Night Rides and New Neighborhoods

I rode a good 30 miles yesterday. First I took my regular 8 mile commute to work on the Lakefront Path, then after work I took a ride into Pilsen. Pilsen is about 3 mi south west of the Loop. This neighborhood is traditionally Czech and in the most recent decades populated by Mexican immigrants. With each renting season more and more hipsters seem to be calling this place home due to it's cheap rent and proximity to Skylark and Irv's bike shop. Then I got a call from my sisters that we were having some dinner at my brother's place in Logan Square. Logan Square is about 12 mi north west of Pilsen. I took Ashland north to Milwaukee which led me right to my destination. Along the way I really broadened my bicycle tour of the city. This route travels through Little Italy, past the United Center, and Union Park where the Pitchfork Music Fest is held, through Wicker Park and finally into Logan Square and its European style round about. If you find this traffic phenomenon confusing in an auto it will blow your mind on a bicycle. I navigated without issue or horns and when it was all over I had no idea how I got where I wanted to be. After dinner I took a leisurely cruise down the Lakefront path, a stop in Millennium Park for some stunning night views and all the way down to Hyde Park. This city is tops when the weather turns.

The Not So Seneic Route

It will come as some surprise to any one who hasn't been riding the Lakefront Path that construction season is here. The path however is not undergoing any facelifts. The Shedd Aquarium is enlarging their office space and access to the path that goes near the site is detoured around the front of the Field Museum. This seems to be only a weekday scenario as every Friday afternoon the barricades are removed for the path cruisers on the weekends. The reroute isn't marked well and has the potential for some high speed collisions.



Then there is this random construction that has been going on for almost a year now. It is at Oakwood Blvd. and it seems to be part of a larger beach front project. Throughout the day heavy duty trucks cross at this point to bring materials to and from the site. The trucks wait for cyclists and I've never had a problem with it, however they have left two ruts the width of a truck axle in the path. Beware of the quick 1 2 bob as you pedal over and the nasty S curve right after.

Cycling Excitement

The past few days have been good ridin. I caught a flat comin to work on Friday. I was on the lakefront path heading north and just before McCormick place when that all too familiar hiss appeared at every revolution of my wheel. I was able to get to the Museum Campus where I threw the bike on the bus rack and got a ride in. It was nice to have a support vehicle just a mile or so down the road. During lunch I went into the Millennium Park Bicycle station and introduced myself to the resident bike mechanic, Dan and picked up a tube. Dan it turns out used to work at Breckenridge Ski School the same time I was working lifts at Breck and we knew some of the same people including the only Macedonian I've ever met, Marion. It was a nice blast from the past. Today I gave my Raleigh the day off and took my fancy Specialized in. Wow what a difference lightweight aluminum makes in constant headwinds, plus everything works on it. The Raleigh is in dyer need of new calipers.

Nerds at Indy Film in Madison

I have a few friends that I made while in college and we used to work on each other's video projects. It was fun for myself but for real when it came to Dan Lamoureux. He made his first full length in 2002 called "My Very First Meth Lab" which yours truly had a role in. Dan's latest project is "NerdCore for Life" a documentary about nerd rap. Yes nerds who rap about nerd culture, Hobbits and computer code along with lots of video game references. As a way of life, not for me, when it comes to entertainment I'm all in. The world premier was this past weekend in Madison, WI. at the Wisconsin Film Fest. They put on a NerdCore preshow before the movie where it was rumored that the film was picked up for yet annother film fest. My buddy Dan was interviewed a number of times and had write ups in all the daily publications in town. It was a wild weekend.

MC Router Performs at the preshow at The Cardinal

NerdCore for Life

Art in the City

So I caught the latest exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago this week. Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper. They are actually two separate shows billed on one $20 ticket. The price is usually too rich for my blood but considering that the Homer gallery is truly one of a kind and all together some 200 images are on display it is only sticker shock. The museum already features a number of Winslow Homer artworks and Edward Hopper's most iconic painting "Nighthawks" is normally on display in their American Galleries. What sets this exhibit apart is the fact that never before have so many of Homer's watercolors been on view together. Winslow Homer apparently was a good businessman. He knew that the medium of water color was fast and inexpensive so he could sell lots of them cheap and quick. Many institutions bought them and put them on display so time took its toll on the paintings. Since the watercolors are prized possessions and extremely fragile most images rarely see gallery time much less travel.

The rarity of the images along with, arguably, two of the most important and familiar names in American art turned out to be merely the hook that pulled me in. The show really appealed to my sensibilities as a city dweller and my affinity for an active life outdoors. While both artists feature scenes of the wilderness Homer clearly stands out in this respect. He portrays picturesque scenes of the Adirondacks as only an avid outdoors-man could convey. Dramatic glimpses into the life of a Gloucester fisherman are not far behind.



Edward Hopper views a metropolis like no other. Upwards of 60 years a have passed since his brush touched the canvas yet his images are no less powerful. In a recent interview on NPR's All Songs Considered singer songwriter Josh Ritter mentions a painting titled Automat that he likens to an isolated individual in a crowded rock show. Such is Hopper's view of city life. This is most noted in Nighthawks which was made shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Another unique view of the city comes from riding an elevated train traveling past top floor apartments. Hopper takes a two second glimpse into someones life and immortalizes it, giving no particular narration therefore allowing the viewer to take out of it what they will.

Three Cheers for Spring

Blame it on the groundhog. Winter isn't going anywhere. My ride in today was geared up with goggles and a winter coat. The path was plowed at least once prior to my ride this morning but the snow is wet and slippery. It had me taking the turns extra wide.

The one thing thats great about pedaling in the snow is that you get the progression of riders who have been on the path before you. I live as farther south than most commuters and the evidence is in the snow tracks. I get on the path at 51st and there is only one other track until 35th st. Maybe one or two more by Soldier Field. Once I'm at the museum campus there's a good cache of tracks for the home stretch to the Loop. Not today. There were two other tracks besides mine and I'm pretty sure one of those bikes goes to my building.

Orion is Upside Down

So I've been on the other side of the world since the 22nd of Feb. About a year ago A girl that I had met while living in Florida and working for Disney shot me an e-mail telling me she was getting married. Our friendship is rooted in my passion for Chicago and hers for her home of New Zealand. She came to visit me in Chicago and by the time I had the cash to visit her in NZ she had moved to London. I traveled to London instead and thus began my travels abroad. So when I heard she was getting hitched in Auckland I took some time off work. I also found out that a cousin of mine was stationed near Sydney. The perfect storm for a down under vacation. My flight took me to Sydney first to enjoy the sites of the Australian metropolis and then to the sleepy surf town that my cousin and her family resides. I then flew to Auckland, NZ for the wedding which included a night boat cruise in the Auckland harbor. Once the wedding was over the suit went in the mail and I donned a backpack and went to the picturesque Bay of Islands. The town was called Paihia and I got out on the water again and took a few day-hikes through some mangrove forest. The next tier was back in Auckland for some museum action waiting for the weather to turn in Rotorua. Rotorua is in an area that is called the Bay of Plenty because you can plant anything and it will grow like its on speed. Here you will find a California Redwood forest that had the best mountainbiking I've ever seen. It is also an active volcanic region with natural hot spring pools and boiling mud pits. Rotorua was the highlight of the trip. Good people, great bicycle culture with an excellent visitor's center.

Sydney at Night

Newcastle, Australia
Major coal export industry. There were always ships like these waiting to get loaded.


The surfing side of Newcastle

I thought this was perfect. Everyone has to purchase a window sticker to register their car so the city printed a friendly reminder so the driver could see.

Auckland, New Zealand at night. Pic was taken from a boat so its not perfect.


Hole in the Rock, this is an icon of the Bay of Islands


Hiking though the mangrove forest

Another iconic image of New Zealand, a blooming fern.

Rotorua from the MTB trail. The best single track I've ever been on.


This town has their priorities straight. Notice the void of parking meter on the rack side.

Gearing up for my 22 hour 3 plane journey home.