Condensed Chicago Soup

8/25-9/8: Chicago

     Rather than go through my stay in Chicago day by day, I have decided to cover the entirety of my time in the Windy City in one post that will hopefully encompass a majority of the noteworthy/blogworthy things.

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Noteworthy Thing #1: My hosts

     Justyn, Joe, Daryl, and Lauren (and Sox the cat, too!) in the Ukrainian Village were absolutely the best hosts I could have asked for. A big thank you goes out to all of you for letting me sleep in your apartments, eat your food, and play with your cats. We got into some crazy shenanigans together including, but not limited to: late night abandoned carnival expeditions, impromptu dance/costume parties, long bike rides through the pouring rain in which cell phones are ruined by water damage, cake baking, pico de gallo, homemade veggie burgers, Jazzfest at millennium park, art show installations, dumpster diving, scrabble matches, crocheting and knitting presents for Chicago bike racks, chillin' lakeside on the beach, and a game so epic and ridiculous that it can only be called Beer Ball.

Noteworthy Thing #2: Bike-ability of Chi-town

     I am a small town kid, used to biking the streets of Ft. Collins, Colorado, where two wheeled, non-motorized vehicles rule the road. For me, coming into the third largest city in our country on a bike was a little bit intimidating, and I was worried that it would be scary and near impossible to bike in such an environment. I could not have been more wrong. While it is absolutely thrilling to be speeding down a bike lane in downtown Chicago with the wind on your face and cars all around you, it was never terrifying. Most places you go have great bike lanes, and often times as a biker you are moving faster than the cars. I know I have no authority to say this, having been to only a small percentage of the cities on this planet, but Chicago must be the most bike friendly big city in the world. That's right, Amsterdam, take that!

     It is also worth noting that because I was on a bike the whole time in Chicago, I never felt like a tourist. I felt like a local. I also feel like I got to know the city and my way around it so much better because of my bike. Thanks, bike!
Love, Jeff

Noteworthy Thing #3: Bike Adjustments

     I had noticed after my first two and a half days of riding that my wrists and palms were a bit sore, and thanks to a tip from Nelly, I realized that I was leaning too far forward over my handlebars, putting too much stress and weight on my hands. To remedy this, I bought a new(used) stem that would bring my handlebars closer towards the saddle, and higher up towards... uh, the sky, I suppose. Joe inspired me to do the work installing it myself rather than paying a shop 25 bucks to do it. So one day the two of us went out and figured it out on our own. We took off the old crappy grips, removed the breaks and bar end shifters, loosened the old stem and detached it from the frame and handlebars, and then installed the new stem and reattached everything else. We even wrapped the handlebars with some nice new cork/gel tape. Afterward, I ended up selling the old stem on craigslist for 25 bucks! So instead of spending 25 to have some shop do it, I did it myself, learned something about my bike, put some love into the stem, AND came out 50 dollars on top. Thank you Joe!

Noteworthy thing #4: Bike Shop Culture

     Hopefully this doesn't come across as negative, because I want the overall feel of this blog to be very positive, but here' goes... Something that has always been off-putting about bike shops for me is the fact that nearly every employee in every shop is infinitely cooler than I am... or so their attitude would suggest. The same phenomenon can be found in skate and snowboard shops around the globe. It's like there is this level of hipness that you must subscribe to for the employee to even give you the time of day. My whole life I have felt judged and rejected by people like this.

     What I found in the bike shops in Chicago was that when I told people what I was doing, I instantly had street cred. I had somehow won their respect without buying into whatever image they see as cool. I simply went into the shop, and told them what I needed to get from point A to point B. The seventeen year old wannabe skater in me wanted to feel accomplished and proud of winning the "hip" shop keep's respect, but the realistic, present day Jeff didn't really care much either way and was just happy to have found a cheap tire. Of course, I am generalizing, and not EVERY person who works in a bike or skate shop is this way. I have had plenty of positive experiences as well, and I know several bike shop employees who are just as down to earth as you or I. I just think that biking is something that is for everyone, and NOT something that you should have to prove yourself worthy of. No judgment is necessary.

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     After spending two weeks putting down some roots in Chicago, the bottoms of my feet began to itch, and I knew that it was time to move on. I had left everything I knew in Colorado in search of the unknown, and I had now come to know Chicago intimately. It was time again to go out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress... adventure!