Comments on: 2005’s Chicago Late Ride

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By: John

John — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:18:14 +0000

Sorry about those poser guys, but I have to say that you need to accept all types of riders. I don’t go poking fun at the guys who dress up all in spandex pretending to be some sort of “street speed freak.” I’m into single track, DS courses and dirt jump courses but I would never poke fun at a street biker just because they would manage to embarrass themselves the second they leave the pavement. I can’t tell you how many times I have been driving through Barrington Hills and those damn road bikers won’t move ove because they think they own the road. So, please try to be understanding of the different types of riders out there. At least they were trying to be part of a good cause.

By: lidocaine

lidocaine — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:39:02 +0000

You know I did the late ride as well, and have done it off and on over the years. The freakin’ downhillers… I know what you’re talking about. The thing is, they were the *poseur* downhillers. How do I know this? Because anyone that actually takes their mt. bike out more than two or three times a summer is not dumb enough to ride them in the city, let alone a ride that’s supposed to be extremely slow. The fact that they would even point at people and comment on the general speed pretty much validates that point, as anyone in a decent track bike or road rig could blow those guys straight out of the water… and most telling of all? Real speed freaks just look at guys like that and shake their heads; it’s completely silly to try and prove your mad skillz in a crowd consisting of leisurely riders and kids!

Did I mention the insanity of riding full out downhill rigs in THE CITY??

By: Cathy

Cathy — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 19:54:11 +0000

We had an awesome time at the LATE Ride. I got home from work around 10PM and got ready to go and we were out the door. Biked down to the Addison Red Line stop, hopped on the train, and we were on our way. Turns out, we were there WAY early. The lines to pick up packets were pleasantly short, which left us plenty of time to sit around and listen to the Godawful sounds of Chucklemonkeys or whatever the band was called. The interesting thing was that their setlist was AWESOME….mostly Elvis Costello and good Beatles songs, but that was the only good thing. Damn, I was really ready to go. We were the third group back…left around 2AM. The ride was really pleasant. The weather had been ordered up by Central Casting, apparently, because it was PERFECT. It really is amazing riding through Chicago that late at night. I really noticed a lot I had never seen, and most of the route I am very familiar with.
The rest area was WAY too crowded, so we skipped that and at Ashland Ave, we headed South to Montrose and stopped by our house, where we washed up, used the (clean,
non Lepre-can) facilities, let the dogs out to pee, dropped off what we no longer needed, got more water, and then we were on the road again.
Then we hit the Dunkin’ Donuts at Montrose and Clark for some coffee, and headed East on Montrose to the bike path.
We saw that guy who went ass-over-teakettle, too! I hope he was okay…he was down and out when we passed by and the medics were there.
I thought that 98% of the riders were great- I did see some ‘Green’ Group riders that were loud and obnoxious, inebriated by the liberation of being out past curfew. They kept calling out to each other, which is dangerous because the only thing that needs to be yelled out in a group of riders is stuff like “Glass!”
The kids on Elston handing out cold water were awesome…
The cops were amazing, no problems with traffic at all. They were very encouraging towards the end of the ride.
We napped by the Lakefront for about 45 minutes, then found out we still had to go around by the Field Museum and around to the other side of the Fountain.
Breakfast was, well, McDonalds, but it’s the thought that counts. I’m not one of these weird “Clowns scare me” people, but dammit, Ronald McDonald in his jogging suit was FREAKING me out. I half expected him to reach behind his back and pull out a bloody axe and start chasing people. I only wish they would have a PARTY after the ride, with a beer tent, and a band (please not the Chucklemonkeys) and all that so that people could socialize and party a bit before going home. So what if it’s 6:30 AM? We’ve been up all night! I wanted a beer dammit!
All in all, it was an awesome ride and I can’t wait to do it again.