The Book Event For Enlightened Bikers

By Maggie Hellwig in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 27, 2012 3:00PM

As we come closer to summer—and the warm weather teases us with its every-other-day cameos—the number of bikers on Chicago streets will most certainly increase. If you are a biker, you're very familiar with the daily threats that nip at your commute. No doubt your senses have to be sharper than the average CTA commuter, and your defenses stiffer than the driver encased in their car. For these individuals, we present you with a book that is definitely worth your time.

In June 2007, a little blog began all about cycling in New York, aptly named Bike Snob NYC. Since then the blog's humorous observations and info around cyclist culture has boomed. Bike Snob has been profiled in The New York Times, and published in Bicycle Magazine. Now Bike Snob has a new book, The Enlightened Cyclist, all about the dangers, the weird culture, and sundry of two-wheeled personality in the world of cycling.

The book isn't just for bikers, however, but for all of us who commute on a daily basis and have to laugh about it in order to maintain sanity. We meet this book with much appreciation. Our city is no stranger to the pedaling method of transportation, the screeching halt of a car stopped short, nor of that pedestrian who thinks waiting for the bus means standing in the middle of Clark Street.

This Thursday The Enlightened Cyclist book tour is coming to Chicago, sponsored by the Book Cellar. Like most of Bike Snob's projects, it will be full of two things: humor and biking. The cycling will begin down in Hyde Park's TATI Cycles at 6 p.m. and end up in Lincoln Square's On The Route Bicycles. The discussion and book signing will start at On The Route at 7:30 p.m.

While the exact route—much like the weather on Thursday—is yet to be determined, there will be bikes, there will be helmets, and there will indubitably be laughs.