So, the big thing that happened this past weekend for me was, of course, Naked Bike Ride Chicago! And I had just as much fun this year as I did last time! I'll just offer some of the highlights of the experience.
I decided that this time I'd bike all the way to the meeting place (in Noble Square) from Lisa's place in Uptown. It was a nice ride down the Lakefront Trail that made me miss living in the city in yet another way. The gathering was getting rolling but not yet crowded, with DJs, body painting stations, and people walking around in all sorts of costumes or lack thereof. I stripped down and found my way to the paints. I exhibited my lack of artistic skill by block-printing "Burn fat not oil" from hip to ankle down one side of my body, and "No blood for oil" down the other. I did a big peace symbol on my chest too. It wasn't great art, but it would do.
While in the staging area, I had conversations with several interesting people, including a marijuana advocate on a 36-inch unicycle, a Columbia College professor, and a fairly ordinary looking older gentleman with whom I discussed his system of mounting mirrors to his bike helmet. Finally, near 8 o' clock, everyone went to their bikes and began to mass up. As I unlocked my bike from the fence and checked my belongings, I realized that my Fitbit was missing. Oh no! I locked up again and rushed back to the enclosure. The volunteer staffers let me back through the gate, and I found it where I'd earlier doffed my pants. Whew!
I got in toward the back of the pack I think, but not all the way at the tail end, which was a relief. And from there, it was just tons of silly fun! This year I intentionally stayed near the outside of the pack right from the start so I could high-five onlookers, wave and thumbs-up the cameras, and make myself even *more* unelectable to public office. Here are some of the fun things that happened along the way.
We rode right by the Merchandise Mart where I used to work and through River North. I laughed at the thought of someone from my old company being out to watch the parade. People were lining the streets outside of the restaurants and bars, some who clearly knew what to expect, and others who seemed unable to believe their eyes. As I crossed through one intersection, a woman in a stopped car put her head out her window and yelled "What is this? What is this?"
"Naked Bike Ride!" I responded, but I didn't have time to elaborate. At another point, I heard a child say something like "Why is everybody naked," to which a parent calmly responded "It's the naked bike ride." I like to imagine that this just made everything make sense.
Speaking of children, a rider ahead of me conversed with an onlooker during a stop. After talking for a bit, the onlooker turned to his neighbor and said "That's my kid's school teacher!"
We went through Boystown, of course. Our reception there was wonderful, and I think some of the bars and clubs were emptying out to see us. Bears and twinks (Sidenote: Is 'twink' a pejorative term? I'm not that familiar as I'd like to be with gay culture. If I'm saying something unintentionally offensive, please let me know!) and everyone in between crowded the sidewalks as I called out "Hello Boystown! Yeah!" During one of the slowdowns, a guy ran up to me to give me a high-five and shouted "You go girl!" Yay!
At one point, we pedaled by a line of half a dozen bikers on Harleys, who enthusiastically hollered and gunned their engines.
We rode under a CTA station, where passengers lined the railings to look down at all of us. I waved enthusiastically back, and when we got close enough, yelled "Yeah public transit! We love you!" I'm not sure how well the sound carried though. I did a lot of yelling; my voice was hoarse by the end, but it was totally worth it!
I had a conversation en route with a guy who I heard say something about living near Detroit. "I used to live in Warren!" I said, and we talked. He asked what I did, and I said I was a student, but I used to work for a healthcare record software company. He started to tell me about the people he knows in that industry and how much it's going to grow and that I should give him my card. Then I told him what I'm actually going to school for. "Well," he said, in a friendly sort of way "then you're fucked." I laughed with him.
We took a break in a park halfway through the ride again. The mass crowded around a restaurant that seemed to have closed for the night. A few last diners were just leaving, and near me a group of three exited and got stuck, unable to make forward progress through the packed walkways until we got moving again. It was a quite well-dressed family group - maybe a couple and their adult daughter - and they all seemed quite bemused as they gamely chatted with a few of the naked riders until the way out cleared up.
Sometimes when the mass temporarily stopped moving, I pulled my bike up onto it's back wheel and got the front spinning around as fast as I could to show off my MonkeyLectric. The LED bar got a number of comments and compliments, including from one guy who asked me what it was and where to get one. It looked really good in the dark, really bright and colorful! A few other people had something like it, but not many, so I think it really helped me stand out.
Finally, at about 11:30, the ride reached our original point of departure. As before, I elected not to stay for the after party; rave-type events aren't really my thing. I had a really great ride back through River North and along the lake to Uptown. A tailwind had me riding at sustained speeds of 20+ MPH most of the way back, and I heard more comments about the lights on my bike as I went whipping by folks. All in all, a wonderful experience that I look forward to repeating next year!
And in total, I biked about 32 miles that day, and felt fine afterward. I'm looking forward to biking the I&M Canal trail even more! I have to pick a day soon.
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