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Travelogue: Bike
the Drive, May 2012
By Roger W.
Reini
This is the story of a short trip over Memorial Day weekend in
2012, a trip to Chicago to participate in Bike The Drive.
I had participated in that event three times, in 2008, 2009 and
2010, but I’d skipped last year.
Friday May 25
I took today off as a vacation day, mainly because I had not
taken two days off for Dayton Hamvention and related activities
this year (there was a conflicting event that I attended, and
that didn’t require that I take any vacation). Today wasn’t
entirely work-free, though; I checked my e-mail twice, and I
stayed alert for a message to approve some drawings -- a message
that never came, by the way. While I waited, I packed the
car and wrote out some bills. That was a painful
experience. The last bill went out as the mail lady was
here to pick up and deliver the mail. Waiting for me was
my license plate tag for 2012; I made sure to apply it right
away.
Around 12:30, I was ready to hit the road. Once I left the
house, I had to visit the nearest credit union office to deposit
a check and to pull some money for the trip. Once that was done,
I was able to set off. Now I had made reservations for
Saturday and Sunday in Chicago (the suburb of Skokie, to be
precise), for I might have had to postpone my vacation day and
leave Saturday morning. But I did take the vacation day,
and I could head out. I’d stop somewhere en route (more on
where later).
This wasn’t going to be a speedy drive across Michigan. No, I
wanted to drive across on old Michigan Avenue, old US 12,
meaning the highway that roughly parallels I-94, not the current
US-12. I took Ford Road to Plymouth Road, which took me
into Ann Arbor, and Jackson Road, which took me out. I
followed the old road through Chelsea, Grass Lake and Jackson,
through Albion and Marshall. I hadn’t had lunch, and so I
stopped at a McDonald’s in Marshall. It was good to take a
break.
The drive across the state was going a bit slower than
anticipated. I figured I would do well to get on the freeway and
avoid Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, both places where the route of
Michigan Avenue becomes a little indeterminate. And so I
took I-94 from west of Marshall to just west of Kalamazoo.
Here, I took US 131 north and got back on to Stadium Drive,
which was old Michigan Avenue. As I drove west, I saw a
sign welcoming me to Texas Charter Township. I thought about
taking a picture of it, but I’d passed it by. But I
reconsidered my decision and doubled back to the sign, after
which I took that picture.
As I left Kalamazoo County, the roadway name became the Red
Arrow Highway, its name during the auto trail era before the US
Highway system was established. There was a Red Arrow
Motel in Dixboro near Ann Arbor, and there were a number of Red
Arrow references along the road as I went through Paw Paw,
Coloma and Watervliet. Eventually, I was passing through
Benton Harbor; traffic was busy due to the US Senior PGA
Championship taking place in town. I’d stay on the Red
Arrow Highway into Indiana, through Michigan City and to a point
where I could pick up US 20 into Portage.
Portage was where I would be staying tonight. I’d be staying at
the Days Inn, close to I-94 and the Indiana Toll Road. The
check-in process went reasonably well, and soon I was in room
124 for the night. Contrary to what the room number suggests,
room 124 was on the second floor, not the first. It had a view
of a courtyard, the picnic courtyard, but nobody was picnicking
today. It was actually a bit chilly for that.
Now what would I do for supper? My lunch was late, so my supper
would be late as well. It would be easiest to walk over to
Denny’s, but I really wasn’t in the mood for Denny’s.
Flipping through the literature in the room, I came across an ad
for El Cantarinto, a Mexican restaurant in downtown
Portage. That sounded appealing to me, so I noted the
directions and set off there. The restaurant was in an old
Pizza Hut building and seemed to be a bit busy. But
parking lot appearances were deceiving, as it wasn’t super busy
at all. I was seated right away. Of the dishes on
the menu this evening, the chicken fajitas looked most
appealing. In fact, they were quite good. I’d go
back to that restaurant if I ever found myself staying in
Portage again. I stopped for a bottle of pop and a snack
at a gas station across the street from the hotel; the gas
station was Shell, but the convenience store was named “Luke”
(huh?). Then it was back to the hotel to rest up and plan
tomorrow’s ride. As I went back to the room, I could hear some
rather powerful and intense gospel music coming from the hotel’s
meeting rooms; a local church was having a service this
evening. I couldn’t hear it from my room, though, so it
didn’t interfere with my rest.
Top
Saturday May 26
My sleep wasn’t the greatest. I’d not brought the CPAP
machine in from the car, and I think that not using it hindered
my sleep. So I didn’t feel all that relaxed when I woke up
for good for the day. I did try the breakfast bar in one
of the meeting rooms; it was on the order of breakfast bars at
other hotels, perhaps a bit smaller, but it was all right. I had
a danish and a dish of corn flakes or frosted flakes, I’m not
sure which.
The hotel was just outside of what I consider the boundaries of
greater Chicago, located east of the intersection of I-94 and
the Indiana Toll Road. That meant that shortly after I
checked out and left the hotel, I was unofficially in
Chicago. Officially, I had a good ways to go yet.
Traffic on 80-94 wasn’t bad on this Saturday morning, nor was it
on the Bishop Ford Freeway or the Dan Ryan Expressway. I
didn’t have any problems heading toward downtown at all. I
saw the signs for gas stations; prices in Illinois were well
over the $4 a gallon mark, much higher than in Michigan and
Indiana. Was I glad I’d refilled in southwestern Michigan!
I don’t think there were any problems on the Kennedy Expressway
heading out of town, none that I recall, at least. As I
headed northward, I saw a billboard from Wyoming Tourism
promoting Devil’s Tower as being seven Water Towers high.
If all went well, I’d be seeing Devil’s Tower for myself the
week of July 4. I-94 turned off onto the Edens Expressway,
and that was traffic-jam-free all the way to Dempster and
beyond. But I turned off onto Dempster to go to the Linne Woods
Forest Preserve, my morning destination. I had parked
there last year for a bike ride on the North Shore Trail, and
today I would do so again for a ride on the same trail, this
time in the opposite direction.
When I arrived, I had to visit the restroom quite badly, so my
first destination was the restroom building. Was it
locked? No! Hurray! That business concluded, I parked a bit
closer to the trail and got ready to ride. I unlocked the
bike from the rack, then removed it from the rack. I used
bungee cords to attach my pannier bag to the back of my seat,
placed my water bottle in its holder, unzipped the pants legs
from my pants, thereby turning them into shorts, applied
sunscreen, put on my head covering and my helmet, and then I put
my camera bag over my neck. The car was locked, and I got
ready to ride.
I pedaled down to the sidewalk, which would give me good access
to the trail, and then I took the North Shore Trail heading
north. Soon, I was in a wooded area, criss-crossing
occasionally with a horse trail. The sites were familiar
here, for I had been on this part of the trail up to Old Orchard
Road. As I got to Golf Road, however, the skies ahead
looked a bit threatening, but I thought little of it. When
I reached Old Orchard Road, I thought I saw a flash.
Lightning? I didn’t hear any thunder, so I continued
northward. When I got to Glenview Road, though, I saw a
flash AND heard thunder. That was the signal to turn
around and head back to the car, head back to shelter. My
ride for the day would be cut short, it seems. I heard a
few more cracks of thunder, and I kept up a steady pace, hoping
and praying I’d make it back before the rains came. I did.
After loading the trike on its rack and preparing to leave, I
decided to check the local weather radar on my iPad. What
it showed was promising: the only big storm in the area was the
one now north of me, and it was heading east, with nothing off
to the west. Perhaps I was too hasty to cut short the
ride. Based on that knowledge, I took the trike off of the
rack again and resumed the ride. Before pedaling in
earnest, I tried to draw water from a hand pump in the forest
preserve, but I had no luck in doing so.
Soon I was back up to Glenview again, but this time, I continued
onward. There were some puddles in the trail, and my arms
and hands got wet from the spray, but not my back because this
was a trike and my back was not in the line of spray. As I
pedaled, I rode up and down one bridge over a major highway, and
eventually I could hear a constant roar of traffic from the
Edens Expressway. The trail crossed under the expressway,
then paralleled it on the other side. Soon, it ended at
the Skokie Lagoons, merging into another trail that made a loop
around the lagoons. I took that trail in a
counter-clockwise direction. And soon, I encountered a
deer in the woods alongside the trail. We looked at each
other briefly, but before I could get my camera out, he or she
had walked away. Rats!
I had a few other photo opportunities, mainly with wildflowers
and the landscape of the lagoons, but I did see a large turtle
alongside the trail. He wasn’t moving anywhere, and so I
had plenty of time to get out my camera and get camera-closer
but real-world far away, thanks to the zoom lens. I
pedaled onward, and at one point I thought I saw a family with a
very large dog. No, it wasn’t a dog, it was another deer
bounding away! But I was too slow with the camera
again. No picture. I’d pedaled to the south boundary
of the Chicago Botanic Garden, but I didn’t enter. No, I
finished the loop around the lagoons and took the trail back to
my starting point. Thanks to the aborted trip, I pedaled
28.29 miles.
Now I was hungry. What to do for lunch? I thought
about Sweet Tomatoes, the salad buffet restaurant. Was
there one close by? The iPad said yes, up in Glenview or
Northbrook. I drove up Waukegan Avenue to reach the
restaurant. When I got there, I recognized it from last
July. I had forgotten about this one, but once I saw it, I
recognized it. The cuisine was the same, which was all
right by me. The output of the soda fountain for
caffeine-free Diet Coke looked very weak, but it tasted fine to
me. So did the soups and chili, the muffins and the
salads. After a good ride, that was a good meal.
Afterwards, I went over to the nearby REI and found an extension
handle for the camera that could be used to take
self-portraits. Then it was off to the hotel.
For the next two nights, I’d be staying at the Hampton Inn on
Old Orchard, across the expressway from the shopping center of
the same name. It was a fairly large hotel, rising 8
stories in height. I would be in room 535 on the fifth
floor these next two nights. My room had a small
refrigerator and a microwave. After unpacking, I turned
the air conditioning down to 69 to remove some stuffiness from
the room, and then I lay down on the bed for some rest.
Did I actually nap? I’m not sure, but I definitely rested.
When I got up, a couple of hours had passed, and it was closer
to suppertime. Did I want to go out tonight? There
was a Bakers Square nearby. Or maybe I could just pick
something up from the store; a Jewel Osco store was close by,
too. In fact, this was the same neighborhood where I had
stayed last July.
When it came down to it, I wasn’t terribly hungry for another
restaurant visit, so when I went to the store, I picked up two
Lunchables along with a 12-pack of pop and some snacks.
That would be my supper this evening, and that was all
right. I’d had a good, late lunch.
Top
Sunday May 27
Unlike last night, I did bring in the CPAP machine this evening,
and I made sure I used it. I think I slept better than
last night, although I did have to get up pretty early this
morning. Today was the day for Bike The Drive, the one
chance all year bicyclists have to ride on Lake Shore Drive, as
opposed to along it on the Lakefront Trail. I woke up
around 4:30 Central time (5:30 Eastern) and made my usual
morning e-mail and web checks. I wouldn’t be able to eat
the breakfast provided by the hotel this morning; I’d be out
before the lobby restaurant opened.
I left the hotel around 5:10 in the morning. Lake Shore
Drive was now officially closed to motorized traffic, except for
portions of a single lane in each way to reach 18th Street and
the Museum District, as well as Soldier Field. I’d need that
open lane, for I had pre-paid for parking at Soldier Field at a
substantial savings over what I would have paid at the Grant
Park garage, which is where I’ve parked in the past. But I’m
jumping ahead slightly. I traveled southward along the
Edens, enjoying the light traffic early on a Sunday
morning. There were a couple of other cars with bikes on
racks; I have a feeling they were heading downtown to Bike the
Drive. When the Edens merged with the Kennedy, I saw a few
more vehicles with bikes. As I continued southward on the
Ryan to reach the Stevenson, I didn’t see any more vehicles with
bikes; they must have been parking elsewhere in the Loop or
nearby. I could turn onto the Stevenson heading east, and
while I couldn’t exit onto southbound Lake Shore Drive (closed
for the event, remember; a single police car blocked the exit),
I could take the northbound exit, and that would take me to 18th
Street, which I then took to reach the Soldier Field North
Garage.
There were a lot of riders in the garage with me in this early
part of the ride. I got my bike off the rack and prepped
it for the ride. I took the green parking stub I received
on entry but not the pre-paid permit as I pedaled in the garage,
looking for the exit. I found the pedestrian exit, which
contained a restroom and payment stations. Should I have
brought the pre-paid permit with me? I decided that I
should have, and so I pedaled back to the car to retrieve it,
then pedaled back to the exit. I parked and used the men’s
room before leaving the garage. My first sight was a wall
of honor with symbols of the nation’s military; this was Soldier
Field, after all. The sidewalk led to the Field Museum and
also to the street; all the riders seemed to be pedaling this
way. There was a barricade across the street; once I
crossed that, I and the other riders were now on Lake Shore
Drive, a bit south of the official entry point. Perhaps we
shouldn’t have entered there, but we did, and we were now on our
way.
I was wearing my rider number in two places (on my shirt and on
my helmet) and was wearing my wristband, so I was official and
legal. I was headed northbound, and I continued northbound
past Grant Park and the fountain, past the marinas and started
up on the curve for the bridge over the Chicago River. I
stopped midway to take some pictures; when I rolled down, I hit
over 23 miles an hour. The left lane was occupied by the
speediest riders, who no doubt were achieving 23 mph with pedal
power. That would have been tough for me! The road
had a number of bumps in it as I headed northward, up and down
multiple overpasses. The high rises on the left and the
shoreline on the right made for a very scenic ride. There
were the occasional photographers, official and unofficial, and
there were ride officials and volunteers sprinkled along the
route. At Fullerton Avenue, the riders were forced into
two lanes for a wristband check; anyone without a wristband was
considered to not be a legitimate rider and was forced to leave
the road.
As I passed the exit for Irving Park Avenue, I saw a road sign
blunder. The street was an Illinois state highway, but the sign
at the exit was for US Highway 19, which was nowhere near
Chicago. Somebody goofed! Perhaps it was the same
person who put up a US 59 sign in Milford, Michigan, when it
should have been M-59.
At Bryn Mawr, riders could go straight and make a U-turn to
immediately start riding south, or they could exit and visit the
rest area. I chose to exit. It was a very crowded
rest area, and it was difficult for me to navigate in my
trike. I nibbled on cookies, ate a banana, and had a Clif
bar as my snack/breakfast; I filled my water bottle with water;
and I visited the restroom. Now I was ready to resume the
ride. I adjusted my camera bag so that it was at my right
side, which made it fairly comfortable to ride (no bag getting
squished into my stomach/diaphragm) but also made it hard to see
at a glance what gear I was in. The ups and downs of the
roadway made it necessary to shift gears frequently. I
pulled over once or twice to take some pictures, for I could now
see downtown straight ahead, and that made for great photo
opportunities.
Pedaling up the Chicago River bridge was a chore, even with
being in a low gear. Some riders walked their bikes up the
bridge. To me, it wasn’t as steep as the Ambassador
Bridge, which really WAS a chore to pedal. Soon, I was
over the top and heading down. I wonder what the ride
would have been like had the old S-curve bridge still been in
place? There’d be no way to know. Now I was riding
through the launch area, stopping at the rest area for some more
snacks and a water fill-up. I thought about using the
restroom, but I didn’t really have to. Now I set off
again, this time for the southbound ride. This was a bit
flatter, but it was scenic in its own way, passing the museums,
Soldier Field, McCormick Place, etc.; the lakeshore was still
off on the left.
There was another checkpoint at Oakwood; I had no problems
getting through it. Near the checkpoint, though, I saw a
rider who had crashed and was receiving treatment. It
didn’t appear to be terribly serious, but it certainly could not
have been fun for the downed rider. Three years ago, my
uncle crashed elsewhere on the course, cracking a rib but not
realizing it until several days later.
The south turnaround was at 57th Street, right in front of the
Museum of Science and Industry. To me, it seemed much
busier than the north rest stop; there was actually a line for
the porta-potties here. Water was on the hill, and food
was down on the roadway. I partook of both and rested for
a bit before setting off on the last leg of the trip. By
now, the sun was out, and it was getting warm. I’d re-applied
sunscreen in a few places, but what I really wanted was
shade. As I pedaled northward, I saw and heard a group of
men running, calling out a military cadence. When I got
close enough, I saw that they were wearing Chicago Fire
Department t-shirts, so I presume they were either firefighters
or trainees. Either way, they were getting thumbs up from
the riders as they rode past, and they got a thumb up from me,
too. I couldn’t give them two thumbs up, for then I
wouldn’t be holding onto my handlebars, and the trike isn’t that
stable when being ridden no-hands.
The ride continued. I know the end was in sight, but my
energy was flagging a bit. Here came Soldier Field again;
I’d now unofficially completed the ride, but I still had a mile
or so to go to reach the official endpoint. Another pass
past Grant Park, a turn, and there I was, back at the rest
area. I still didn’t need to use the restroom; also, I was
a little concerned about the safety of my trike. I filled
my water bottle again and got another snack before heading to
the post-ride festival. I could hear a soul group on the
stage performing songs from the ‘70s and ‘80s as I pedaled
around the field. I saw the booths that had been there in
the past (REI, Jamba Juice, Clif Bars, the breakfast booth,
etc.). The big NBC peacock from NBC5 was there in the
northeast corner, as it had been in the past. I pedaled
over to a shaded area in the northeast corner of the park.
I didn’t need a chair; my trike had its own, and that was very
convenient. Here, I could cool down and do not much of
anything. It had gotten warm enough and sunny enough that
I wanted to stay in the shade for a while. I took my
helmet off to help cool down some more. While I cooled
off, I took some pictures of the festival, which would probably
turn out similarly to the ones I’d taken in previous years.
I had one more goal today for riding. Since I was in the
area, I wanted to ride on Northerly Island, the former home of
Meigs Field, the small airport located right downtown and made
famous in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The post-ride
festival was still going on, and riders were still straggling
in. I crossed Lake Shore Drive and got on the Lakefront
Trail, taking it down to the Museum District. It was
necessary to get up on the street level to ride to the island,
which wasn’t officially an island because it was tied to the
mainland at the Adler Planetarium. Some maneuvering around
got me to the island and its path. There was no shade on
the island, so it wasn’t terribly crowded. It was a nice
pedal around, perhaps 1.6 miles long. I saw the old
control tower for Meigs Field, and I could see downtown in the
distance -- very picturesque. Once around, and that was it for
me. It was time to leave.
Back at the parking garage, I couldn’t figure out how to use the
pre-paid permit with these pay machines. Others were
having the same problem; I decided to take it to the exit gate
and see what happened. And so I pedaled into the garage,
enjoying the slightly cooler temperatures. I loaded the
bike onto the rack, noting the mileage: 37.92 miles. When
I started the car and headed to the exit, I gave the green
ticket and the pre-paid parking permit to the attendant; that
was the proper thing to do, no need to bother with the pay
machine at all. And now I was ready to head out. But
where to go? I didn’t feel like going anyplace else except back
to the area of the hotel, so I got onto Lake Shore Drive, which
was now open to car traffic again, and took the Stevenson to the
Ryan and then the Kennedy and Edens. Outbound traffic was
in great shape on the Kennedy; not so the inbound traffic!
I was enjoying the air conditioning and the opening moments of
the Indy 500.
It was lunchtime, and I was hungry. Having passed on the
opportunity to go to Bakers Square last night, I would not pass
today. It looked busy from the parking lot, but it really
wasn’t that busy. I brought my MacBook Pro inside to
update my Facebook status, telling of the ride, and checking
e-mail, letting relatives know I’d completed the ride. I
was getting a lot of comments from friends about the ride.
I also saw some pictures from the choral performance taking
place at the Baha’i House of Worship. Part of me would have
wanted to go there, but the proper attire for Bike the Drive and
the proper attire for a House of Worship were mutually
exclusive. Besides, I was sweaty and dirty. I
ordered a chicken tender meal and enjoyed it. Then I went
over to the Barnes & Noble at Old Orchard to get a Sunday
New York Times. Of course, I couldn’t park in front of the
B&N; I had to go down a ways to the parking garage before I
could find a parking spot. I was not happy about
that. On my way to the bookstore, I passed by Wilde and
Greene; I remembered that name from last year’s visit, for they
were conducting a hiring fair at the Doubletree hotel I was
staying at. I’d pay them a visit on the return trip.
At the bookstore, I ended up just getting the paper. I
visited the Apple Store briefly but didn’t get anything, and
then I decided I was getting tired and really needed to
rest. I popped into the Wilde and Greene as I walked past;
it consisted of a restaurant and a market, with the setup
reminding me of Movenpick Marché or Richtree Markets in Canada
(they are affiliated with Richtree, in fact). But all I
wanted today was something to drink, so I got a can of La Croix
flavored sparkling water. Boy, that tasted good!
Then it was back to the hotel to cool down and shower.
Back in my room, I watched the tail end of the Indy 500 as Dario
Franchitti won for the third time, putting him among the elite
drivers at the Speedway. I download my pictures from this
weekend, identified them, and posted some of them to
Facebook. I took a shower and got out of my sweaty clothes
(not in that order!). I rested and read for a while, at
least until the Coca-Cola 600 came on. I was sore, and I
needed to rest.
After the ride, I wasn’t really in the mood to go anywhere for
supper. But I didn’t have to; there was a Ruby Tuesday
connected to the hotel, something rather unusual for Hampton
Inns. I could be in the mood for Ruby Tuesday, and I
was. I would have an Asiago sirloin steak with rice pilaf
and the salad bar, and those made for a pretty good meal.
Then it was back to the room for the evening, continuing with
the race and with other things. I started to pack, as
well, not that I had that much packing to do. And lastly,
to bed.
Top
Monday May 28
My CPAP machine has the capability of humidifying the air it
blows, but not when you’ve left the humidity tank at home
(deliberately, to avoid its complications). I woke up with a
very dry mouth in the middle of the night and opened a can of
pop to drink. It was caffeine-free, yet I couldn’t
immediately go back to sleep, and so I stayed up to work on this
guide and to check e-mail. Later, I was able to get a bit
more sleep.
This morning, I could partake of the breakfast downstairs in the
lobby. It was pretty busy when I went down around 7
AM. I had scrambled eggs that were liberally sprinkled
with parsley (or something green), a turkey sausage patty, some
home fries, a danish, and a raspberry yogurt. The meal was
all right -- not 5-star cuisine, but it was all right.
I wanted to get an early start, and so I checked out and left
before 8 (9 Eastern). Thanks to today being a holiday, I
did not encounter any traffic problems on the Edens, Kennedy or
Ryan Expressways, nor did I have any problems on 80-94 in
Indiana. On the radio, I had on the RadioClassics channel,
and it was airing two specials from the late Norwin Corwin: “On
A Note of Triumph”, celebrating V-E Day, and “Between
Americans”, which originally aired on the day of the attack on
Pearl Harbor. Very apt programming for Memorial Day,
obviously.
The drive through Indiana was uneventful, and I stopped at the
Michigan rest area to use the restroom. A little farther
down the freeway, I stopped for gas at a truck stop in
Sawyer. The drive through the rest of Michigan proved
uneventful as well, and by 1:30, I was near Ann Arbor. I
estimated I’d be in Wayne County by 2; I was, by 1:45.
Then I estimated I’d be at I-275 by 2; I didn’t quite make it,
but the freeway was in sight from Ford Road east of
Lilley. And 11 minutes later, I was pulling into the
garage at home. Time to unload the trike and the SUV; time
to unpack; time to watch last night’s Mad Men; time to rest from
my vacation.
Top
THE END
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Back to Travels page
©2012 R.
W. Reini. All rights reserved.
Written by Roger
Reini
Revised
June 1, 2012
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