New SIngle Track

A while back I got a comment about the trails behind the Jewel Grocery store at Pulaski and Foster. I had yet to explore the area so on a hunch that I could get some mud on the 'ol mountain bike I geared up to check it out. LaBagh Woods is the name of the Forest Preserve and the best part is that I can easily ride my bike there. I love it more carbon neutral sport. I gather my knobby tires will get worn down faster but I think I can live with that. The trails follow the North Branch of the Chicago River and feels like nothing else within the city limits. I got my first flat on a trail ran into a Cubs fan (mind you the two teams had just played each other)and found a lemonade stand. The trails are a great fix when you want to get out of the city without leaving it.

Enjoy!

Hegewisch Marsh on NPR

A little know gem in South Chicago was just highlighted on NPR on June 14th. Its known as Hegewisch Marsh. Chicago and the region of Calumet was traditionally a wetland and a trip to Hegwiisch Marsh is a view of what Chicago looked like in the days of Fort Dearborn. A while back in National Geographic Magazine they did a retrospective of what Manhattan Island looked like before it was settled. The piece was called Before New York and was full of computer generated images of before and after. While it was eye opening and thought provoking its nice to know that you can still see what parts of Chicago looked like before the industrial revolution.
You can listen to the story here


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Lake Front Ride In.

As the tough Chicago winter is turning into spring the Lakefront path is clear and trees are budding, even the bike path has a construction season. The Lakefront path is certainly a bicycle expressway and one of the greatest assets of the city. Enjoy!

45's

Colds are not the only thing that spreads around the office. Last month a guy I work with decided to dust off his record player and see if it still worked. This led to him finding a needle and then a new head shell. Finally a preamp to get the audio into his stereo, of which the manufacturer never intended to play such archaic equipment. Well I caught the bug not so long after his adventures. I dug though my folks basement in search of an old turntable that I had seen down there before. In a dusty pile sat an old Garrard Type A II. It was mostly complete missing only the auto 45 spindle. From my wanderings around the web it is from the late 1960's. The motor worked and everything needed fresh oil but all together it only needed a new needle. The day the needle arrived I was like a kid in a candy shop. I pulled out all my old punk rock LP's and listened to everything from The Fighters, to 88 Fingers Louie, to my Bollweevils' Heavyweights album. It was an evening full of teen angst, I burned though all my albums in one night. So back to the folks house to dig though their basement again. It was made clear I could have none of their albums but I went digging around certain I could get a loaner or two. I landed on their collection of 45's in nice neat cases with handles with metal clasps and corners guarded with armor from being dropped too hard. There was a lot of Doo Wop and Beatles, and the like, nothing that was too far removed from the local oldies radio station. Then I came across a box that was pistol packed with 45's. Right away I found a Hank Williams, then a Merle Haggard and a ton of jug band stuff I had never heard of then some blues and big band. Eureka! I inquired as to whose music it was, clearly it didn't belong to either of my parents, they said it must have been my Grandfather's. If I was going to listen to all of this music I was going to have to find that 45 spindle. A quick trip to Beverly Records and I would have a complete auto changing turntable not to mention even more music.
I quickly began digging though the box of 45's separating everything produced by Chet Atkins knowing well it would be country. My grandpa was clearly a Jim Reeves fan and has posthumously introduced me to him and a handful of other artists. I have been stacking 45's by the 6 and flipping them over to hear the b-sides for weeks now and am realizing that this is a box of records in many ways. I came upon "Sink the Bismark" a Johnny Horton ballad that could only be popular in the post war era. The song never charted in the top 100 when it debuted. A World War II Navy Veteran, its not a stretch to figure my grandfather purchased it after seeing the movie that inspired the song. This has been amazing going though my grandparents' Ipod, as I'm sure they both contributed to the collection. I must say their tastes certainly varied over the 30 some years of music. Everything from Ella Fitzgerald to the Everly Brothers.

Sox Pride

Have I mentioned that I love baseball. I do. With so much of my being I love baseball. I have never played on a team besides T-ball as a tike and yet my first job was a little league umpire for the Country Club Hills park district at age 15. My dad raised us all to be Chicago White Sox fans and yet my very first game was at Wrigley Field to see the Cubs. At the time my parents didn't have two nickels to rub together, my dad worked at the Chicago Tribune and was tossed free tickets, it must have broke his heart. I still have the most vivid recollection of walking through the turnstiles. I also remember being excited to wear my baseball hat to a real baseball game, that is until Dad told me to leave it in the van so we didn't get beat up, you see it was a White Sox hat. Thinking back I guess he was teaching me a healthy respect for the game. Later we would get tickets through the school's "Book It" program and began to frequent Old Comiskey and its wooden green seats. We said goodbye when they tore it down and brought in the new park the next year. Then the strike hit in 1994 when the White Sox were white hot. Like so many fans the following years just didn't feel the same. It wasn't until the turn of the century when the Yankees and the Mets played the subway series in the Fall Classic that I really came to understand the game. I was 21 and living in Florida at the time with people from all over the country, lots of New Yorkers. The passion and tension surrounded me to the point of no escape. After that baseball in adulthood had a new meaning. I used to live less than 5 miles from Sox Park (or Comiskey, or US Cellular, or Church for that matter). This year will be the first full season I live closer to the "Friendly Confines" but I try not to pass up a ticket when it comes my way no matter where I live. Games are on rarely on antenna television so I find myself listening to most games but I love baseball and this town does it right. When explaining Chicago ball to my friend Nick he replied "Its like religion there". I couldn't have said it better myself. He got a little taste a few years ago when the Rockies made it to the World Series. Not long ago I sent an essay to Mellisa Isaacson's blog: Hey Missy at the Chicago Tribune about my experience when the White Sox won the World Series. She wrote me back with such enthusiasm that I decided to make an audio short of the essay. I posted a link below I hope you enjoy it.

Listen Here

Ridin to Work

As a long time listener to the Dirtbag Diaries I was super stoked when my good friend Brendan asked me to be a part of a story he was working on. He said the topic would be "Hardcore" I was happy to lend my insight. After the interview without fail a million things came to mind that I would have liked to say. He did such a great job with the episode that I'm glad I didn't over think it. If you haven't listened to it yet check it out here

I just got a helmet cam not to long ago and made a quick vid of my pedal through Chicago's Loop and into work. Enjoy.

The Medio-Core Guide to Chicago

The "Year of Big Ideas" was a common topic this past Thanksgiving. I again went out to the Canyonlands National Park in Utah with my outdoor enthusiast Denverites. These couple of days out in the desert are really a time for me to hit the reset button. Since the West is where I started thinking like an adult its nice to go back and take stock of the cascade of decisions that bring my life to date. As with looking back one should not forget to look forward.

Cycling
In this spirit of looking forward, a few ideas that were mentioned are finally taking a long bicycle tour. I purchased the proper bicycle for such a trip at the end of last summer. I have Lake Michigan coursing through my veins and would like to pedal along its perimeter completely. Although If I am going to ride RAGBRAI this year too I might have to shorten that trip. Yes. RAGBRAI the week-long bike ride across pie filled Iowa.

Ride an organized criterium. I've been on a training ride so a few more of those and then the real thing. I'd really like to see if I really like it.

Climbing
I think I book-ended my summer with climbing and that was all the climbing I did. I feel I was climbing really well while having a blast too, and to not do something you have fun with is tragic. Expand beyond Wisconsin and So. Ill. to the Red River Gorge in Ky. There is also no good reason to not part of the Chicago Mountaineering Club either. I'm out with them at least once a year its time to reintroduce myself and be a regular.

Mountain Biking
The Midwest Mountain Bike Fest as always shall be attended. I believe it will be in Peoria, Ill this year. Farmdale Reservoir has some of the best trails I've ever ridden and really need to go back there. My single track crew has dispersed this past year and I no longer live near my old trail network. I need to find what the northside trails have to offer.

Watersports
I used to canoe at least once a year when I was in college. I would like to get back to that even if it is just a quick trip up the Kankakee River and back down.

Writing
On this parting note a goal of mine I have had for years is to create the Medio-Core guide to Chicagoland. A simple guide to stepping out of your second story walk-up and into nature. Just the little things that I enjoy most about the forest preserves in Cook and the Collar Counties. Hopefully I update this site a tad more frequently.