Chicago meet up

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jonathanm

10 kW
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
508
Ok so I thought it might be a nice idea to have a Chicago area meet up sometime before the season ends. I PM'd a bunch of people from the area (and a couple who aren't, lol) and it looks like there are at least 5 people up for it :)

So let's start a thread.

Here's the synopsis so far.....

Me - I'm on the North Shore, but I reckon I can throw my bike in the car to meet up wherever suits people. I'm also pretty flexible for dates. I have a range of about 30+ miles.

V_Mark is up for it - he is on the North side near Fullerton and has a range of 20-25 miles...

Warren (recumbents.com) is up for it as well, but his next two weekends are busy so it would be the 24th or later. (24th sounds good to me) I guess he'll be driving in as well.

Don (drutledge) needs to stay close to home because his cargo bike and cupcake (!) are not easy to transport. He might bring a friend as well. His range is about 10-15 miles.

Lester12483 (Chicago Electric Bikes) says he can do Saturdays before 11am for a ride....he suggested downtown somewhere...

So......If Mark, Don and Lester are all gonna be arriving by bike, then maybe somewhere in the middle of them is a good idea - Logan Square, Humboldt Park, etc....decent coffee shops, and not too bad for parking for Warren and I...

Open to other suggestions of course...

Anyone else wants to join then the more the merrier :)
 
i want to go too!

I'm halfway between Bussie woods and the North branh around Devon and Milwaukee. That is about 16 miles from my house.

speedebikes@GMAIL.COM Todd lives in riverview area and is a fun guy.

I have large range, just have a problem getting around areas I don't know as I can't read the street signs easily, kinda blind. Maybe get my buudy to drive us to the meet if he's up to it.

As I said I want in.

Dan
 
Don't forget that you can take your bike on the Metra and CTA busses and trains (most of the time.) If anyone would be coming from the suburbs, it may make sense to ride to the train and meet in the city somewhere.

Does anyone know of any good routes? It would make sense to do a chunk of the Lakefront Trail, maybe the North end of the trail down to museum campus or Navy Pier and then snake back through the city. -- or vice versa.

I wonder if there are any good places for a group of ebikers to charge.
 
Lakefront trail would be cool, but I think it excludes Don - he needs to be able to get there and back to Oak Park on his limited range. This is why I suggested somewhere more to the west.

I don't know about recumbents (Will) and cargo bikes (Don) on the L or Metra, but they won't go on a bus, obviously....

If I drive down and park up, I can bring my hyperion 14s charger and power it off my car for anyone who needs a top up charge while we grab lunch or something. This will need us to find a place where we can sit and eat close to the car so we can keep an eye on it. If anyone might need this, let me know so we can make sure I've got charge leads that will work with your pack.

If we end up near Lester's shop, maybe we can do some charging there? I've not been there but going by the pic on his website it's a pretty small shop so I don't know if it's gonna work for half a dozen bikes on charge all at once.

Dan - did you email Todd? drop him a line and let him know, seeing as you know him. If I do end up driving, I might be able to pick you up, but I don't know if my little Honda can manage two bikes. I've got a lightweight trunk rack, so it might work if we took the heavy stuff (wheels, batteries) off and put them in the car, and put the bikes on the rack.
 
Humbolt or Logan Square would be fine for the cargo bike's range but if people want to meet up somewhere else, I'd be happy to just to meet up (sans bike or cupcake) and look at other people's bikes and swap info. With a charge at the stop I could obviously go farther. I don't take the cupcake outside of Oak Park since it literally stops traffic and creates a moving gapers block. Oak Parkers have become jaded to its charms.

If anybody is coming from farther west and wants to stop off in Oak Park for some delicious solar powered charging you're welcome to it; your bike will never want to go back to that coal/gas/oil/nuclear derived stuff.

Again, no worries if we meet somewhere outside of my range. I'd love to just be able ask all my 'too dumb to even post' questions with you guys. Maybe we can have another meet up next year in Oak Park, easily accessible by highway, el (blue and Green) and Metra.
 
jonathanm,
where are you located?

I did tell Todd about it and said he will post soon about it.

2 bikes in a Honda? I don't think we could pick mine up on the rack. I should have my lite ride back on the road in about a week or so.

We need a plan soon so we can make it happen.

Dan
 
Dan - I'm up in Winnetka.....I've had 2 regular bikes on the rack before, but 2 heavy ebikes with motors attached etc would kill it. taking the bikes apart would be a PITA but is a possibility if the other options are limited. If I just come on my own I'll probably just put the seats down and stuff the bike in the back somewhow.

Don - there's only a handful of us so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out somewhere that works for everyone.

It just occurred to me actually, that if you ride from Oak Park to Logan Square, you're not gonna have much juice spare for a group ride.......

Maybe another alternative is to meet in Oak Park? Mark and Lester could ride out or get the El, they have better range than you and their bikes will go on the public transport ok.

That way, we would all have a decent bit of juice once we got together. If needed, they could get a top up at your place before heading home.

For those of us driving in, it doesn't really make much difference where we meet, so it would be good to hear from you city dwellers on what you think.

Plus, if we did it like that, we can all get a ride on the cupcake! 8)

What about date/time? Saturday 24th is good for me as well, in fact I can swing any Saturday or Sunday except Sunday October 9th.
 
Most any date is fine with me. I'm also quite happy to host here in Oak Park if that's what seems to work best for everyone. Again, I'm also ok with just chatting with everyone if something in the city is better.

The Cupcake is now street legal so anyone over 16 can take it for a spin on the street. As for a group ride, it's a bit lacking in bike trails here but we do have all the Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Oak Park, River Forest and Riverside that we could do an informal tour of. (Or a semi-formal tour; I know a rickshaw guy who gives tours of all the homes, I could maybe get him to do his thing if people were interested.)

My house is near Ridgeland and Division in Oak Park (60302) for those wanting to see if there's a route that works for them.
 
The Frank Lloyd Wright thing might be interesting.

What about that strip of forest preserve about a mile west of you.....any decent trails in there?

I don't know that area very well, but I stumbled on that Riverside neighborhood once - really nice, and a little surreal - it's like a rural english village hidden away in the middle of suburban Chicago.
 
I can do oak park pretty much anytime. I live not too far from there. I can also do downtown in the mornings. When are we going to make this happen?
 
I'd be more into a Chicago ride, but Oak Park is a cool place. Getting downtown from Oak Park & vice-versa is just an green-line train away, but I'm not too familiar with anything too much west of Humboldt Park. Perhaps if all goes well, we can do a Chicago ride next time. I'm good for any Sat & Sun as long as I have a week or two of notice. Jonathanm mentioned Saturday 9/24, which works for me.

While I have the attention of all the Chicago area Ebike riders-- does anyone else beside Lester & I do the Chicago Critical Mass rides? If we could get enough ebikes, it would be great to all meet in one spot before CM and do the rides together.
 
Ok, so are we on for this? the 24th?

What time? Any time works for me. Those with the most restrictions ought to speak up.
 
I'm in. 10am? 11am? noon? anytime is good for me.
 
I'm up for it, though it looks like a very good possibility of some sprinkles this Saturday. Most people might want to deal with the slight chill of a later weekend than the misery of getting wet if it actually rains.

If we are set on Oak Park, we can meet at my place were I have a garage with electric and charging; one 600w charger, one 275w and a real pokey 125w one. I use the standard Male/Female 4mm bullet connectors. If we meet somewhere else, I'll bring my charger so I can at least make the round-trip - assuming good weather. I'm a fair-weather biker.

-Don
 
In light of the weather & not seeing many confirmed riders, I'm going to pass on this as well. How do the next couple of weekends look to everyone? I'm open October 1-2 & 8.
 
I don't know if anyone is still following this thread but by next week it looks like this lingering low pressure will move out and actual early fall weather will finally be here; nice temps with sunshine. The forecast is still far out for Oct. 8th but it's looking much better than the last few weeks; 69 and sunny.

Anyone interested?

-Don
 
Jonathanm;

I am a ebike newbie, please include me on your list for possible future rides, I am usually available on Saturday and Sunday. I live in Andersonville, near the lake front. I am hoping to do the ride of the 47th ward tommorow(sunday) at Revere Park on Irving park and chicago river at 10am. Jerry
 
I know, just because the weather is pretty good here in chicagoland lately, that winter is not over yet, this week is Chinese New Year and it is usually a bear, but I am getting ready to test 2 ebikes. Already plan to ride "Bike the Drive" at the end of May, and my 21st Night ride in July. I know last year, the ebikers of Chicagoland tried to get together in October, but couldn't come up with a plan. Well, this year we got 2 or 3 months before ideal ebiking weather, lotsa time to think if you want get together. I am good north and west of the loop, thru the suburbs. Hey! I saw bikers out there last Friday when we got all that snow(6"), so we could sort of get thinking on a get together. Being a recumbent member since 93, we(that is most of us, me not included) were always present, even in winter.

later,
Jerry
 
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