L as in Long Trip

By Matt Wood in News on Nov 6, 2006 3:39PM

Friend of Chicagoist and self-avowed CTA nerd Tony Coppoletta proposed an idea this weekend that now has us obsessed: seeing how long it would take to ride every single inch of the El on one fare. Inspired by the ongoing "subway challenge" in New York, in which riders tackle the entire MTA system on one token in the shortest time possible, Tony started thinking about how this would work in Chicago, and even comes up with a theoretical route.

We think this sounds fascinating, so our not-so-subtle suggestion to Tony here is: do it, dude. You've already wowed us with your Soul of Chicago Express Tour, so we'd love to see an organized sprint through the entire system. However, our interest isn't so much in setting a one-fare record as it is riding the El end-to-end. We've ridden every branch of the El except the Yellow/Skokie Swift, but not to the very end of each line, and our internal checklist of stations yearns to be completed. We might suggest focusing on thoroughness instead of speed or maybe breaking it up into sections for those without the stamina. But then that wouldn't make this trip much different than what homeless guys do every day, so if we're going to talk shit then we have to be in for the long haul.

Image from rachelleb.com