Extra, Extra
Around Town
Health Care Bill Heads To U.S. House Floor For Debate, Vote
Alleged Lottery Ticket Con Artists Charged
Is Sammy Sosa Turning White?
The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is on a mission to get our butts out of our cars and off the CTA’s new upholstery, and onto a bike seat pronto. They’re teaming up with the City of for the first official Bike to Work Week which aims to open Chicagoans’ minds to becoming full-time bike commuters.
The Federation encourages biking for the obvious reasons: it’s environmentally friendly, reduces traffic, and potentially minimizes transportation costs. According to them, only 7-10 percent of bikers commute to work regularly, so if those numbers increased, the positive impact would as well.
To make the ride a little more comfortable, the Federation has set up Bicycle Commuter Stations in different spots everyday around town where new bikers can pick up free coffee and energizing snacks, as well as lube and pump. (Their bike chains and tires, respectively.)
If you’re feeling extra motivated and want to start the trend in your office, there’s still time for your company to sign up for the Bicycle Commuter Challenge and attempt to recruit the highest percentage of bikers in the city. If you work for large corporation there’s a good chance your company is already registered. Check here to see.
Bike to Work Week starts Saturday, June 7 and concludes with a rally in Daley Plaza on Friday, June 13. Drivers, be extra careful opening doors.
Photo by pntphoto.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Serious question: For those who bike to work, do you find there are enough racks, or other places to store your bikes?
Second serious question: For those who bike to work and need to adhere to a more business side of the business casual, how do you simultaneously dress for work and dress for biking?
Unfortunately Bike to Work Week coincides with a forecast of rain all week. Does not bode well.
Bike to work week? I do it from March to December! As long as it's not snowing. Fuck off high cholesterol! Fuck off stomach flab! Fuck off high blood pressure! Just had to brag.
No, I don't work downtown. I live and work near O'Hare and I love it.
@RG: There is just no way I could do it. I am cursed with genes that dictate heavy perspiration with the first bird chirp of summer. I'd be sponge-bathing myself in the bathroom sink which would be discouraged. I envy those with showers in their buildings. If I could do that, I'd bike every day, weather permitting.
Which in turn begs the question: For those coming from the west, once you hit the downtown streets (east of Canal on Washington, Monroe, & Jackson), do you find them safe enough?
I'm lucky enough to be able just store my bike in a rarely used room at work.
Registered - I just had tops/pants that would roll up and unpack nicely from the bike bag. I've heard of people who wear suits that bring in a few on a non-biking day to store in the office, and just bring in clean shirts, etc. every day.
Yokna - I have the same issue. I've sponge-bathed in the office restroom... not ideal, but it worked out just fine and nobody complained that I smelled.
Bally's used to offer free showers in the summer if you showed a bike key, not sure if they are still doing that.
They should have done this to coincide with critical mass at the end of the month, and also since I am on vacation next week and I will miss the commuter station by my house :(
To avoid the post-ride sweatiness during work:
-If you work downtown, you can use the McDonald's cycle station for lockers and showers (http://www.chicagobikestation.com/). I've never used it though so maybe some others can leave their thoughts on the place.
-join a gym near work and shower/work out there
-take your bike on the bus to work and bike home
-stop sweating, just let your soul glow.
I do a daily round-trip from Bridgeport to Evanston now that the weather's good. It a fifteen-mile ride takes an hour each way. If I were to make that same trip via CTA, the train ride is ninety minutes (including both the time necessary to head to the station to catch the Orange Line and wait for transfer downtown). I can clean up either in the office (showers) or at a nearby health club.
I just roll up what I wear in the office, put it in a pannier, and head out. For riding I highly recommend getting some clothes that wick the moisture from your body and help maintain a constant body temperature. It really does pull the sweat off you and makes your cleanup easier. Does that mean wearing embarrassing skintight lycra while biking. Not always. Spandex is a privilege, not a right.
Aside from the health benefits, I'm saving twenty bucks a week in transportation costs from not having to take the train, at least.
Matilda: My company has a bike rack next to the back door.
Get Pitlocks and you can pretty much lock to anything.
Bring a small towel and pack your work clothes in a backpack. Towel off when you get to work - it's clean sweat and you won't smell like gym clothes.
Drink a super cold glass of water and you will cool off very quickly.
Thanks for the helpful tips, y'all. I appreciate it. I still haven't committed to buying a bike though, since the most logical route would have me going down Clark (from around Diversey to Chicago & Franklin) and that terrifies me.
I'm a year-round bike commuter who has to dress business casual for work. From September through May I can get away with wearing what I normally wear to work mixed with appropriate outerwear, depending on the weather. From May through September, I ride in my dress pants if it is below 85 to 90, but wear a wicking t-shirt that I change out of for work. If it is over 90, I wear shorts and the t-shirt and just change into work clothes in the bathroom in my office.
I don't have a shower at work, so I shower before I go and use unscented baby-wipes and a towel to clean up when I get to the office. This works fine for my short commute, and I sweat like a pig.
My coworker had a 15 mile commute each way, so she joined the McDonald's cycle center in millennium park. For what its worth, she said the showers and lockers were cleaner and nicer than at her gym. The cycle center also removes all worries about locking up the bike.
If you lock your bike outside, you have to do so with the understanding that it could get stolen (no matter what you do.) My wife was a regular commuter to union station where she then caught the train out to where she works. Someone cut through her kryptonite evolution mini u-lock (second strongest lock you can buy) and a separate chain lock and stole her bike last week. Not trying to discourage anyone from commuting, but it is a consideration and I strongly suggest investing in a top-of-the-line u-lock if you are going to lock outside in the loop.
About the McDonald's cycle center - if it's like it was the last time I used it, in fall of 2006, it's kind of a scam if you bike more than a couple times a week.
Back then, they were making a couple hundred "memberships" available in yearly and (I think) monthly varieties. It was something like $100 for the year, which would absolutely be worth it if it weren't for the small supply and demand problem. Prepare to languish on their waiting list for months and then MAYBE be able to get a membership sometime in October. So what do you do if you can't get a membership?
For a while, you could buy a 10 use card for $10, which was still cool with me. I gladly paid it. Then they got greedy and eliminated the 10 use card in favor of a $3 per use surcharge. Basically, if you ride 4 times a week like I did, that's $52 a month. At that point, I just went ahead and joined a gym, reasoning that for a few bucks more a month, I get shower facilities AND gym facilities (in multiple locations too). It turned out to be the better move, especially during the period from mid November to March when I rarely bike.
Unless things have changed, running the cycle center is just an unpleasant chore that the contractor (Bike Chicago) hired by the city has to deal with so they can make a killing on tours and rentals.
Riding my bike is my job. Year-round... so it's kind of expected that I'm going to show up wherever I need to be all sweaty and bike-y. For the hot and humid days, I go down to a beater, and I always wear Dickies - much more resistant to "bike ass" than jeans. I always have a decent shirt in my pack if I have to meet up with people and not look like a mess. A quick trip to the ladies' room to splash my face with cool water and change shirts is usually all it takes.
I also use Certain-Dri which is an antiperspirant one applies at night - keeps the pits dry and stink-free.
I like Coppertone's Ultra sunscreen (SPF 50) - sweat-proof and while not completely unscented, it's less sunscreen-smelling as others. Burt's Beeswax also makes their lip balm with sunscreen in it - it goes on white, but can be rubbed in. Having slightly-white lips is far better than burned lips, though.
And always, ALWAYS wear a helmet.