Kidical Mass

Comment

Comment by Jason Greenberg on March 15, 2010 at 8:59am

Oops might not have been clear...
When I said "but I would also recommend that the tour start in the park on the Munoz drive"

I should have said, IF the tour decides to cross North Ave and enter the park then, I recommend that it CONTINUE IN THE PARK on Munoz Drive and then..."

Comment by Jason Greenberg on March 15, 2010 at 8:55am

That early on a Saturday, I wouldn't expect a lot of car traffic on the Humbolt Park loop which is called Luis Munoz Main Drive, (its not a direct thoroufare like Humbolt Drive is) and its a very wide drive...but I would also recommend that the tour start in the park on the Munoz drive but then turn onto the walking paths that curve by the lagoon and over the bridges that snake in and out of the many lagoons and natural wildlife areas (I would stay in the North section of the park that is west of Humbolt Blvd. so you don't have to cross it because its traffic-y). For the kids this will give them the extra experience of park riding which is different than street riding (it has some bumpy hills and more curvy paths and shows them that they have the power to get to the park for its swimming, sports, kite flying, playgrounds and etc. (biking with their parents of course!). Its a good goal to connect them to the Humboldt Park resources (and on the paths there will be a break from the vigilance about car traffic). You could stop by the sandy beach behind the field house and tell them how there is free beach swimming in the summers when they fill up the lagoon with water, and look at the helix wind turbine and solar collector station in the field behind the beach path...

This seems a more varied ride than just going up & down the side streets...but consensus based decision making...what do others think?

Comment by Andrew Bedno on March 15, 2010 at 2:03am

Great stuff. Personally, and from some parenting experience, I figured kids are happy with laps of a long enough large loop, as mentioned for RogersPark. If I remember right I love the Palmer ovoid, whereas Humboldt has crazy cars, but getting kids comfortable with street riding matters, but maybe I was envisioning littler kids. Whatev, I trust y'all.

Comment by Todd Allen on March 14, 2010 at 9:16pm

Oops, I forgot that Kedzie only has the separated lane southbound. And that isn't as attractive because I know the pavement is rough and it doesn't have an easy entrance to Humboldt park.

I'll limit my pre-ride to Humboldt, Albany and Whipple.

Also, how many votes for not entering the Humboldt park at all and instead doing a shorter loop south and a loop to the north? If there's interest I can pre-ride that too.

Comment by Jason Greenberg on March 14, 2010 at 8:46pm

Sorry the map looks too small on chainlink; heres a closeup...

Comment by jennifer james on March 14, 2010 at 7:59pm

I can bring lotsa coffee and my kids.

I am not sure about how big the crowd may be or if we can mass up enough to block traffic down Kedzie across North Ave. I do ride often with our kids but I think this first ride should be easily accessible to everyone. Parents unused to mass style rides might be pretty freaked out by the traffic if we don’t have a big enough group. So, it sounds good to me that the route is still flexible. We’ll need to keep the group close together to get that safe feeling on the road.

One thought I had was a little ride down towards Boulevard Bikes and back on the inner roads. A fun thing about being on smaller streets is that a good sized crowd really draws strength from itself and draws attention from passers by. If we were on smaller streets we might well bring people out of their houses to watch or join and then we would really be spreading the word. Anyhow. Does Bike Boulevards Now! have a logo we can throw on some t-shirts or a banner? We have a box bike and can throw something we make on the side.

Oh, and can EVERYBODY please wear a helmet and be a good example for kids?

Comment by Jason Greenberg on March 14, 2010 at 7:47pm

Also,
If memory serves me right (and looking at google maps) the section of Kedzie between Armitage & North Ave does not have a separate Blvd. lane to protect the kids, so I would NOT recommend making any part of this tour on Kedzie south of Armitage. The traffic is fast and its not bike friendly. (Now going NORTH on Kedzie is safe with separate Blvd. lanes, but we discussed going that direction on the next kidical mass, not this one...)

Comment by Jason Greenberg on March 14, 2010 at 7:41pm

As far as the planned route,
it really depends on the age, speed and riding skills of the kid riders; it could stretch out the group substantially or the group could ride along at a pretty good clip (especially if its a smaller group).

There was a lot of discussion about the traffic at North Ave. being a safety issue. If we avoid North Ave and turn at Wabansia, the ride literally is shortened to about 6 blocks in 1 direction (approx. 12 block lengths full circle back to Palmer Sq.) which could be really short and could be over in about 15-20 min even at a slow kiddie pace.

So consider two options:

(I). The Tour crosses North Ave with planned, careful, adult corkers bringing traffic to a full stop before the kids enter the intersection.
I think if we got 4 + adults (1 per lane of traffic) to plan it ahead of time and physically cork the intersection with our bodies and bikes and politely stop the traffic before the Kiddie Mass ever enters the intersection, that it could be safely maneuvered.
Then the tour can do a half loop in Humboldt Park around the lagoon & Field House area.

OR

(II). Maybe the tour zig-zags North and South (avoiding North Ave.) thusly:

Start with a circle tour around the Palmer Square Runners path. Complete that loop and the go South on the inner residential lane of Humbolt Blvd., Turn West at Wabansia for 2 blocks, Turn North onto Albany Ave. back up to Palmer Sq. (5 blocks) , Turn East onto Palmer Blvd. for one block, turn south onto Whipple St. (go for 5 blocks), turn East onto Wabansia Ave. 1 block, turn North onto the northern inner residential lane of Humbolt Blvd. 5 blocks back up to Palmer Square and the bunny playground. End with play at the playground.

Any comments or input about the route options?

See attached map.

Comment by Todd Allen on March 14, 2010 at 7:39pm

Thanks Karen for the corrections. You're right about Jason, he did say that he had a potential conflict that he was trying to resolve. Kevin being safety check guy is equally good, sorry for my goof.

And thanks for finding us a photographer.

As for maps, I agree printed maps are not really needed, the route will not be complex and we won't be dropping people.

Comment by karen furlong on March 14, 2010 at 4:39pm

Laurie Tanenbaum has offered to take still photographs. She will bring her own camera.

I am bringing decorations for the bikes and helping kids to use them. I did offer my husband as safety check guy, but did not personally offer to teach bike safety with kids.

Jason offered to make copies of a map -- he does not know if he can actually be at the ride. In light of what you've said about flexibility, maybe we would be better off saving his time and the earth's resources and forgo the pre-copied map?

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