April Critical Mass Bike Ride

 Since we moved to Chicago in the late summer of 2011 every now and again we would see a group of hundreds riding bikes around town yelling at the top of their lungs "HAPPY FRIDAY!"  The young, old, hipster, business man, and homeless alike joined forces to completely block the roads and celebrate gorgeous weather and the art of traveling by bicycle.



 Upon further research Hunky discovered Chicago Critical Mass. A group who gathers together on the last Friday of every month to ride a different path - and this past Friday we joined them!

Here I am in Daley Plaza - the gathering space for the event.  It is suggested that you show up at 5:30 - but I believe that we didn't get going until 6:30.  Getting such a large number of people on bikes to cooperate and get on the road was interesting.  We started circling Daley Plaza like a swarm of bees. After about 6 laps whomever was in charge decided that enough people were ready and we took off.

 So many bikes!  I never knew there were so many creative ways to attach children to bikes... I wish we would have gotten photos of all of the creative vehicles - but - Hunky and I are pretty clumsy and I value my life more than a few photos :D

 Several people had fabulous sound systems attached to their bikes playing everything from pulsing house music to Seal...

 Although it looks like all fun and games - the ride from our apartment to Daley Plaza during afternoon rush hour on a Friday was terrifying.  Hunky had to talk me down several times on the way when I was threatening to turn around and go home. I honestly don't know how anyone rides their bikes as a form of transport around here - it is quite scary - seriously - no matter how cautious we are if a car is not paying attention we don't stand a chance.  Critical Mass tries to bring awareness to this issue and reclaim the streets for cyclists one Friday a month.