People – Page 24 – Grid Chicago

Co-leaders discuss the West Side advisory group for Streets for Cycling

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Steven Lane and Johanna Thompson with a map of the West Side region

As as sub-consultant for CDOT’s Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 to create 150 – 250 miles of innovative bikeways, Active Transportation Alliance has formed community advisory groups in nine regions of the city to collect input from residents. To get involved, find contact info for the advisory group in your part of the town.

Last Sunday I caught up with Johanna Thompson and Steven Lane, co-leaders of the West Side advisory group, responsible for the region bounded by Belmont Street, the Kennedy Expressway, the Eisenhower Expressway and the city’s western limits. They were hosting a drop-in session for community members at New Wave Coffee, 2551 N. Milwaukee in Logan Square, and they filled me in on what they’re doing to solicit feedback from people of all cycling abilities and every neighborhood in their region.

Continue reading Co-leaders discuss the West Side advisory group for Streets for Cycling

How do you get insurance information from a car that presumably drove itself?

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An actual robotic car. Cars driven by robotic software may actually be safer for our roads than cars driven by people because they never stop paying attention. Photo by j-fi.

You may have read about 10 days ago that actor Gene Hackman was involved in a collision with an automobile while cycling in Florida. And if you read about this on CNN’s website, you may be under the impression that he was hit by a robot car. Twice in the article there is a mention of a car hitting Hackman and but a driver of that automobile is mentioned 0 times. The robot car strikes again!

I want news media to write stronger, more accurate descriptions of the situation. I want articles about robot cars to only be about cars that are driven without a human operator (an article by Tom Vanderbilt, also the author of Traffic). When you discover it, tell the author and their editor that you want better information. I am republishing, in full, Travis Wittwer’s essay titled “#robotcar”: Continue reading How do you get insurance information from a car that presumably drove itself?

West Town’s women’s programs take the machismo out of mechanics

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Fixing brakes at Women and Trans’ Night – all WATN photos courtesy of West Town Bikes

[This piece also appears in Newcity magazine.]

This city’s blessed with five nonprofit bike shops where locals can learn to ride safely and/or turn a wrench, spread across the city from Lakeside Velo Works in South Chicago to the Recyclery in Rogers Park. These centers strive to be inclusive, but when most of the other participants are guys, a female who’s new to cycling or mechanics might feel out of her element. Fortunately, West Town Bikes in Humboldt Park offers a couple of cool programs just for the ladies.

Continue reading West Town’s women’s programs take the machismo out of mechanics

Grounds for celebration: Chicago’s first bike & coffee shop is almost open

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Heritage Bicycles staff

It was a nice surprise when I checked e-mail Monday morning and saw an announcement for the grand opening party for Heritage Bicycles General Store, Chicago’s first bike shop café, on Saturday, January 28, 6-11 pm at 2959 N. Lincoln. I immediately called up owner Michael Salvatore to ask for a sneak peek at the nearly completed space.

When I checked out the storefront back in October, Salvatore told me he hoped to open the shop in November but, unsurprisingly, it’s taken a little longer than expected for this unique business to navigate the city’s permitting process. “The City of Chicago was quite the hurdle,” he said when I visited on Tuesday. “This has been a learning process for me, the architect and the entire crew, but it’s been a fun experience. And if we’d opened in November the Christmas rush would have killed us, so the timing turned out for the best.”

When I dropped by, city workers were poking around with flashlights inspecting the shop’s electrical work, and the space was still a work in progress. But it’s clear this will soon be one of the most attractive coffee shops, let alone bike stores, in town.

Continue reading Grounds for celebration: Chicago’s first bike & coffee shop is almost open

An update on the Chicago Velo Campus at the Illinois Cycling Association awards

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Emanuele Bianchi

Although I try to keep track of everything that’s going on in Chicago’s burgeoning bicycle scene, racing is one facet that I’m not so familiar with, but I’m definitely interested in learning more. For example, I’m not sure I had ever heard of the Illinois Cycling Association (ICA) before I attended their 4th annual awards ceremony on Saturday, having read about the event on the Chainlink.

The ICA is a federation of local bike clubs and promoters that are registered with USA Cycling, which promotes racing on a national level. The association’s goal is to raise the level of competitive cycling in Illinois, a state not yet known as a bike racing Mecca due to its mostly pancake-flat topography. This may change in the future if ICA member Emanuele Bianchi achieves his dream of building the world’s best indoor velodrome, the $40 million Chicago Velo Campus, on the city’s Southeast Side. I interviewed Bianchi about the project last fall.

Continue reading An update on the Chicago Velo Campus at the Illinois Cycling Association awards