r Chicago Athlete Magazine about winter cycling in the city. I included Tour da Chicago among the list of activities that might help people stay in love with their bikes during these frigid, bleakity-bleak days. My experience was only that I'd been to a stage and taken some photos - usually in winter I'm still recovering from the last race season or planning the next and I've never had the urge to take part. I loved the vibe though. It reminded me of the Hash House Harriers from my past life as a runner - just a bunch of fun-loving bike nerds ready to suffer in the cold with the promise of beer afterwards.
Last February 24, I was sitting in the Starbucks at the corner of Irving, Damen and Lincoln with three half-asleep teammates. Our squad leaves there at nine not-so-sharp, and I was still working on my coffee when I saw dozens of riders fly North up Damen outside the window. I knew it was the Tour da Chicago and I even recognized a friend and a few ex-teammates. We took our time polishing off the caffeine and then opened the door. We opened the door... precisely as the pack of riders came back down Lincoln and rode straight into the intersection.
You can read dozens of archived posts from people that were there and the details will vary. What you can't change is that Lincoln crosses the five lanes of Irving Park at a blind angle. The other thing you can't change is that my three teammates and I stood there and watched as Matthew Manger-Lynch was struck and killed by an SUV directly in front of us.
I don't want to be morbid or grisly and drag up terrible memories for those who knew Matthew. Picture this though... traffic was gridlocked in six directions because the accident was in the middle of the intersection. Police and medical support had trouble navigating their way through the traffic. In the midst of the log-jam, dozens of Tour da Chicago riders were still racing through the snared cars, trying to get to some finish line somewhere... in some cases blowing right by the scene without realizing what had happened until a collection of frightened, distraught riders screamed for them to stop. A friend of mine was sitting on a curb crying. That mental image is exactly what I saw every time I mounted my bike for weeks.
People die in sports. My friends at xXx lost two teammates in races in 2007. There has to be a difference, however, between taking precautions to control your surroundings and manage risk... or conversely throwing your life to chance in a city where traffic is unpredictable in the best of conditions. I spend my work AND my free time managing risk for cyclists with the ADA Tour de Cure and Burnham's Spring Super Criterium. Permits, medical support, insurance... it's all a pain in the ass, but I can't imagine NOT DOING IT. The funny thing is there are hundreds of people like me, putting together an admirable collection of year-round events to help control risk FOR you... all you have to do is show up.
I know there is romance in flaunting danger – on a smallish level it's one of the reasons I race - and that people will be at the Tour da Chicago. If you've read this far and you're going to ride, I just implore you to think ahead to that moment where you're going to have to choose between following the pack or following your self-preservation instincts. Visualize it so that you'll make the right call and live to tell me that I'm a preaching azzhat. I look forward to it… honestly, I do.
Bring on the arguments about noob riding skillz and rights to the road and old school vs. new school alleycats. It doesn’t change the fact that my team rides still start at that Starbucks and every time we’re there, a white ghost bike is still sitting quietly at that intersection.…
evening, spend a beautiful night under the stars at Homewood Izaak Walton Preserve, and return Saturday morning before your busy life even knows you were gone.
REGISTER HERE
Where, when, & how far This first of three Off-Leash Overnighters leaves GoodSpeed Cycles, 2125 W 183rd Street in Homewood, Illinois at 6:30pm on Friday, May 18 for a slow 4-mile roll on quiet neighborhood streets to the beautiful Homewood Izaak Walton Nature Preserve just off Ridge Road for a night of camping under the stars.
We'll roll home early Saturday morning at 8am after breakfast, having slipped some adventure into our back pocket to get us through the weekend a little more relaxed, and looking forward to the next Off-Leash Overnighter. Kids welcome!
Both dinner and breakfast are included You bring your bike loaded with the camping gear and supplies (tent or hammock, sleeping bag, extra clothes, guitar, ghost stories, etc...) you need to make it through spending a night outside.
Fee: Bike campers 12 - 112 years old - $35 Bike campers 0 - 11 years old - Free!
REGISTER HERE
Do Off-Leash Overnighters benefit area trails? Net proceeds from Off-Leash Overnighter are donated to Trails for Illinois, a 501c3 non-profit, to spend on area trails and trail projects.
Make sure the next Off-Leash Overnighters are on your calendar:
July 14-15 - Off-Leash Overnighter: 219! [40 miles round trip, camping at Oak Ridge Prairie County Park in Griffith, Indiana]
September 8-9 - Off-Leash Overnighter: Camp Bullfrog Lake! [75 miles round-trip, camping at Camp Bullfrog Lake in Palos, Illinois]
Sponsors:
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new rise in cyclists and other HPV’s.
With the rise in cost of petroleum by products, mainly gasoline, and greater presence of these smaller self propelled vehicles, the driving community became outraged! Drivers sharing their precious lanes of cement and asphalt? Un-heard off. Especially with such insignificant objects as a skate board, roller blades or the “leader” of the rebellion, the bicycle.
Cars, trucks, minivans and the most hoggish, the SUV, saw fit to take action and stamp out the rebel rousers at all costs. Faster and faster, as gas prices rose, so too did the rise in cyclists and with them, the rise in car related bicycle fatalities
No one suffered from this more than the daily bike messengers. Barely scrapping by with their hard days of ridding. Rain or shine. Sun or snow. Riding as fast as they can through the maze of traffic to deliver the packages on time. A dangerous occupation already, they now had to deal with even more agitated motorized vehicles then before.
A courier, known by the name of U for her excessive use of a U lock on rude drivers and their cars, was seen as the best courier by all the other messengers and dispatchers of the city. No one could ride as fast, swerve as sharp or had the streets memorized quite like U. Her past, unknown.
Legend has it, abandoned in a bike pile outside a bar in the middle of the coldest January the city has ever seen, she was adopted by a roving gang of rat worshiping miscreants. There, a love was forged. A love for bicycles, beer, pizza and a hatred for the SUV’s and all like it.
Each Halloween a major alley cat would be held in the city of Sleepy Cog’O. Messengers and urban cyclists would attend from around the world for their chance at winning. No one honestly knew they could win with U in the race, but it was nice to think so. This particular night was special. Do to changing weather and climate, caused by non other then the motor vehicles and their toxic fumes (and of course the manufacturing process), a strange cold front come from the north engulfing the city in a flurry of snow and wind.
The racers, taking no notice to the weather, took off down the streets. Riders were lit ablaze with a mad spirit of streets and beer. One cyclist went down due to slick crosswalk lines causing another to swerve into a curb cutting of U. In a blink of an eye U flew up and over the curb and into the streets, sliding up against an Escalade to help keep from falling to the ground.
The driver became furious and tried to chase U down. No driver had ever been able to chase down U. No matter how empty the streets or how tired she was, U could not be caught. The driver become more and more aggravated by each passing second and every red light he came to. After 13 minutes of speeding, running lights and cutting off cyclists and cars alike, the driver of the SUV Saw in the distance U turn down a one way street.
“If I can reach the end of the next street before she does, I can block her in with no escape!, then she’ll be sorry.” thought the driver.
He slammed his foot on the gas and around he went. U only yards away from the finish saw a cab opening its back door. In am amazing show of quick thinking she slammed the door shut with her hand propelling her forward toward the green light that was the finish.
With no thought to the size, weight or speed of his over sized vehicle the SUV went careening down the street. With a mix of bad driving and low mechanical maintenance the brake line snapped causing the driver to lose control. Inches from the finishing line the Escalade slammed into U sending her and her bicycle flying into the air.
The body of U was found 60 feet away from the site of impact against the dumpster of a small Chinese Buffet. Her head completely missing and with no evidence of how it happened but the bloody drips off a “BIKE LANE” sign.
Now, every Halloween the headless ghost of U can be seen riding through the streets of the greater Sleepy Cog’O in search of her missing head and to exact revenge on any SUV or motorized vehicle that might get in her way.
Drive safely and share the road… or else…
ety on the road, including for pedestrians who have or should have the right to experience a walk across the road as "their space" too, just as we like to experience our bike lanes as "ours," and cars' space as "theirs." While cyclists who go through red lights, and they are probably a majority from what I've seen each morning on my way to work, think they are outside of the law, they fail to see how their narcissism (a disorder when in serious dimensions and always accompanied by a sense of entitlement - the sense that I am above others or possess more value than others) negatively affects others (by definition, narcissists have no empathy and can always justify their behavior). But the reality is that if we want a right to "own the road" too (which I think we all agree we do) we must agree to basic rules of conduct on the road. It is amazing how people sometimes want rights but don't want, to quote Spiderman's uncle, a sense of responsibility that goes with them (okay, his uncle was talking about "great power"). It is immaterial, as bikers like to state to justify their sense of entitlement, whether accidents are likely when we go through red lights, or that we are not very likely to hit pedestrians crossing the road. Rather, the reason for the rule is to endow us with a sense of equality with cars, which surely is what we want (and the more we have it, the more others will use bikes and put those cars increasingly out of circulation). If we act like kids who pretend that the rules of the road only apply to cars, we are in effect saying that we are not on their level, that we don't have the same legitimacy. I work in a highly dangerous environment in inner cities working with kids in gangs and I see all the time the effects of a human inability to curtail impulses, and also a remarkable inability to see how two groups can co-exist (gang mentality is pretty much like tribal mentality, that we all abandoned a few thousand years ago, although countries still often have it). We are the bikers, they are the car drivers, we can't co-exist, we are special, they are shit. This is no different than the gang mentality I see all the time (although it leads to less children dying). BUT violence historically has declined in our cities because humans increasingly succeeded to curtail their impulses so that not every insult led to a murder. Surely bikers can contain theirs long enough to wait at a red light? Though I go through about 60 light intersections on my way to work, the chances of a red light happening are maybe 8 out of those. Big deal. Time to relax and catch one's breath. But there is a more dangerous psychology at play. If you take on a more aggressive stance, then car drivers won't care about you. The chances that they'll skim past you rather than take their full 3 feet to the left of you will increase if they don't care about you. The city is doing all it can right now to paint more lanes and fine more bad car driver behaviors, so why can't we take some responsibility for our actions? We love to accuse the car drivers for everything under the sun, and they often deserve it, but now that we have a chance to prove that we are on average careful and considerate, bikers don't want the opportunity to prove that. Typical ironic human nature. Typical moronic humans. However I have seen again and again how bikers (yes, US!) have irritated car drivers with their behaviors, but they don't like to take responsibility for the bad behaviors that car drivers then, in turn, will take out on us (including us bikers not directly responsible for others' behaviors). Next time you see ghost bicycles, consider the possibility that the careless behavior of the car driver may just to some small degree have been the result of some of you jumping in and out traffic on your bikes and zipping through red lights and pissing off the car drivers. A fine sounds like a good idea if it means all transportation users follow equal rules.…
Keep them smart, safe, and visible on their neighborhood streets. God of Life, hear our prayer.
Present in a global workforce of making things, we give thanks for those who build, repair and clean our bicycles, and who rely on bicycles to earn their living. Bless those who choose not to drive to work and those for whom driving isn’t even an option. God of Life, hear our prayer.
Present in diverse and beautiful communities, we ask for Your protection and blessing on all who ride. God of Life, hear our prayer.
We now observe a moment of silence for all who have perished while riding…
We also ask You to provide consolation and foregiveness to motorists who may have unwittingly caused the injury or death of a bicyclist. God of Life, hear our prayer.
The verses above were from the Blessing of the Bicycles & Bicyclists at St. Luke’s Church on Mother’s Day, May 12, 2013. I led a group of eight riders from Evanston Bicycle Club to St. Lukes for the blessing. Our group was of mixed religious backgrounds, some Episcopal (as is St. Lukes), some Catholic, some Jewish and some non-affiliated. We were all touched not only by the blessing but the entire service at this beautiful church on a residential street in Evanston. The clergy and the flock were open, welcoming and inspiring. We came up to the church on our bikes after the service had started. We expected to lock up outside. Volunteers guided us into the church where our bikes were hung from the seat on racks in an area in the front of the pews. About 40-bikes of all sizes, vintages and states of repair were there when we arrived. Shortly before the communion two ghost bikes, one an adult bike and one a children’s bike were brought up to the front where the blessings were given. I do not know if they represented specific riders or if they were more general symbols of those lost on the road.
I will admit I was not entirely looking forward to this ride. I had scheduled it after an exchange of e-mail with Elizabeth Adamczyk of the Ride of Silence. We had the idea of bringing Evanston and Chicago riders together to ride to the Blessing. I posted the ride on Evanston Bike Club’s board and Elizabeth soon realized that Mother’s Day was not a good day for her to ride. She and I had a laugh over this the other day at the ROS event at Heritage General Store. I figured I had already scheduled the ride and would not take it down. However, I had an open Sunday and was half craving a longer, faster, more challenging ride. This was essentially a preview of the Evanston ROS and was only 11 miles at a casual pace. I didn’t know if anybody would show up. I had done about 10 miles before getting to the start and figured I could ride wherever I wanted if nobody showed up.
I found club members waiting for the start of the ride and my mood brightened. We had a nice easy ride to the church. Within minutes of our arrival we were all very happy that we had made the commitment to do this ride and felt the spiritual uplift these kinds of things bring regardless of our affiliation or inherent sense of cynicism.
I have also found that today’s ride and the blessing have me in a good frame of mind as the Ride of Silence approaches. I hope all had a good, and safe, ride today.…
e said:That's your opinion, as you know nothing about me. And opinions are like assholes (like you), everyone has one. If you have a gripe with me, then maybe we need to sit down, have a beer or two, and discuss it. Otherwise, I'll still think your an asshole for pointing fingers at me over the safety of the internet
Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:Hahaha, what? I didn't realize danger and order were always related in that way. I guess I should install my bottom bracket cups before the bottom bracket. There's no danger there because I won't be going anywhere with an empty bottom bracket shell.Just admit that you don't give a damn about anyone's time or safety other than your own.Eddie said:There would be less stop signs. Bikes are smaller, very easy to manuver, do very little if no damage when crashed. There could be reason to have less order. As danger goes down then so should order (e.g. stop signs, lights, etc).Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:Let's say there were less cars and more bikes. Wouldn't the increase in bike riders still make stop signs necessary?Eddie said:Did you even read my message? I think you misunderstood. I choose to break the law when my safety is not compromised. And again, (if you didn't hear it the first time), if there weren't so many cars, we wouldn't have so many stop signs. And personnally, I think that if you drive a car, you should be penalized with more stop signs. If not for the mere fact that you are more dangerous, and you polute.Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:As it stands now, yes, Same Road, Same Rights, Same Rules. If you have a problem with it, try to get it changed. Just because you don't like a rule doesn't mean you don't have to follow it. I'm sure all cyclists would be overjoyed if motorists decided to run red lights with abandon, etc. I have a feeling the number of ghost bikes would skyrocket.Eddie said:...Not the same speed, weight, and killing power, hence not the same rules. Cars suck, and if there weren't so many, we wouldn't need all these stop signs. F'k the stop signs, and the cops who try to enforce them!! It's my life, and my time, and I choose when to stop, and when not to.Regards, A guy who has already been run over by a stupid driver.Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:While this should be enforced for all road users, keep in mind that blowing a stop sign carries graver danger for a cyclist than a motorist.Remember - Same Road, Same Rights, Same Rules.
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Added by Doug Haynes at 11:33am on August 19, 2010
ings. But for years and years, the death of my husband — I could accept it, but debasing of his personality, that I cannot bear. But now revenge is coming. The revenge is coming that all those who have attacked him who have said all those things when the truth will be known about what he has found. And what is re, really his madness? All those people will be ashamed. Will be ashamed. They would like to swallow all they have said because it will show how fools they were not to have understood that man...That hour is coming. Madame Nhu
Jeff Schneider said:
I think a Ngo Dinh Diem quote trumps any other argument (except perhaps a quote from Madame Nhu). This thread should probably be closed...Gene Tenner said:
Follow me if I advance! Kill me if I retreat! Revenge me if I die! Ngo Dinh Diem
If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge? William Shakespeare
It would be flattering to call it a modern Dirty Harry, but I think this film deals more with the loss of his wife than the traditional revenge vigilante films. Vin Diesel
Men are more prone to revenge injuries than to requite kindness. Thomas Fuller
To be angry is to revenge the faults of others on ourselves. Alexander Pope
Violence is almost an everyday occurrence in some Muslim lands: it should not be exacerbated by revenge attacks on more innocent families and communities. Cat Stevens
Virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which they submit by the boredom which they inspire. Confucius
David said:
I think "revenge" as a transitive/reflexive verb is pretty common. "The cyclist shall revenge himself upon the driver" may be a bit overdramatic, but I think it's a pretty normal phrase for native speakers. And as a normal transitive verb, "revenge" sounds okay to me also, it brings to mind Hamlet's ghost's "Revenge his foul and unnatural murder". OK, I guess that's pretty dramatic as well.
"Revenge" as an intransitive verb is, to my ears, much more archaic. It just sounds wrong to me.
Jeff Schneider said:
I've always heard/read/used "avenge" as the verb.Michael J Blane said:
Sometimes revenge is a verb.
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Added by Gene Tenner at 2:39pm on February 21, 2012
.
Here is my list of blogs, the dates of the most recent posting, and the responsible author(s) or organization.
http://bikemonument.blogspot.com/ June 7, 2009 1000 Ghost Bikes
http://www.bikeblogchicago.com/ October 28, 2009 Barton & Barton
http://carfreechicago.com/ March 22, 2010 Lee Crandell
http://www.chicagobikeblog.com/ Dec 2, 2009 Rapid Transit
http://chicagowanderer.blogspot.com/ Dec 8, 2009 JamiMaria
http://georgethecyclist.blogspot.com/ March 21, 2010 George Christiansen
http://letsgorideabike.com/blog/ March 23, 2010 Dottie and Trisha
http://cyclingislife.blogspot.com/ Jan 31, 2010 Illinois Frank
http://thechicagobicycleadvocate.blogspot.com/ March 25, 2010 Brendan Kevenides
http://votewithyourfeetchicago.blogspot.com/ March 19, 2010 John Greenfield
http://windycitybiker.blogspot.com/ July 8, 2009 Steve
http://workingbikescoop.blogspot.com/ February 24, 2010 Working Bikes Cooperative
and a shamless plug for my own recent entry
http://garybicycles.com/onyourleft/ March 25, 2010
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r door at 3 a.m. to tell her he had been killed riding his bike on North Avenue in Chicago.
Damani Henard, 14, was shot and killed around 12:45 a.m. as he rode westbound in the 5000 block of North Avenue. He had been visiting friends in his old neighborhood.
Paige said Chicago detectives are assigned to the case, but witnesses have been reluctant to speak.
"Police have a few leads, but people are afraid," said Paige.
"The city of Chicago belongs to the gangbangers," she added. "I moved to Oak Park to escape gang activity. Damani took that route regularly on his bike. It's so unfortunate he didn't get a chance to enjoy his teenage years."
Police said two men ran across North Avenue from the north side of the street and one shot the boy in the head and back. The two then fled. According to police, a passing motorist stopped his car when he saw the boy lying in the street.
"He was kind enough to get out of the car and he held my baby until he died on the scene."
The family created a display last week with candles and posterboards at the site of LeClaire and North avenues where Henard was killed. A coach from the Humboldt Park Patriots football team, for whom Damani volunteered as a water boy, brought a jersey to display.
Paige said her son was emotionally giving and had just gotten over a clingy stage where he was always wanting to be with her. He liked Yu-Gi-Oh cards and still sucked his thumb, she said. He graduated from West Park Academy in Chicago this June.
"He was not in a gang. It was a case of mistaken identity," she said.
Henard was registered to start at Oak Park and River Forest High School this fall, his mother said. The family moved to Oak Park last year, said his sister, Zapria Robinson, 17.
"He was looking forward to being enrolled in OPRF," Robinson said. "He wanted to try out for the football team and also basketball and debate."
July 13, after the packed funeral repast at Corinthian Temple Church of God in Christ, 4520 W. Washington Blvd., the family drove past the spot where Henard was shot.
Paige said she saw that someone had chained a white "ghost bike" to a street pole. Attached was a sign reading "I just wanted to ride my bike. Damani Henard."
"Whoever did that, I think they are the kindest person," Paige said. "I hope when people see that bike that they help the police find the person who killed my son. I hope someone has a conscience because it could be their brother or son."
Paige works two jobs as a nursing assistant in Highland Park. She is studying to become a registered nurse. She came up with funeral costs of $9,000 by asking co-workers and friends to help.
"I can't go back to work yet. Mentally, I'm still processing that [Damani's] not here," she said. "I want justice for my son. When I think of the fear he must have had trying to ride away …
"I want the man who shot my son to be arrested. The horrific decision he made severely impacted my life and I'll never be the same."
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This Week On The Chainlink - the update from thechainlink.org.
Thank you to everyone who came out to support The Chainlink and celebrate Halloween with us--and a special thank you to a
Added by Bianca Gordon at 8:50pm on January 28, 2014