Hey everyone. Chicago Velo is back online with our brand new site. I hope you like what you see. It’s been a long-term project and I am excited to be back with you and unveil the new site.
We’ve got two new seasons of rides ready and a new poster by Ross Felten to prove it.
Chicago Neighborhood Bike Tours Fall and Winter 2014-2015
Writing about next season or announcing the new season’s tours is always an incongruous activity since it occurs when the weather is so unlike the weather you will be riding in. This past weekend was an exception, and it was the first time that the Spring felt like it could actually lead to a real summer, the perfect time to be doing this.
Saturday was the Tour of Irving Park and it was also the first ride of the year that actually had nice weather. There were 34 riders including myself and all the marshals and it was a fun ride. Irving Park is such a lovely area of town and always makes for a good tour. There are sections with housing common to the large areas of Chicago like bungalows, Tudor revivals, etc., but the Victorians in Old Irving and the bungalows in the Villa are exceptional. Sunday, Riding Michael (Michael Abene, aka Colnago Mike) and I biked up to Fort Sheridan on our first smoothie run of the season. Today I managed a nice ride back there solo and sans smoothie, beneath threatening skies that turned out to be all bluster. Spring…..so awesome.
Summer is even more awesome and filled with great tours this year. In June, I will continue the downtown series I’ve been doing for a few years with the free Tour of the Near North Side done in partnership with the City of Chicago as part of Bike to Work Week. That Friday night is the Night Tour of the Near North Side, where the buildings and sites that appear brilliant in the night and lights are our focus. In July we will revisit the Community Areas of West Town and Avondale, followed by an August running of the Tour of Lincoln Park before ending the summer with a brand new tour of Belmont-Cragin and Hermosa.