gives young Chicagoans an opportunity to see the city in a new way, and visit places they’ve never been.

The idea itself is fairly innovative. Picture 20-or-so uniformed kids riding down the street in an ordered line, heading to a museum or a riverboat ride. An unusual sight to be sure. But Dortch feels the exploration is a prime way to open the imagination.

“I just want to give the kids the adventure,” he said. “They don’t have to be in the country to have that.”

The program’s campers, who range in age from 9 to 16, can vouch for that. “Cycling Voyagers has shown me places in Chicago I’d never seen before,” 13-year-old Jonmella Sutton said. “And it’s a good way to get exercise.”

An additional benefit of the program is the healthy, active lifestyle it promotes. “Most of these kids are losing weight and becoming better athletes,” Dortch said.

The kids at Dortch Enterprises’ camp come from various neighborhoods on the West and South Sides. This summer, riding destinations have included Chinatown, Navy Pier, the Taste of Chicago and the Lincoln Park Zoo.

For Measha Morrow, who started as a camper four years ago, the program has served as an introduction to everything Chicago has to offer. “I’ve been all over the city now,” the 17-year-old said. “My favorite place would have to be Foster Beach.”

Now a junior counselor, Measha helps Dortch with organization, securing bikes during destination tours and lunch breaks, and keeping a watchful eye on the other kids.

“When we’re on the road, Mr. Dortch is in the front and I’m in the back. If one of the kids has to stop or something breaks, it’s my job to help them fix it and get moving,” Measha said. “It’s shown me how to be more responsible, how to look out for others.”

Some Cycling Voyagers on a break near Madison Street.

Aaliyah McFarland, who is 12 and in her second year with the program, came back this summer because of something most fitness-oriented camps don’t offer. “You get exercise, but you also get to see a lot of places you wouldn’t normally.” Places like the Field Museum, about which she said: “I learned a lot about history, about people and places I’d never heard of.”

On days when they aren’t on their bikes, the kids often head to Altgeld Park for organized youth sports. “The Cycling Voyagers have a basketball team, record 22-5,” Dortch said. “We’re playing teams of older kids, teams with guys that are six-and-a-half feet tall. But we can win because we work as a team.”

Team training is also important for safety reasons. The riding column has very strict safety rules because, biker-friendly as Chicago is, you can’t be too careful. “Every year we get new helmets at a discount from Bell Sports,” Dortch said. “We wear gold t-shirts when we’re riding, use the Chicago Bicycle Book as a safety basis, and always signal left and right.”

The program receives grants from LISC as well as local support from Wallace Catfish Corner restaurant in East Garfield Park, which provides discount meals for the kids. But things have gotten tight in recent years.

A column of riders continues the journey.

“I don’t get a lot of East Garfield Park kids,” Dortch said. “They can’t afford to do the camp.”  Participants must have their own bicycles to join, and grant money – for a variety of economic reasons – has been diminishing since 2002.  Prior to the cuts, the program was host to over a hundred riders.

Despite the waning numbers and financial issues, Dortch is optimistic about the future of the program, mostly because he and the campers enjoy it so much.

“I guess I just like to ride around Chicago with the kids,” he said. “We see the city, but my goal is really just to get the kids to smile.”

For the second year, Open Streets closed streets in the North Lawndale, Garfield Park, Logan Square and Humboldt Park neighborhoods for residents of all ages looking to ride, walk, dance or rollerblade

The event brought residents from across the city to enjoy everything from biking and knitting to dancing and face painting. The sounds of everyone from the O’Jays, to Mary J. Blige and  Coldplay served as a soundtrack for bikers as they wound their way through the neighborhoods.

Open Spaces was hosted by Active Transportation Alliance, a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization

Spencer rounds the corner at Independence and Jackson Ave. with his mobile sound system blasting the sounds of the O'Jays

that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit safe, convenient and fun.

Additional support was provided Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Chicago Community Trust.

Theo the clown creates animal balloons for children in Garfield Park, near Independence Ave. and Douglas Blvd. Photo by Jennifer T. Lacey

A boy gets his face painted. Photo by Jennifer T. Lacey

A biker rests along the route. Photo by Jennifer T. Lacey

El Stitch y Bitch group members host a knitting circle in Doublas Park while working on a knitted pinata for an upcoming art festival. The group gathers in Pilsen to share stories and knitting techniques. Photo by Jennifer T. Lacey

Nahui Ollin (4 movements) a dance troupe perform a ritual dance of thanksgiving and celebrating life. The group is located in Pilsen/Little Village. Photo by Jennifer T. Lacey

Last year at Open Streets (Photo by Kate Tully)

We can’t cover eight miles alone, so help us “crowdsource” everything that is going on.

Have Fun and Be a Reporter for Chicagotalks on Saturday

There is no event registration, and participants can join the fun anywhere along the route.

If you take advantage of Open Streets, we’d like you to call in a story from your cellphone. Just dial 312 436-1820 and leave a voice mail update for us (example at the end of this post.)

You can also upload pictures and tell us where you are, what you are doing, who you see, etc. This is such a unique event and we’d like to show it from different points of view.

So, become a citizen journalist. Just register with our Web site, and put your photos, video or story on Chicagotalks.

Follow the boulevards from Logan Square to Little Village, passing through Humboldt Park, North Lawndale and Garfield Park along the way.

See www.openstreetschicago.org for a full map.

A special VIP event with local aldermen and Open Streets funders will take place at 9 a.m. at the Garfield Park Conservatory. Can you take some photos for us and tell us who’s in the photo. The mayor is a fan of bicycling. I wonder if he’ll be there with his bike?

Open Streets is brought to you by Active Transportation Alliance with major funding provided by the Chicago Community Trust. It’s also supported by Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit safe, convenient and fun. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

If you have questions about reporting for Chicagotalks.org, you can , Barbara Iverson.

Hear a sample cellphone update.

By Patrick Barry of LISC Chicago

July 6, 2009 – Remember Sunday Parkways, that experiment last fall that closed down Chicago boulevards to cars and opened them up to thousands of cyclists, pedestrians and skaters? It’s back. Renamed Open Streets, it will take place this year on Saturday, August 1, across 7.5 miles of wide-open roads through five communities: Logan Square, Humboldt Park, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale and Little Village.

Like last year, neighborhood groups and others will sponsor activities along the route, from exercise stations to dance and music performances. I rode one of last year’s two Sunday-morning events and it was a blast, so much fun that complete strangers spent a lot of time greeting each other and talking.

Still, I had to grumble when I read in the New York Times that that other city will shut down 6.9 miles of Manhattan for three Saturday-morning events and sponsor dozens of additional “Weekend Walks” in the boroughs. This is the same city that has put benches and chairs and bike paths on a traffic-free Broadway, changing completely the atmosphere (literally) on that once-chaotic street.

So let’s get out there and have fun on August 1 in Chicago, and then figure out what it takes to catch up to other cities (Quito, Ecuador; Bogotá, Colombia; Guadalajara, Mexico; Portland, Oregon) that are making us look bad.

Get free tune ups, coffee, and see more about how you can be part of the Bike Commuter Challenge.

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“There’s something wrong when we drive our cars to ride a stationary bike at an indoor gym,” said Quigley. “The 5th Congressional District sent me to Washington to fight to raise America’s environmental standards and to put an end to the practices that have led to global warming and that’s what I plan to do in Congress. But when I’m in Washington, I will fight to change America’s standards by riding my bike in place of taking my car.”

Congressman Quigley was elected to the seat vacated by Rahm Emmanuel. He has been a leader in environmental issues in Cook County, where he served as Cook County Commissioner, until his recent election to the House of Representatives.

Recognized by the Chicago Reader as “arguably the greenest elected official in Chicago, ” Quigley has become a member of the Congressional Bike Caucus, a bipartisan caucus of the United States House of Representatives founded by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). The caucus’ purpose is to promote cycling by improving infrastructure and increasing awareness of cyclists.

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Each October, millions of children, parents, teachers and community leaders across the globe walk, bicycle, skate, scooter or roll to school to celebrate Walk to School Day. It is an energizing event, reminding parents and children alike of the simple joy of walking and rolling to school.

In the United States today, 18 percent of kids walk or bike to school, versus 49 percent in 1969, according to the most recent CDC data (2001).

Grant packages include $500 in cash and a variety of promotional materials and refreshment items. Only individual schools can apply. All public and private schools in Cook, DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, Kendall and McHenry counties are eligible.

Walk and Roll to School Day Mini-Grant guidelines and application form is available online at www.activetrans.org/walkandroll. Questions? Contact the Mini-Grant Coordinator at 312.427.3325 x236 or [email protected].

Previous grant winners have staged Walk and Roll to School events, including rallies and breakfasts. Some have used the grant for incentives that encourage students to walk, bike and roll to school year-round.

View the 2008 Walk and Bike to School report online at: www.activetrans.org/international-walk-school-day

Walk and Roll to School Day Mini-Grant program sponsors are AAA Chicago, Active Transportation Alliance, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Clif, FedEx, Safe Kids, Stakeholder’s Collaboration (Respiratory Health Association) and Village Cycling Center. Partners are the Cook County Department of Public Health, Illinois Principals Association, League of Illinois Bicyclists and Walk Across Illinois.

Tyler was fatally struck by a car while riding his bicycle at the intersection of Logan Boulevard and Western Avenue on April 20, 2008, one week before his 23rd birthday. The memorial marked one year since his death.

The memorial began at Logan Boulevard and Campbell and then walked to the site of a ghost bike installed in Tyler’s honor at Logan Boulevard and Western Avenue.

The ghost bike is a sad safety reminder and memorial to cyclists.

“His missing frame will forever leave a hole wherever we stand, the echo of his laugh will linger in the air wherever we go,” the Fabeck family said.

Fewer than ten cyclists are killed each year in the city of Chicago. Many more are severely injured.

“Tyler’s death is unfair and tragic,” said Active Trans Executive Director Rob Sadowksy. “We must take action to make the streets safer for everyone – particularly pedestrians and cyclists who are the most vulnerable to crashes.”

Speeding, distracted driving, and street design can all contribute to crashes.

“There are steps that anyone can take to ensure cyclists’ safety: redesigning intersections, increased enforcement and safer driving can drastically improve our safety,” Sadowsky said.

The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. Formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

by: Margo O’Hara
Tour de France veteran and racing expert Robbie Ventura will share his behind-the-scenes racing stories 7-9 p.m. April 16 at his Trek Store at 1925 Skokie Valley in Highland Park. Active Transportation Alliance members get in free, and non-members can join at the door for only $25.

A VIP pre-event training session from 6-7 p.m. is a chance to members to spend time with the pro and his cycling advice. VIP tickets are available for $25 at http://activetrans.org/trekstore/vip

Party-goers will enjoy light snacks and drinks and can bid on coveted goodies. And don’t overlook the merchandise – Members get discounts on store products at the event.

When: 7-9 p.m. April 16; $25 VIP pre-event 6-7 p.m.
Where: Trek Store 1925 Skokie Valley in Highland Park
Cost: Free to Active Trans members, $25 for non-members.
RSVP: http://www.activetrans.org/trekstore/rsvp

The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. Formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

9 W Hubbard St. Suite 402 | Chicago, IL 60610-6545 US

Sunday Parkways transform streets into physical activity utopia

Residents poured onto Chicago streets today to dance, play, bike, walk and run for the first Sunday Parkways event in the city. The streets transformed into parks as car traffic was limited and Chicagoans temporarily reclaimed the streets.

Participants engaged in every kind of physical activity — from running and biking along the route to yoga, salsa dancing and basketball at activity stations in Palmer Square, Humboldt Park and Garfield Park.

“Sunday Parkways capitalizes on the beauty of our city’s boulevard system framed in the Burnham Plan; and by opening up the boulevards to residents, we will transform these spaces into venues for healthy living and community life,” said Terry Mazany, president and chief executive officer of The Chicago Community Trust. The Chicago Community Trust and Local Initiatives Support Corporation have provided major funding for the event.

A second event will take place 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Garfield Park, North Lawndale and Little Village neighborhoods. The event is free and no registration is required; residents can join the route at any time, take advantage of activity stations located in Garfield Park, Douglas Park and Telpochcalli Community School, and enjoy all their neighborhoods have to offer.

A Schwinn e-bike

An e-bike that I test rode at “Bike the Drive,” featured a small battery that mounted below the luggage rack on the rear wheel. The bike was a Schwinn commuter style bike , and with the motor which is in a special front axle and hub, and the battery, I could still lift the bike off the ground. These bikes seem a bit safer than old-school electric bikes, because the motor only works when you are pedaling. Thus, this is a a cyclist assist technology, not self-propulsion.

As you pedal, you use a thumb-operated switch on the handlebars to turn the assist on. If you stop pedaling, the motor turns off. On the grass in Grant Park, the assist moved the bike along smartly. It can move a cyclist at about 20 mph, depending on weight, load, and terrain. The battery can power the motor for about 20 miles, again depending on terrain, etc. As long as you don’t work too far from home, you could ride it, plug-in the battery, and be fully charged for the ride home.

Of course, if you used it sporadically, like to get up a hill, or travel on a busy road for a stretch, the battery charge would last longer. The attractive feature of Schwinn’s battery and motor, is that it is fit onto existing bicycles. There are other e-bikes that are built specially for the motor and battery.

All around Chicago, it is obvious from a look at the streets, to a glance at bike racks, that cycling is very popular these days. Whether it is an avocation or a transportation necessity, depends on your pocketbook.

In case you are looking for a bike, here is list of Chicago bike shops, but check out the Chicago Bicycling Federation site, too. While there has been a constant core of cyclo-commuters and diehards in Chicago’s urban center, interest in the suburbs and exurbs is growing as are sales of new bikes.

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Categories:
At Play Bicycling Public Sports Transportation

Sept. 4, 2008 – Ald. Rey Colon (35th) and other local leaders want Chicago cyclists and pedestrians to fill several major West Side boulevards in October to promote active lifestyles and community interaction.

“We already know that telling people to eat less and exercise more is not enough,”

Colon said last month at a press conference announcing the October events. “Americans will be fat in the next 30 years if current obesity trends continue.”

BickerBikes participants, part of a Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp. program that teaches youngsters how to repair bikes, rode to the press conference.

The project, known as “Sunday Parkways ,” will close off sections of Chicago boulevards to cars on Oct. 5 and Oct. 26, and allow bicyclists and pedestrians to take over the streets from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. On Oct. 5, the route will run from Kedzie and Logan boulevards to Woodward Drive and Jackson Boulevard. On Oct. 26, the route will run from 24th Street and California Avenue to Lake Street and Central Park Avenue.

West Side residents, who have fewer parks that other Chicagoans, should be primary beneficiaries of the program, said Lissette Castañeda, president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (one of five community-based organizations that developed the pilot project). The Little Village and Logan Square neighborhoods rank first and second among the city’s 77 neighborhoods in paucity of green space, Castañeda said, giving residents little access to recreational areas.

“Some neighborhoods have bike paths and forest preserves” – their own Sunday parkways, she said.

Eunita Rushing, president of the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance , said the project, three years in the making, coincides with her organization’s mission to “enhance the environmental, social and economic vitality of Chicago’s West Side.”

“Sunday Parkways offers the opportunity to share culture by tearing down the boundaries and expanding the community,” said Rushing. “It promotes time with families and camaraderie among neighbors.”

Eunita Rushing, president of the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance

Similar projects in Mexico and Colombia have been successful, said Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th), noting that Sunday Parkways organizers traveled beyond U.S. borders to see what was being done elsewhere. New York City, he said, also recently implemented its own version, known as “Summer Streets ,” every Saturday.

“If the community understands why we’re walking, strolling or walking that day, it will be educational for others too,” said Reboyras, adding he hopes it will become a long-term, local tradition.

Local residents are responding with enthusiasm to the plan.

“I’m excited that (community leaders) are recognizing that bikes don’t just go from outskirts of the city to downtown,” said Sarah Miller, youth instructor of the Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp ., another non-profit organization involved in the development of Sunday Parkways.

Yahaira Ramirez, a nurse at Norwegian American Hospital, plans to participate next month. Street closings on those two Sundays should not cause problems, she said, since patients can access the hospital from various entrances.

Chicago Police Officer Keith Cali of the 13th District doubts extra police patrols will be needed to help with the event.

“Most businesses are closed on Sunday, and the boulevard is so big that it doesn’t allow for much conflict,” said Cali, an 18-year veteran officer who regularly patrols the Humboldt Park area. “I’d even attend that day, but I’ll be on vacation.”

Funding for the project came from several local groups, including Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), The Chicago Community Trust and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation . The project also includes partnerships with five communities and the Chicago Park District.

The Bloomingdale Trail – named after Bloomingdale Avenue, which runs adjacent to the viaduct – would run through Wicker Park, Bucktown, Humboldt Park and Logan Square, from Ashland Avenue near the Chicago River to Ridgeway Avenue near the McCormick Tribune YMCA. It could eventually link to trails heading north to Ravenswood and south to the Loop.

Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail has been working with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, the Trust for Public Land and neighborhood residents to muster support and funds for the project. Last summer the city acquired several parcels of land in Logan Square between Albany Avenue and Whipple Street, and the park district hopes to build a children’s park on the land to serve as an access point for the trail, where bikers and pedestrians can enter and exit the elevated path.

“The Albany-Whipple site will be a boost to the future Bloomingdale Trail, but it’s also vital to give kids a place to play sooner than later,” said Beth White, director of the Trust for Public Land’s Chicago area office.

Christ Gent, deputy director of Chicago Park District‘s Planning & Development, said the park would feature a permeable rubber surface, fountains and ramp to the Bloomingdale Trail. The land was purchased by the Trust for Public Land in the summer of 2006. The park district realized the trail would need access points, said Gent, but nobody wanted to displace people in the surrounding high-density areas. The design for the access ramp features a tight zigzag to maximize the limited space while remaining wheelchair friendly. Still, the park district hopes to acquire a final, vacant parcel of land in order to expand the park and design a larger ramp.

According to the Logan Square Neighborhood Association and a 2004 open-space study, that Northwest Side community has the second smallest amount of park space out of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods. Although the Chicago Park District would like to see at least two acres of open space for every 1,000 residents, Logan Square has only one half acre for every 1,000 residents. The Bloomingdale Trail would bring 12 new acres, said Gent.

“There are 11 schools within a quarter mile of the trail, with three right on it. For them, the Bloomingdale Trail will provide safe routes to school, easy access to parks and a car-less oasis to walk, bike and explore with their family and friends,” said Ben Helphand, co-founder of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail.

Last month at a meeting about the trail, a resident voiced concern about weeds along the elevated path and complained about unkempt land encroaching into her backyard. Right now, said Gent, the park district is not responsible for land along the viaducts because the Canadian Pacific Railway still owns the railroad. Once the Chicago Park District acquires the property, it will maintain the trail and parkland. The trail itself will be lit and fenced, said Gent, but not gated.

Construction of the Albany-Whipple access ramp and children’s park is being funded in part by an Open Space Land Acquisition and Development Grant and in part by the Chicago Park District. Gent said $400,000 will come from the grant and another $400,000 from the park district’s budget. The cost of the entire project, transforming an abandoned railroad into a usable trail, is estimated to be $41.8 million.

“It’s a long-term process,” said Gent. “It’ll be at least five years before a shovel hits the ground.”

http://www.newcommunities.org/cmaimages/Bloomingdale-shrine.jpg Lucy Gomez-Feliciano, a health organizer for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, has been working with residents to build support. Some people fear the Bloomingdale Trail will invite more crime, she said, but already the trail is littered with garbage, makeshift shelters and used needles. Instead of kids going up and poking around abandoned railroad tracks, she said, a converted greenway maintained by the park district will give them a safe and clean place to play.

Logan Square resident Kerry Geiger lives on Whipple Street, beside the proposed children’s park. His biggest concern isn’t safety; he just wants to be able to back his car out of his driveway. The park district wants to build a fence around the park, which would cut through what once was an alley, and Geiger said he isn’t sure he’ll have enough room to park anymore. He will have to take his concerns to the Chicago Department of Transportation , said Gent, as the park district doesn’t have jurisdiction over the roadways.

As for the playground itself, Geiger doesn’t mind. His property value will go up due to the parkland, he said, and his grandkids will finally have somewhere to play.

“It might get noisy,” he said. “I’ll just turn my music up. No big deal.”

Representatives from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation , the Transit Riders’ Alliance and the Illinois Public Interest Research Group described their vision for priorities in the state capital bill that places an emphasis on reducing congestion by reducing overall vehicle miles traveled in cars and increasing travel by walking, biking and transit.

Advocates say the capital bill, as proposed by the Gov. Rod Blagojevich , falls short not only of the needed resources to maintain current service and facilities, but does not adequately plan for expansion of transit service and bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

The groups say the $25 billion capital bill is a chance for legislators to make a smart investment in the state’s transportation future that makes it easier for Illinois residents to leave their cars at home.

“If this type of dismal transit funding continues, we can expect nothing less than severe decrease in air quality, choked roadways and more Illinois residents trapped in their cars, spending a frightening amount of money on transportation,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.

Active transportation options – transit, biking and walking – offer a solution to many of the crises Illinois residents fight: increased spending on gas, high rates of obesity, low air quality and clogged roadways.

The Transit Riders’ Alliance is a project of the Midwest High Speed Rail , a member-supported non-profit working for fast, frequent and dependable trains linking the entire Midwest.

The non-profit Chicagoland Bicycle Federation has worked for more than 20 years to engage people in bicycling, encourage activity, increase traffic safety, and design a world-class bicycle facilities network. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is North America‘s largest bicycling and pedestrian advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, more than 1,000 volunteers and 35 full- and part-time staff.