When I get back from this trip, I think I need to personally thank Rails to Trails for doing such wonderful work converting old rail lines to bike trails.... because we crossed almost the entire state of Illinois on beautiful bike paths!
Our bike ride into Chicago was even pretty easy, despite the stark warnings we heard from some locals and other touring cyclists. That was partly thanks to our wonderful host Josh, and his friend Adam who biked part of the way into the city with us. (Adam's sweet ride is a hand-powered recumbent)
Once we arrived in Chicago, we were greeted by Hannah's old college roomie, Hannah, and her boyfriend, Tyler. They were great hosts, and even introduced us to the ORIGINAL house of pancakes. Yum Yum!
We also had many wonderful journeys on another bike path, this beautiful one running all along the lake shore through downtown Chicago.
But Chicago wasn't all just fun and games. The kind folks at West Town Bikes, a great community bike shop let us use their space to do a much needed tune-up on our bikes. (Here I'm giving Melissa some tips on truing wheels)
Then it was off to Blackstone Bike Works, another non-profit bike shop with a great group of kids learning all about fixing bikes and being part of the community.
We also set up shop for an evening at REI, and talked to their customers about what we're doing and why. We had a few people honestly say "You are an inspiration, I'm really going to try riding my bike more." The event was a sure success, and we'll be doing more like this in the future.But of course, it's not Chicago without Deep Dish Pizza! (Sorry Hannah... this is definitely NOT gluten-free...)
~casey
~casey
Gee Hannah, what did you eat at the pizza shop?
ReplyDeletecasey, my sister and i signed our names in one of those booths all the way back in '98.
ReplyDeletei hope you found them and took a photo for me.
I ate thai food! We thought that they had a gluten-free crust on their menu, but were mistaken. The waiter was kind enough to let me run down the street and pick up some take-out to eat in the restaurant while the group chowed down on deep-dish!
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ReplyDelete