Parade Day, March 15th

The time is upon us to celebrate Ol' St Patrick. Chicago does this the best of any town I have ever lived in. This is truly my favorite thing to do in this city. I grew up in the south burbs and was extremely surprised when I went to High School in the heart of the South Side Irish and realized what an Irish last name got you. Truth be told I held reservation to a lot of it but I did take a healthy understanding of what it meant to be Irish in Chicago. I had classmates that were first generation and two that were off the boat. Heritage was held in high regard. All month long my friends would come to school and share the mother's soda bread, one cafeteria lady made enough to pass out for here entire shift. The culmination of all this pride was the South Side Irish Parade. Know affectionately as "Parade day", as if there are no other parades all year long not to mention the "official" St. Patrick's day parade donwtown.
As a young adult I ended up on the south side to finish up college and reintroduced my self to the culture that some of the Irish exchange students found amusing. I drank on Western Ave. and still do. I can't order a Guinness with out wanting "Irish Steve" to be siting across from me. I've had an honest to goodness "tru a lou a lou" night with an Irishman named Marty after the pub closed and the barkeep just didn't want to go home.

Into adulthood Irish Chicago has put its mark on me I attended the Young Irish Fellowship Ball this year, I'm a regular at Old St. Pat's Parish, and I now run into my kid sister at my old watering holes and tell her stories about the pubs that have closed down. I had know idea how deep in this culture I had become until the local PBS station did a story on Irish Chicago this month. I recognized or talked to just about everyone of the people they had interviewed. Every year the parade means something different to me. Last year was the first year I was able to go in a long time so there was nostalgic feel to it and this year I think it will be a nice celebration. So make your plans and come on out for all the good fun next year I haven't shown off the parade to an out of towner in a long time.

Dragons, Eggrolls, and The Ox

China Town

Chinese New year was at the beginning of the month so we celebrate the year of the Ox. It has been a while since I've celebrated the event however it has always been a blast. This year I also got to help my friend Dan with an inaugural web series about Chicago todos. This todo was the Chinese New year parade. I have never been to it before and we had a blast. We started the day with cameras and mics while getting an early jump on the local media crews. It seemed like after every spot we set up to shoot other camera crews followed I think we got the best footage. Check out how the episode turned out at my buddy's site In Your Face Chicago
Here are some pics from Chinatown.

Its not a Chicago parade without the Emerald Society

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

There are more that one lift but a detachable quad is hard to come by out here.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was Monday so I took the advantage of my day off by hitting the slopes. This is probably the busiest ski weekend in the midwest. I do feel guilty that I participated in something so culturally white on a day that celebrates diversity and unity. I suppose a bit of deep reflection will relieve that. I took off at 9am for Cascade Mt. I consider this to be the best skiing within a two hundred mile radius of Chicago. At about 3hours of speed limit driving I arrived at noon which gives me plenty of time to enjoy what 500 ft of elevation has to offer. Plus lifts don't close till 9pm so I can enjoy some ill advised night skiing too. The lift lines were crowded but speedy for the high speed detachable quad (it's a Doppelmeier) but the slower chairs were no wait. I don't mind lift lines now it breaks up the day so I don't get the "go up, go down" feeling. This resort stands out above the rest in two ways the runs are wide broken up by pines but the number one sell are honest to goodness tree runs. I've been coming here for a few seasons now and there must never have been enough natural snow to fill the trees cause it was a first for me. Tree runs are going to be challenging any where you go and these were top notch. Even the pitch of the slope was good. Other snow conditions were pretty run out with ice patches here and there and then we got some fresh and conditions got better. Considering everything is relative it was a challenging afternoon. The drive home was slower than usual but not crawling.

Base of Cascade Mt. elevation is 820 feet.
Peak elevation is 1,280 feet.
Vertical drop is 460 feet.
There are 160 skiable acres.

The view looking down at the middle of the run.

The view looking up.

Ahh Wisconsin.

Temps plunge and push me forward

Yeah the needle has dropped into the danger zone and the daily rags are lovin' it. The Trib has a clock timing how long we have been below zero and all the other news outlets are covering the same story. The artic blast has made for some great pictures though my favorite this one with the cyclist:Yes I was one of these hooligans on two wheels that walked into work holding my goggles and ski helmet under my arm through a chorus of people saying "you didn't?!", "did you ride today?", and smiles and shaking heads while ice drips off my mustache. I tell you not much can make you feel more alive than battling mother nature. Granted she takes it easy on me but it is fun none the less.

Year end wrap up.

Who knew a digital camera would make such a difference in how and what I take pictures of. I'm rarely without my camera these days, much to thank to this outlet of expression. Not since my college radio show have I had so much fun being creative. In many ways this blog is a kin to my radio show. What I write here is the same banter that would go out on the airwaves, instead of music I have pictures to accompany my meaningless rambles and comments substitute for call in requests.

I did some pretty cool stuff this year and Chicago never ceases to amaze me. In February I committed myself to bicycle commuting every day and stopped making excuses for using public transit. By my first snow filled commute I was hooked.

I then realized a dream of mine since I began traveling in life post college. I freakin went to Australia and New Zealand and what a ride it was. The best mountain biking I've ever done was out there and I hit the local trails all the more this season because of it.

The Homer-Hopper exhibit came to town and I think the entire Midwest came with it. By far the most crowded exhibit I've been to and the best in regards to artworks.

Summer was filled with weddings and baseball and Tour de Fat. The pinnacle had to be the century ride that I shared with the best friends around.It was a slow Autumn for climbing but still managed to progress my skills. I hit the single track hard though and finally learned the Palos trail network.

Some gazebo action and a ton of commuting bring us all up to date.The Podcast was great so look for more to come I'm working on one more now and how 'bout some Midwest ski hills too. Stay tuned its all out here you just have to look a little harder.

Snowy Commute

Chicago got hit with our biggest snow of the season and it came just in time for the evening rush hour. The streets were horrible and four wheel traffic took hours to get anywhere. As I crossed Lake Shore Drive on Monroe st some one in a car that hadn't moved for two lights gave me the thumbs up and a fist pump. Its nice to have a cheering section. The lake front path wasn't plowed but the skinny tires cut like a knife through powder drifts anyway so it rode pretty nice. I followed one other track for most of the ride and it belonged to a guy I work with that lives in my neighborhood. I finally caught up to him and we cruised as a pair for a while but I had to keep a faster pace in order to stay upright so we split once we got on the city streets. All in all I think it took me an extra 20 to 30min to get home and my cruiser was a snow covered badge of honor. Enjoy the pics.

Frightful, Frigid,Freakin Freezin.

Holy crap its cold out there. I pedaled in today and to my amazement three other people biked in too. Im so proud of my work bike rack. I wish I could say the same for the city streets. For those who don't know in an order to save money this year public works (or should I say public "works") is not salting any side streets in Chicago and my block looked like the Blackhawks could have played the winter classic in Pilsen instead of Wrigleyville this morning. The attire for riding in consisted of fleece lined cycling bibs, two layers of socks, and my Dickies over it all from the waist down. My torso was covered by a cycling jerzy a long sleeved t-shirt and a fleece jacket while my ski coat covered it all. Neck gator, beanie and gloves keeping their respective parts warm. I cant wait to pedal home.