I have been hung up on writing this blog first before I wrote about any of the other rides that have happened since then. Sorry for the delay and so here goes it:

The 49th annual Moose Jaw Snow Safari was looking sketchy on account of thin snow so Big Mike had the bright Idea that we venture out to Chicago to do an Epic ride on Saturday in place of the storied Moose Safari? Why not? It had been 7 years since I was out to ride in the windy city and in those 7 years a major transformation had occurred which firmly I was unaware.

In the summer of 2005 Jen took me out to Chicago to meet the family, we naturally brought our bikes. Jen was almost hit twice, cars and streets could care less if we were there let alone hit or otherwise maim anyone who got in their way-ed? Add to this we had a pedestrian almost take us both out on the famed river walk trail. After that weekend and with her being upset I thought why venture back to ride when we have so many open wonderful streets right here in Detroit? Needless to say I am so glad we did.

I posted a bit on face book back then but by viewing these pictures you can see some of the things we encountered on our journey,

The Jump Park was great except for the bent rear sprocket. Mikes flat came next and both of our Co2 infrastructures were caput. Then thanks! To the great guys at Iron Bikes getting us back out on the trail with the best city Bike Map we have ever seen. They pointed us in a new direction out to the Forest and newly opened rails to trails. What a vista without a single sky scraper to be seen! With a brief stop at the Pressure Billiard Café (NW corner of Clark and Highland) we continued on back into down with a magnificent stop at the Rosehill Cemetery.

Rosehill has the greatest single collection of obelisk/monuments in the entire world. By my estimation the second largest obelisk in the USA can be found here, (second only to the Washington Monument in D.C.). The Masonic symbolism is a symphony to thus trained ears. Next time you go to Chicago visit the old Rosehill open your mind and be amazed.

The way back into town was wonderful as bike lane after bike lane guided us back south into the city center. Cars stopped, people slowed down and let the Bike Detroiters flow on through like a stream, respecting the flow rather than interrupting it. We booked 43 miles and were later joined by an original musketeer named Drew who drove in from The Three Cities to have some Din-din and catch up with his old high school pals.

Bike Chicago! J. Meyers bike explorer.