Bike Winter fashion show: Pretty bikes and the clothes were nice, too!

Last night John and I attended the Bike Winter closing party and fashion show, at the Gala Gallery (1000 N Milwaukee Avenue). Al Schorch was hilarious as the emcee, as usual. The event was one of many fundraisers throughout the year for West Town Bikes, a community DIY and learning bike shop in Humboldt Park.

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Ian tests the brakes on a Civia Halsted (Minneapolis) cycle truck cargo bike wearing Levi’s 511 Commuter jeans. I was going to buy some that evening after seeing how cool they are and levi.com didn’t have my size! Continue reading Bike Winter fashion show: Pretty bikes and the clothes were nice, too!

Grid Shots: Bike Winter Art Show edition

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Photo booth at the art show
The first three photos in this post are by John

Can you believe it’s 51°F right now? The snow from Thursday is still sitting in the shadowy places of alleys, but the sun and temperature is downright joyous.

The 15th annual Bike Winter Art Show kicked off at Gala Gallery (1000 N Milwaukee) on Friday night. Here’s my curated gallery of photos from the art show by John. I was busy that night at the UIC Urban Innovation Symposium, giving an “adapted” Pecha Kucha presentation about my Crash Browser project. There will be a party with a bike fashion show on March 9, 2012. Continue reading Grid Shots: Bike Winter Art Show edition

Chicagoans offer tips to keep the pedals turning this winter

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Gin Kilgore rides with her son Miguel Burton-Kilgore. Photo by Martha Williams.

[This article also runs in Momentum magazine.]

It’s November and days are getting shorter and colder. If you live in the Upper Midwest or the Northeast, sleet, slush, snow and ice are just around the corner, so maybe you’re thinking about mothballing your bike for the next four months.

Instead, Gin Kilgore suggests you give cold-weather biking a spin. She helped found Bike Winter, a Chicago-based grassroots organization that promotes all-season cycling, with offshoots in St. Louis, Missouri, and Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. “Winter biking helps you stay active and in the sunshine all year, which is so good for the body and mind,” Kilgore says. “And it sure beats shivering at the bus stop.”

Continue reading Chicagoans offer tips to keep the pedals turning this winter