LD recently came across photo of us from a bike ride back in 2009. Emily of the Mamfiets blog used the photo in one of her Friday Family on Bikes posts. It was taken right after the annual Bike The Drive in Chicago.. The 10-year old LD doesn’t remember doing that ride as a 4-year old, so I dug up the blog post I wrote about it on another blog and decided to share some of it with you all too. Enjoy the photos of warm-weather biking and of our family a few years ago.
Memorial Day Weekend & Bike the Drive(2009)
This morning….verrrry early this morning, we got the Burley bike trailer hooked up and headed downtown to the annual Bike The Drive lakefront bike ride. Every year they empty Lake Shore Drive of ALL car traffic by 5:30am and block it off for bikes only until 9:45am. They allow up to 20,000 registrants, and this year, like most years, registration was closed before the event. Here’s a link to the Chicago Tribune’s coverage.
We got up around before sunrise so we could get the bikes and gear downstairs and out the door nice and early. We were a little groggy, but once you see that morning sun on the lakefront, it’s all worth it. We saw recumbent bikes, tandems, kids on bikes, dogs on bikes–well, on bike trailers — trail-a-bikes, and more.
It’s 5:00am and we’re getting ready to head downstairs to our bikes and ride over to the lakefront. LD’s dressed and ready to go, but that doesn’t mean he’s fully awake.
Huh?
It got very crowded as we worked our way around Grant Park, through the ride’s “entrance gates” and onto LSD.. too crowded and busy for me to snap any pictures. Once we got onto LSD though, it opened up and we headed north!
This next picture was taken about 6:20am. We got our riding in before it got super crowded — you had to be off the drive by 9:45am.
Sunrise over the Chicago Yacht Club.
We headed north on the drive, and this next photo was taken as we biked past Randolph St, down the viaduct and around the curve.
Still heading north along the lakefront.
Riding by the Hancock building with a few clouds.
Headed north towards the pedestrian overpass that connects Lincoln Park to the lakefront.
We stopped at Fullerton for a little stretch. No self-respecting 4 year-old would be caught in a Burley w/o the essential toys, snacks, blankets, etc.
How to travel in style.
Great morning for this guy to be out on the water!
Sculling on the Lincoln Park lagoon.
Fisherman on the lagoon
Crossing the bridge with my shadow.
Looks like we were being memorialized on canvas that morning too.
Painting the drive.
Another look at the Hancock building as we headed back towards Grant Park.
Back at the post-race festival, we collected our t-shirts!
What a beautiful morning for a bike ride and downtown bike festival.
This was back before I had my Dutch bike. Did this ride on my trusty red Trek.
Yeah, he was having a good time.
It was a great day for a bike ride, and having Lake Shore Drive open only for bikes for a few hours, is an amazing experience.
