Anyone else planning on "auditing" the L.A.T.E. Ride?

Are the Marauders and other like minded cyclists meeting up before the Mcdonalds Midnight L.A.T.E Ride somewhere? Anyone planning on crashing the ride in large numbers?

I don't see anyone discussing this happening online or in person. And for some reason I ain't on the MM list serve, I should probably get on that.

 

Two years ago the L.A.T.E Ride audit was super bad ass fun. It was certainly one of the more memorable midnight rides in recent memory.

 

If you're joining us, please, RSVP and invite your friends on Facebook [ https://www.facebook.com/events/411389172247347 ] or the Chainlink [ http://www.thechainlink.org/events/mcdonalds-l-a-t-e-ride-audit ]!

 



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Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on June 26, 2012 at 5:24am

Just a note. I have talked to both ATA and FOTP about reduced fares for low income earners three or four years ago...

Howard, remember the epic nature of that flame war I started?  That John guy threatened me.  LOL.  The good old days before the Chainlink ruled and things got civil.

...and shortly after beginning our conversation the door was slammed in my face. I am willing to talk to them again of course. But seeing as how these groups use their events as a cash cow I don't think we'll see this exclusive practice change anytime soon.

Permalink Reply by O on June 26, 2012 at 5:25am
Perhaps you should attend Chris Cs event surrounding our Ale Fest. And if you do come ride over to the newest shelter home for Veterans and thank them for their sacrifices.


Kevin T. said:
I dunno, why ride at night in "the murder capital of the Midwest", I'd much rather get drunk in Wheaton. Oops, that would be kinda tough tho.
Permalink Reply by Vondo on June 26, 2012 at 5:25am
Marauders run a free night ride every month thanks to great people who put in a lot of work on designing routes, pre-riding, organizing etc. I'll be the first to say I've enjoyed multiple events made possible by people who go out of their way so the cycle community can ride a monthly night ride gratis. If anything, I feel a little bad about not doing more to pitch in. I'm more appreciative of their efforts than someone who writes a $45 check once a year and trashes the cycling community the other 364 days

End of rant
Permalink Reply by Joe Sak on June 26, 2012 at 5:38am

That's just me posting bullshit on the internet, not really making a judgement call one way or the other

I abhor the idea of alienating people who chose one way of riding their bikes over some other way

Doesn't mean I don't like having fun and crashing parties & rides with my buds 8-)

I wouldn't condone being mean or rude to anyone

Permalink Reply by O on June 26, 2012 at 5:48am
Actually I am saying that. Given the events last week in Lincoln Park many out-of-towners are likely to have second thoughts. In fact the stretch of the LFT that we took last time I rode back to the starting point is where many of the flash mob attacks have occurred in the past.

The general level of violence in Chicago is so much higher than in the collar counties that it creates doubts for folks who want to move back into the city to raise a family. Those who can afford high rise accommodations are probably less daunted but still two doctors were assaulted several weeks ago in what should have been a relatively safe area.

Chicago has a PR battle that is uphill. The more we can do to encourage people to take to the streets the better. I fear that the Open Streets project was a bit more in terms of logistics than could reasonably be handled in neighborhood settings. Perhaps that was not the case but it was brought to State Street last year which though interesting is pretty far removed from neighborhoods.

One of the reasons that the "silly yuppies" name calling is so very irritating is that it is inaccurate as well as pejorative. Suburban riders tend to be older and while somewhat affluent count their pennies as closely as the next person. What differentiates them from their neighbors is their willingness to venture in the Big Bad City and their desire to give back. Lots are folks who grew up in the city and migrated out but have stayed in touch.

They care about its future and that is enough to warrant your respect. Hipsters need to figure out who their friends are before hurling insults. A man driving one of the many Bentleys that are garaged one town over from me is not by definition uncaring or silly. He has relative wealth and therefore the capacity to amplify the giving needed to do good things in all parts of the city.

Philanthropists like the Crocs, Comer and others have and are erecting hospitals, cultural centers and much more. We need to honor that interest in the city by realizing that events like the LATE Ride are postive signs that Chicago is "worth the effort" and that these rides deserve our moral if not financial support.

Less negativism and more boosterism is likely to go a long way.


Cameron Puetz said:



O said:

I took the time to read the discussion from last year and it has the us versus them tone that this years discussion provides. Hipsters giving condescending verbal jabs at people who by all rights ought to be embraced for their willingness to ride at night in the Murder Capital of the Midwest.

 

Are you really saying that I should be impressed that so many people are brave enough to bike a route that basically goes from my office to my old apartment to my new condo? I'm sorry but I do that all the time and sometimes at night because of the hours I work. It's not some harrowing trek that people who do it need to be commended for their bravery.

Permalink Reply by igz on June 26, 2012 at 5:52am

ooh, and maybe camping....

Chris C said:

Did someone mention beer in Wheaton?  Well I'm glad you brought it up.  

 

Tickets are still available for the 2012 Wheaton Ale Festival.  General Admission is still only 40 clams and includes U-N-L-I-M-I-T-E-D sampling.  See the Chainlink event HERE


And did I mention the fest is only 1 block from the Illinois Prairie Path and only 2 blocks from the Wheaton Metra?  Furthermore, Seri is trying to organize a group ride from Chicago to Wheaton for this event.  See Seri's Chainlink event HERE

 

And remember boys and girls to drink responsibly.


O said:

Perhaps you should attend Chris Cs event surrounding our Ale Fest. And if you do come ride over to the newest shelter home for Veterans and thank them for their sacrifices.


Kevin T. said:
I dunno, why ride at night in "the murder capital of the Midwest", I'd much rather get drunk in Wheaton. Oops, that would be kinda tough tho.
Permalink Reply by Andrew on June 26, 2012 at 5:53am

If you put "hipsters" in place of "silly yuppies" in that sentence, it works just as well.  Weird!

O said:


One of the reasons that the "silly yuppies" name calling is so very irritating is that it is inaccurate as well as pejorative.
Permalink Reply by igz on June 26, 2012 at 5:55am


yet you have no problem continuing to call us hipsters, largely in a pejorative sense...


O said:

snip...

One of the reasons that the "silly yuppies" name calling is so very irritating is that it is inaccurate as well as pejorative.
 
snip...
Permalink Reply by igz on June 26, 2012 at 6:08am

O, you are still missing the point.  We are not heckling bicycle riders from the more affluent riders of these collar counties. We welcome your income to support local businesses and industry. but that is not happening with the late ride. You are supporting a corporation that is "funneling" the fundraised money. Do we know how much of that is actually going back to the community? And due to the hours of the late night ride, local businesses are not seeing the benefits. Maybe if you supported a local family diner, sure, but mickeyD's is feeding you. And asking disenfranchised community individuals to sell their wares on the ride, their drinks...you dont think MickeyDs would stop that immediatel? and the most important point you have been missing to understand, which has been repeated several times now but you refuse to acknowledge, is that this event continues to label itself as the ONLY night ride. ONLY PAID FOR night ride maybe. as the others have said, there are dedicated groups of cyclists that do this at least once a month if not more, not just marauders. you seem to be playing so much into this victimized role, and in fac, also as previously stated, creating a certain divide of social economics into this issue of us and them. i always advocate the membership of mauraders - they are laborers and construction workers, they are lawyers. they are mechanics. they are doctors. they are unemployed, they are restaurant chefs, servers, they are cashiers, and occasionaly a quantum physicist. we are one and we are free.

 

what we are heckling is that so many believe that a ride like the paid late ride is the only way to enjoy the city by bike at night in such a controlled enviroment sponsored by a corporation not interested in your health or well being, has little regard for community, let alone bicycles (have you tried going up to the drive thru window on your bike?), whose superflous profits could be donated to good will instead of taking them from you, garnishing them, and then passing them along.

Permalink Reply by igz on June 26, 2012 at 6:14am

ya beat me to it! im slow at editing.

Andrew N said:

If you put "hipsters" in place of "silly yuppies" in that sentence, it works just as well.  Weird!

O said:


One of the reasons that the "silly yuppies" name calling is so very irritating is that it is inaccurate as well as pejorative.ya
Permalink Reply by Joe Sak on June 26, 2012 at 6:16am

So should we stop buying our booze at 7/11 before MM?

Permalink Reply by igz on June 26, 2012 at 6:20am

oh, and shame on you for placing blame on the leadership of this free online community forum and chicagoland cycling advocates, asking them to censor and manage discussions of seeming opposing opinions, especially towards an opinion you have. thats not how discussions happen, unfortunately.

O said:

Spencer, et. al.:

I really find that your attitude towards the folks who give of their time and monies to support the urban transportation landscape offensive. Many of the folks who attend the big three rides (of which the LATE Ride is one) are from the collar counties and suburbs. We have plenty of rides that we could and do support both here in Illinois and in other nearby states. We do not have to contribute to the welfare of an arrogant urban population of bicycle riders who find us "silly yuppies".

I place the blame for threads like this at the feet of the leadership of this board. But in reality it really belongs at the feet of the agencies in Chicago which tap the suburban market for funds to help meet their operation costs. I say this because they are complicit in your activities and seemingly supportive of your attitude despite the fact that they are members of this forum as well, but seemingly remain strangely silent.

If the LATE ride is for losers, then why even bother showing up? Why not enjoy a romp through non-route regions of the city where you can behave as wildly as you choose to without the possibility of endangering riders with less experience than yourselves who are likely to be even more vulnerable in darkness?

I took the time to spell out my feelings about the general tone set here on the ChainLink at this location. You remind me of the way in which folks in the Segregated South of my youth behaved when dealing with the poor disenfranchised "coloreds" of the 1950s and 1960s.

Your actions seem immature to me but what do I know. I taught junior high students for a decade and only have that experience to compare with your behavior. This thread and the one attributing the burning of the Lakefront Trail Path to "urban youth" when upon close inspection it appears to have been a controlled burn in service of a landscaping change just south of the 31st Street Harbor is another example of the way in which you arrogance exceeds the ability to be civil. You seem to put forth the notion that Black Youth were the possible culprits but I never saw a retraction of that original premise. it was allowed to linger for posterity. Shame on this group for being so bigoted.

For folks to have suggested that the fire might also have gladly burned up the trees used in the Art Installation at that harbor I found appalling. It is time for this group to "grow up". You are fine decent people with arrested development issues. Behaving like teen agers in your late twenties and thirties is about as cute as trying to wear a thong bikini in your 80s. Few folks can pull that off.

We have far too much difficulty trying to get funds from Congress to have evidence of the type that this thread demonstrates in plain view. I have said it before and I will say it again, the best way for the Tea Party to get its pound of flesh out of transportation bills is to reference this forum and some of the threads that have erupted here. It is almost as if you are either trying to sabotage the work of ATA and FOP or are simply clueless about the effects of your words.

Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! said:

The Mc L.A.T.E. Ride doesn't publish their route ahead of time because they don't want people auditing their ride. Silly as it seems. They think people should pay money to ride in a large group. LOL! Silly yuppies.

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