Bridgeport: the Community of the Future

Clare Knipper by the Healthy Food

By John Greenfield

[This article also runs in the current issue of Momentum magazine, http://momentumplanet.com.]

When Blue City Cycles co-owner Clare Knipper calls Bridgeport the “Community of the Future” she’s only half kidding. Sure, this quaint, meat-and-potatoes South Side neighborhood is known for the Union Stock Yards, the Daley dynasty and the White Sox. But recently the area’s seen an influx of forward-thinking artists, activists and entrepreneurs, and it’s become an unlikely hotbed for bicycle projects and green initiatives.

Why? “It’s affordable and close to downtown,” says Knipper. “But it’s a little off the map so it draws the intrepid, people who are more in tune with bike and environmental concerns. And it’s got a lot of fun old-timey stuff.” As such, it’s a great destination for a pedal-powered daytrip.

Settled in the 1830s by Irish immigrants who dug the I & M Canal, and now home to large Chinese-, Mexican-, Italian- and Lithuanian-American populations as well, Bridgeport is bounded roughly by the Dan Ryan to the east, Pershing Road (3900 S.) to the south, the Chicago River to the north and Bubbly Creek to the west. The latter is so called because slaughterhouse workers used to dump offal into the water, causing it to bubble with gas from decomposing carcasses.

Ground zero for Bridgeport’s bike and sustainability endeavors is Bubbly Dynamics (bubblydynamics.com), named after the fetid creek, a former paint warehouse at 1048 W. 37th St. “Green developer” and cyclist John Edel completely rehabbing the derelict three-story structure, using salvaged building supplies that otherwise would have wound up in landfills. Other eco-friendly features include energy-efficient heating and ventilation systems, a green roof for storm water management, and showers and indoor parking for bike commuters.

John Edel on Bubbly's green roof

Officially called the Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center, the building houses a number of light industrial workshops and community-oriented businesses. “All the tenants are learning to be more sustainable by operating here,” says Edel.

Edel is currently shopping for a space for his next project, called the Plant (plantchicago.com), which will include larger manufacturing spaces, a warehouse for salvaged construction materials, and a “vertical farm” that will grow food in the air, inside the building.

Yuval Awazu of UV Metal Arts (uvmetalarts.com) moved into Bubbly five years ago. He fabricated his own sandblasting booth and powdercoating oven for painting bikes custom colors. He’s also built some unique rides: choppers, tall bikes, and a six-wheel vehicle called the “Sex Cycle.” He contributed his metal working talents to the building rehab; in exchange, Edel gives him a break on the rent. “For me and the guys who build bike frames upstairs, Bubbly is like an incubator,” says Awazu.

Yuval Awazu

Owen Lloyd, one of the five frame builders from the Bubbly Bicycle Works cooperative, agrees. Each pays only $200 a month for workbench space and shares equipment like “jigs” used to shape frames and forks, and the “surface plate,” a perfectly flat 3,000-pound slab of granite for checking alignment. “John Edel’s the reason we’re here,” says Lloyd. “If he was a regular landlord and I was paying regular rent I wouldn’t be able to do this. He’s a visionary.”

Lloyd at Bubbly Bicycle Works

Not that Lloyd has much time for frame building these days. Along with Clare Knipper, he’s busy running Blue City Cycles (www.bluecitycycles.com) which opened at 3201 S. Halsted in March (see Momentum issue #42). This winter they’re offering a $100 winterizing tune-up package and hosting a maintenance workshop series.

John Salhus

Nearby at 32nd and Morgan, artist John Salhus operates a different kind of bike shop, refurbishing old rides in his painting studio. “For me working on bikes is like Prozac,” he explains. He also wrenches for low-income neighborhood folks who stop by. Recently Salhus built a shrine to randoneurring pioneer Paul de Vivie, the “patron saint of cyclists,” for the Day of the Dead exhibit at the nearby Museum of Mexican Fine Art.

Down the street at 3219 S. Morgan, the Co-Prosperity Sphere (coprosperity.org) is an “experimental culture center” that’s an anchor of the local arts community. The building’s home to founder Ed Marszewski’s Lumpen and Proximity magazines, as well as gallery and performance space.

The other lynchpin of the Bridgeport arts scene is the Zhou B. Arts Center (zbcenter.org), 1029 W. 35th. Founded by brothers Shan Zuo and Da Huang Zhou, this huge space houses galleries, studios and a stylish café.

Sox/35th Red Line station

A mile east on 35th is the CTA’s Sox/35th Red Line station, one of four stops that recently got high-capacity indoor bike parking. The double-decker racks at Sox/35th, with space for 42 bikes, are located in the “paid” area of the station for extra security.

If you bike to Bridgeport, a new green space called Stearns Quarry Park, 2700 S. Halsted, is a great place to take a break. Formerly a limestone quarry, then a landfill, the space has been reclaimed as an urban oasis with a fishing pond, a waterfall and a hilltop 33 feet above street level offering a breathtaking view of the Loop – perfect for a picnic.


Halsted Street, the neighborhood’s backbone, feels like the main street of a careworn small town, except nowadays the roadway is striped with bike lanes and lined with parking racks. The Pants Store, 3513 S., is a great place to buy Dickies and have them shortened into cycling knickers while you wait. Monster Island Toys, 3335 S., features an amazing collection of sci-fi and horror action figures, including a three-foot-high plastic Godzilla. Augustine’s Spiritual Goods, 3327 S., sells books on religion and philosophy, incense and scented oils.

Halsted Street

Bridgeport also boasts many historic houses of worship worth a gander. Founded in 1882 for Polish stockyard workers, St. Mary of Perpetual Help Catholic church, 1039 W. 32nd St., features soaring bell towers and a domed cupola. Reflecting the recent influx of Chinese immigrants to the neighborhood, Ling Shen Ching Tze Buddhist temple, 1035 W. 31st, is a vibrant red building with fluttering prayer flags outside and an ornate golden altar within.


Another nearby sight worth pedaling to is the Stock Yard Gate, just west of Halsted at Exchange St. (4200 S.), a massive limestone arch crowned by a steer’s head. It once marked the entrance to the huge packinghouse district, setting for Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

Ready to refuel? Next door to the defunct Ramova Theater, Ramova Grill, 3510 S. Halsted, is famous for Cincinnati-style chili. Meals at Taqueria San Jose, 3253 S. Halsted, include a side of pickled carrots, onions and jalepenos. Healthy Food Lithuanian restaurant, 3326 S. Halsted, belies its name with dishes enriched with butter, bacon and sour cream. [Sadly, the Healthy Food recently closed.]

Nana cafe

Ed’s Potsticker House, 3139 S. Halsted, serves unusual Chinese entrees, like sautéed lamb with cumin, and fried fish with cornbread. Just opened at 3267 S. Halsted, Nana is a sunny café serving organic breakfast and lunch. Bridgeport Coffee House, 3101 S. Morgan, in a beautiful corner space with a hammered tin ceiling, is a cozy place to laptop.


Thirsty? Bridgeport’s famous for corner taps and “old man bars.” Tucked away at 3200 S. Wallace, Redwood Lounge is a dive with cool retro signage outside, and redwood paneling and Christmas lights inside.

Kaplan's Liquors

The mother of Co-Prosperity Sphere’s Ed Marszewski owns Kaplan’s Liquors (AKA Maria’s), 960 W. 31st, which explains why the bar sports a creepy collection of marionettes and ventriloquist’s dummies.


Why not hop on your bike and find out why the “Community of the Future” is a great place to hang out today?

Dubi Kaufmann's Bike Salute photo project

Dubi Kaufmann

Interview and photos of Dubi Kaufmann and Critical Mass sticker by John Greenfield; all other images by Dubi Kaufmann

Dubi Kaufmann is closing in on his goal of taking a thousand photographs of Chicago cyclists holding their bicycles up over their heads in what Kaufmann terms a “Bike Salute.” By July 14 he had reached photo #935.

Since early 2008 he’s been going to local bike events like the Tour de Fat, the Dyke March ride, the Bike to Work Rally, Critical Mass and the Soldier Field Criterium, asking attendees to lift their rides and pose for snapshots. The results are up at www.bikesalute.com.

Kaufmann will celebrate the completion of his project with the Air Ride on Sunday, July 19th. This free group ride meets at 5 pm at Olive Park, just east of the Ohio Street Beach at 601 N. Lake Shore Drive, and will cruise the Loop, ending at Northerly Island. There Kaufmann will take an aerial photo of the group with a camera attached to a kite.

VWYF recently met with Kaufmann, an Israeli immigrant and computer programmer at Intelligentsia Coffee on Randolph to discuss his motivation for the Bike Salute project as well as other photography and graphic design endeavors which appear on his site, www.dubster.com.

Tell me about your background with bicycling.

I learned to ride a bicycle when I was seven or eight. As a kid in Israel I liked to ride BMX, jumping off of small ramps that I built with my friends. And then of course I kept riding bikes as an adult.

What brought you to the U.S. from Israel?

It’s America. The streets are paved with gold – there are so many opportunities. I’ve been here for almost 13 years and I’m still very excited about being here.



What brought you to Chicago?

My family. I’ve got some relatives in the north suburbs. I came here to study film at Columbia College, with a focus on animation.

I took at look at www.dubster.com. There seem to be lots of examples of ads, short movies, graphic design projects and games. What’s your day job?

I’m a consultant, a freelance programmer. I do it for ad companies that are contracted by Fortune 500 companies like oil companies and insurance companies.

You seem interested in puzzles and visual puns. For example, you’ve got an application where you can color in the Bean at Millennium Park and you’ve got a device that let’s you create a [red, white and blue Shepard Fairey-designed] Obama-style portrait.

Yes, I did it about a week before the election. But I wrote it for the Mac only and then someone took the concept and made it available for the PC. I didn’t want to deal with the PC stuff so I just left it at that. My program got 50,000 downloads and a lot of press.

So you just do these puzzles and applications and things for fun?

Yes. It’s a learning experience. As a programmer I have to be up-to-date with all the new technologies. A good way to learn a new technology is to do something fun with it.

Have you been riding for transportation in Chicago for a long time?

Ever since I moved to the Loop. I used to live up on Granville and the commute downtown was almost impossible with a bike. It wasn’t an efficient way to get downtown.

How long have you been riding with Critical Mass?

About two years.



So how did you get the idea for the Bike Salute project?

It started out with an attempt to impress a woman. We had been talking about art and cycling so I decided to combine the two into a photography project. She was definitely impressed, but a romance was not meant to be.

When did you start the project?

In January of 2008. I was taking random photos here and there and then in June of 2008 I launched the site and the blog and I set up the goal of a thousand photos.

So are there any rules as to what you can and cannot do to get photographs?

Yes, it’s one person, one bike. If someone wants to pose with a tandem bike they have to be conjoined twins. It has to be a real bike, and the person really has to be holding the bike up in the air by his or her own power, not lying on the ground with the bike behind them.

Over time I’ve learned better how to approach people and ask them to pose. At first I was very shy. I was like, “Would you like to get your picture taken? You really don’t have to but it would be nice.” Now I’m better at asking.


I’ve learned that I have a better chance if I ask a group of people instead of an individual. With a group I’m not targeting anyone in particular. Otherwise a person might think I have some kind of hidden agenda. Usually the guy poses first and then the woman says, “I don’t know if I can,” and it ends up she can.

Another thing I learned is that it’s very important to take the water bottle out. It’s very funny when a water bottle falls on somebody’s head. It’s even funnier when it starts dripping and the person thinks it’s raining. For safety it’s important to take out the lock. Fortunately I’ve never had a lock fall out on someone’s head.

Does the Bike Salute symbolize anything in particular to you? Does it have a political meaning or are you just saying, “Yay bikes!”?

Yes, it’s “Yay bikes!” It doesn’t serve any purpose but as a celebration and a declaration of independence.

Now, in the early days of Chicago Critical Mass a rider named Jim Daniels created a sticker you might have seen. It’s like a green traffic sign with male and a female figures holding their bikes up in the air. Have you seen that?


No. No. No. No. That’s very interesting but it wasn’t an influence.


How do you feel about the term “Chicago Hold-up” versus “Bike Salute.” Is ‘Chicago Hold-up” a valid term – is there any possibility the gesture was invented here or is that off-base?

I don’t like that term. That’s something that I don’t like about Chicago. I feel the city is too navel-gazing. On purpose I didn’t I didn’t call the site “Chicago Hold-up” because I didn’t want it to be provincial. It’s something that’s bigger than Chicago. It would be too self-congratulating to call it “Chicago Hold-up.”

You know, I’d like to tell you more about why I chose to do the bikesalute.com site, about the artistic decisions.

Sure, go ahead.

I’ve been doing projects on-line before where it’s a collection of photos. It started with “Parking Spots.” It’s a site that I did in 2002 that also involves lifting and transportation. I asked people around the world to hold a toy car next to a real car and photograph it and send me the photo.


I learned a lot from doing that. It was before there was Flickr and other modern photo sharing sites, so I had to write my own program to do that.

Lately I’ve been doing other projects that are collections of photos of the same thing. Like “Type Nesting” where I just collect photos of letters on signs. It’s on my site.

I like taking a lot of photos of the same thing. It’s not something I came up with, it’s just something I like to do. It’s been done before.

There’s a photographer who just takes photographs of twins. They’re similar but then the subtleties come up. In the music video for “Walk Like an Egyptian” [by the Bangles] there’s people doing the exact same gesture but the subtleties come up. There is a movie called “The Aristocrats” with many comedians telling the same joke and then the subtleties come up.

One more thing I’d like to mention is I have a memory game on the bikesalute.com site. The game forces people to look at the subtleties. In the memory game I gave people the option of making it a little harder by just looking at close-ups of the faces or looking at the bikes. I heard from people who say they don’t remember faces but they remember the bikes. When they talk about other cyclists they say, “Oh, it’s the guy with the such and such bike,” because they remember the bike but not the face.



Overall how has the experience been, taking all these photos?

It’s been good. I can be really happy programming at home. Just let me be by myself and write code and I’ll be happy as a bivalve. But doing this project forced me to be more social, more gregarious and I met a lot of people, which was nice. It’s much easier for me to approach people to photograph and there’s now a thousand people in Chicago who know who I am.

Ciclo Urbano opens on Paseo Boricua

by John Greenfield

After five years of operating out of the back of a storefront near North and Western, in May West Town Bikes community cycle center moved to a new larger space at 2459 W. Division on Humboldt Park’s Paseo Boricua Puerto Rican business district. Founded by Alex Wilson, West Town is a not-for-profit which teaches bicycle safety and maintenance, and other life skills to youth, as well as providing open shop sessions and mechanics classes for adults.

Partnering with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and the Division Street Business Development Association, West Town is launching a new retail store called Ciclo Urbano (“Urban Cycle”) at the front of the space, offering used bikes, basic commuter gear and repair services. In cooperation with the cultural center and its community center Batey Urbano (“Urban Gathering-Place,”) the shop will host programs for underserved youth, teaching mechanical and entrepreneurial skills and offering opportunities for creativity and adventure through bike building and travel.


A grand opening celebration and fundraiser took place on Friday, May 1, starting with a parade leaving from the old space, 2418 W. North, to a block party at the new one, departing around 5 pm. The festivities included live music; Puerto Rican cuisine; and beer from New Belgium Brewery, whose Tour De Fat bike festival raised several thousand dollars last year for West Town, making the expansion possible.


Recently Vote With Your Feet met with José “Jay” Rivera, a Columbia College film student who volunteers at Batey Urbano, and José Luis Rodríguez, Program Director for the cultural center’s CO-OP Humboldt Park obesity prevention initiative, at Café Colao, 2638 W. Division. They talked about how their organizations promote a healthy community and the significance of the new shop to the neighborhood.

José "Jay" Rivera and José Luis Rodríguez in front of the new Ciclo Urbano space

VWYF: Jay, how’d you get involved with West Town Bikes and Ciclo Urbano?

Rivera: When I graduated high school my sister got me a bike and I rode it every day. It was just one of those bikes you get from a department store like a Wal-Mart or something and it started to break down on me. One of my roommates had an old Schwinn Suburban so I put new tires on it and started riding that, to school and along the lake. When that started breaking down I tried to fix the small things.

CO-Op already has a program called Muévete (“Move Yourself,”) with free dancing and aerobics classes at the Humboldt Park Field House. There was a conversation about me maybe joining Muévete and adding a bicycling component since I was riding every day instead of taking the bus. Also Co-Op sponsored a fresh fruit market called Conuco on Saturdays and Alex Wilson used to sell bicycles there. I met him when I bought a bike from him. I got involved in the Build A Bike workshops at West Town and a year and a half later there was talk of bringing a shop to Division Street and they asked if I was interested in helping out.

VWYF: José [Luis Rodríguez,] why is obesity a problem in Humboldt Park?

Rodriguez: Among the Latino population in Humboldt Park, both Puerto Rican and Mexicano, the overweight and obesity rate is close to 50 percent among the young, between the ages of two and 18, and the adult population runs at around 32 percent. This can be attributed to a number of things. One of them is the lack of physical activity. Kids don’t get out as often as they should. They’re not engaged in sports activities, they’re not engaged in riding or walking in the neighborhood. They’re much more sedentary.

And this happens across the population as a whole – it isn’t something new. But this impacts us specifically because one half of the young population has a problem that will eventually lead to something much greater. The diabetes rate among Puerto Ricans in Humboldt Park is 21 percent – that’s very high. The mortality rate is 68 deaths per every 100,000. Obviously there are a lot of other factors that lead to diabetes but obesity is certainly one of them.

CO-OP Humboldt Park came about after a study by Sinai Urban Health Institute which looked at six community areas and their rates of obesity among children and adults. That study was followed up by a survey that we did at one of our street festivals called Fiesta Boricua. From that survey we held a community meeting with the support of a local church. From that we began looking at the issue of obesity as a problem that needed to be addressed.

And this is where Muévete comes in, in terms of providing a space and a place free of charge where residents who are overweight or obese can go and exercise. We have a really good participation rate with 40 to 45 participants at every one-hour session who are getting aerobic activity. It’s low-impact aerobics, it’s not designed for folks that are already physically fit. It’s really for community residents that are not doing anything at all, so they can go somewhere and see other people that look like them and have the same issues. They can begin taking charge of their own health.

That’s part of the physical activity component but we’ve always said that physical activity is not just aerobics. Over the summer we started a walking program five days a week and we saw biking as another component. So there are five or six activities that we want to promote and get community residents involved with - aerobics, walking, biking, swimming and skateboarding – so we can get the entire community involved in some kind of physical activity. The young are more in tune with skateboarding and biking.

So for us as CO-OP our thing is that we have a problem and we have to address it and try to figure out what can be done. It’s not enough to say, “Go to the doctor.” It’s not enough to say, “Go on a diet.” There are a lot of other things that are involved. We have to capture people’s imagination and engage them in such a way that that they take ownership of the things we do.

So biking is something that can involve more young people and capture their imagination. It addresses health issues, but also environmental issues. With all the talk of reducing our carbon footprint … I’m 48 years old and when I was growing up we didn’t have computers or Nintendo. I can remember, six, seven days a week we were riding bikes, playing baseball, playing basketball, playing “Catch One Catch All.” Today most young people don’t do any of this. So the whole idea is to give young people something healthy and constructive to do.

VWYF: Jay, tell me about Batey Urbano.

Rivera: The Batey is about seven years old and I’ve been with it three years, since I started high school in this neighborhood. It was started by a group of young college students that felt that there was no place in the community where kids of color could channel their energy into something positive. There wasn’t a particular idea of what the space would be it was like, “OK, we have money for the first month’s rent and for the sign – what do we do with it?” Nowadays we’re funded by grants and donations.

One of the things that make the Batey unique is that it’s run by a collective of youth. There’s no board or anything. On any given Friday there’ll be a hip-hop night where young people come out and do their stuff or people from other cities come and perform. There are poetry nights and film nights, where we watch a film and discuss it. There are also nights when we bring professors in for teach-ins.

During the week we have classes called BACCA, Barrio Arts, Culture and Community Academy. In that we teach on-line radio and have our own station, radiobatey.org. [The website currently is down as they change servers.] We also have classes in photography, journalism and graphic design. Right now we’re working on a campaign against underage drinking and using all the different media that we’ve taught the students to try to figure out how to reach the community with flyers, advertisements and radio spots. We’re moving towards having video labs and teaching film.

One thing we’ve had since the Batey opened is a policy of no racist, sexist, homophobic language in the space. It’s a way to question the way that we speak to each other and how we treat each other and how do we turn the Batey into a safe space where people can express themselves creatively.

VWYF: How is Ciclo Urbano going to be a valuable addition to the Paseo Boricua?

Rivera: A lot of people in the neighborhood associate bicycling with yuppies but Ciclo Urbano is going to change that perception. Service is going to be available in Spanish or English. The shop is going to provide bicycles and gear to the community at reasonable prices. For example, it will be the first shop in the city to sell used tires and patched tubes. In an emergency you’ll be able to pay three dollars for a tire that will keep your bike rolling. This also cuts down on waste and has an environmental impact.

Alex Wilson leads West Town Bikes students on a ride

They’re going to offer cheap or free Build A Bike classes for young people. And young people are going to have a voice in what kind of other programs they would like to see. There’s talk right now of a bike-sharing program – those details are still being worked out. There will be opportunities for jobs and internships for kids who complete the youth programs.

Rodriguez: The relationship between West Town Bikes and the community has been wonderful because West Town has approached this in a very mindful and respectful way. Puerto Ricans have been in the neighborhood since the ‘50s, after being displaced from other parts of the city. There are historical markers here and the flag arches over Division Street, but some people move into the neighborhood and they’re clueless.

Ciclo Urbano was a case where someone approached us and said, “How can we work together to do something mutually beneficial?” Alex Wilson and West Town did a presentation for the board of the Division Street Business Association explaining how in the future the shop would represent the community in terms of staff and programming. The board voted overwhelmingly in favor of his proposal and the DSBA actually wound up moving offices so that Ciclo Urbano could have a corner space. This isn’t going to be just another bike shop – it’s going to be a model for how to put together a business that’s culturally relevant.

Bike, ped and transit facilities in Cleveland, OH

By John Greenfield

There’s only one major bike lane in Cleveland, but it’s a really good one.

I recently spent a long weekend in this city of about 500,000 (roughly three million metro) located on the south shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. It’s a highly underrated town. With its lakeshore to the north, rather than the east, it’s basically a miniature Chicago flipped 90 degrees to the left. But Cleveland also boasts some pleasantly rolling terrain; lush green spaces; really cool old architecture and super-friendly people.


I was also pleasantly surprised to hear about some exciting transportation developments in the Forest City, as it’s called. I got the skinny from Ryan McKenzie, who used to work on walking, bicycling and transit projects for the nonprofit EcoCity Cleveland and now runs the local car sharing service CityWheels.

Ryan and his wife started the car service with their own money and no help from government funds or charitable donations. “It’s pretty idealistic and naïve and we’ve suffered for it,” he says. “But I think we’ll persevere and get our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Currently, City Wheels has 200 members and only four cars: two at University Circle near Case Western Reserve University and two at nearby Oberlin College. But six more cars will be placed in downtown Cleveland, Shaker Square and Cedar Fairmount in June. Ryan is also hoping a federal grant for $500,000 will come through this summer, allowing him to add 30 more vehicles to the fleet, which should allow them to break even.

Well, how is bringing a bunch of cars into the city going to help with congestion and air quality problems?

“In a mid-size, conservative, Midwestern city like Cleveland car sharing helps people have the courage to own fewer cars,” Ryan explains. “It’s like the patch for smoking. It helps you quit the addiction but still have some access to the nicotine.”

Ryan says that by eliminating the need to own a second or even first automobile, car sharing helps members embrace walking, biking and public transit and reduce their miles driven by over 50%. Some clients have sold their vehicle or avoided a planned purchase, and when they do drive it’s a hybrid or other “greener” car rather than a noisy, polluting beater, he says.


I originally met Ryan a few years ago when he came to town with City of Cleveland staff to study our bike facilities. “Seeing and riding on bike lanes in Chicago has helped a lot,” he says, adding that the visits also inspired Cleveland to install 500 Chicago-style inverted U bicycle racks over the past two years. Indoor bike parking was created at the local city hall and there’s a budget to build a bike station near the Cavaliers’ basketball arena.

Short stretches of bike lane were recently striped as part of improvements to the 2/3 mile-long Detroit-Superior bridge downtown. The rehab also included converting six travel lanes to four to make room for a wide sidewalk with sheltered benches and public art pieces that doubles as weather vanes and sun dials.


But the big transportation news in Cleveland is the construction of a bus rapid transit line along the east side’s Euclid Ave. Corridor. The system features dedicated bus lanes and futuristic-looking shelters on raised medians in the center of the street. Customers will be required to pay at the kiosks in advance, speeding boarding times.

Due to this forward-thinking plan, as well as quality existing bus and light rail service, last year the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority was rated North America’s best public transit system by the American Public Transportation Association. As a bonus, the new bus line is paralleled for several miles by that first-rate bike lane I mentioned.


But there seems to be a disconnect here: why is Cleveland getting a space-age rapid transit system when it has only a smidgen of bike lanes?

“The City is underfunded, understaffed and demoralized,” Ryan explains. “They barely have the resources to fill a pothole or stripe a street line.” Since the City is responsible for maintaining the roads and has trouble keeping up with routine maintenance, it’s hard to get support for new bike lanes, he says.

On the other hand, construction projects like the Euclid Corridor that are largely bankrolled by federal money are easier to push through, Ryan says. “But it was a tremendous struggle to get the bike racks, the bridge and the bus rapid transit,” he says. “The process took years and quarts of blood were spilled.”

Ryan says community activists have to be very vigilant in Cleveland and not declare victory when a project is planned but when it’s installed. “There’s not the commitment from government here for alternative transportation projects,” he says. “It’s not like Mayor Daley who says, ‘I’m a cyclist and I’m all for it.’”


I asked Ryan for a list of local bike landmarks to check out. That Sunday morning after a breakfast of frittata and espresso at Presti’s Bakery in Little Italy I took a spin downtown on Euclid. Parts of the avenue were still heavily under construction as all aspects of the streetscape are being improved: sidewalks, roadway, street trees, benches and lighting. But several of the Jetson-esque bus kiosks were already in use and for the most part the bike lane was a smooth ride.


I crossed over the Detroit-Superior Bridge into the Ohio City neighborhood and headed to Fridrich Bicycle, 3800 Lorraine Ave., a family-owned shop that’s been in business since 1883. It’s a big, utilitarian space that feels like a hardware store, in a good way. There’s lots of interesting old-fashioned accessories like wire and wicker baskets and large rubber mud flaps to screw onto your fenders.

I rolled on and crossed the Columbus Ave. Bridge to an industrial area within an oxbow of the Cuyahoga to check out the Ohio City Bike Co-op. Similar to Chicago’s West Town Bikes and Blackstone Bike Works, the co-op offers an earn-a-bike program for kids, bike safety and repair classes and more.

I didn’t have time to check out the city’s nine-mile lakefront trail or the Towpath Trail which winds more than 100 miles through the Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation. But downtown I got to speak with a couple of cyclists who were on their way home from cheering a friend in the Cleveland Marathon.


Jack Lavelle, an elementary school student told me he’s usually comfortable biking on local streets but always wears a helmet. David Postel actually goes to college at Loyola in Chicago but he grew up in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland. He says that while less people bike there, Cleveland is actually a very easy place to get around.

“Drivers are courteous to bikes and transit is really good,” David says. “There are free trolleys downtown. The transit workers are friendly and the buses are clean and they all have bike racks. And our train system has as many stops as Chicago’s El, but most people in Cleveland don’t know that.”

The Ride of Silence

By John Greenfield


Wednesday, May 21, I rode in Chicago’s Ride of Silence, part of a worldwide tribute to bicyclists who have been killed by motor vehicles.

The memorial originated in Dallas in 2003 after endurance rider Larry Schwartz died when a bus sideswiped him on a deserted highway. This year cyclists in almost 300 cities participated, demonstrating that bikers should be allowed to ride safely, without fear of being struck by cars.

Although the message of the Ride of Silence is similar to that expressed by Critical Mass participants, its means are different. Instead of taking over the streets, memorial riders roll slowly in single file, wordlessly. Rather than celebratory, the mood of the procession is solemn and contemplative.

The ride had special resonance in Chicago because this has been a bad year for bike fatalities. According to CDOT figures from 2001 to 2005 an average of six cyclists per year were killed in crashes here; at least three died between February and April of this year alone.


While previous local rides drew at most 50 participants, about 200 showed up at Daley Plaza this year, including family and friends of young people who died this year: Matthew Manger-Lynch, Tyler Fabeck and Amanda Annis. Many people pinned signs to the back of their shirts or bags commemorating them, as well other fallen Chicago riders like Ryan Boudreau, Blanca Ocasio, Tom McBride and Isai Medina.

Organizer Elizabeth Adamczyk distributed cloth armbands to cyclists: black for those who were there to honor others; red for those who had been injured by cars themselves. “You’re a survivor if you’re wearing red,” she said.

Lauren Vega, who sported a “You’d look hotter in a helmet” sticker on her own headgear, wore a black armband. “I’ve only had one crash,” she said. “It was me versus the alley and the alley won. I’ve never had an altercation with anything moving, but this ride is just a good idea.”

Before the riders hit the street, Adamczyk addressed the crowd. “We’re here to raise awareness that cycles have a right to share the road legally,” she said. “We’re not here to be confrontational with motorists. We’re going to let the silence roar.”

She then read from a poem written for the occasion by Mike Murgas ending, “Tonight’s ride is to make others aware / The road is there for all to share / To those not with us or by our side, / May God be your partner on your final ride.”


Cyclists then rolled out of the plaza, heading west on Randolph St. with riders and police cars “corking” the late rush-hour traffic. As we headed north out of the Loop, almost all riders respected the request for silence and the relative hush made the line of bicycles seem like a funeral cortege, in an effective way.

Although the front of the line stopped at all stoplights, the rest of the procession did continue through intersections as signals changed from green to red, so a few blasts of car horns did break the calm. But overall, bystanders seemed intrigued by the long string of serious, silent bicyclists as we headed up Wells St. and Lincoln Ave. to Lincoln Park.


I had to leave at Fullerton, but friends told me the riders stayed on course with little static from cars. The cyclists visited the sites of recent fatalities on the North Side, most of them marked by white-painted Ghost Bikes locked nearby with signs memorializing the fallen.

First they headed to the intersection of Lincoln / Damen / Irving Park in North Center, where Matthew Manger-Lynch, 29, was hit by an SUV on February 24. From there the group rode south to Western Ave. and Logan Blvd., a complex crossing in Logan Square where Tyler Fabeck, 22, was struck by an eastbound driver on Aril 20.


After rounding Logan Square’s Centennial Monument, the procession continued to the corner of Kedzie Blvd. and Armitage Ave. where two young women were killed within the space of a few months. On September 11 of last year Blanca Ocasio, 19, was hit by a right-turning garbage truck. Amanda Annis, 24, was struck there on April 30 when a car ran a red light.

The ride concluded at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, where Isai Medina was killed by a vehicle that hopped the curb as Medina stood on the sidewalk with his “chopper” bicycle.

All of these people will be missed by their loved ones for many years to come. Chicago’s Ride of Silence served as a reminder to motorists to drive with care and be mindful of their vehicles’ potential to take lives.

Is the Bike Safety Ordinance Being Enforced?

Police will be fining dangerous drivers this summer, as well as lawbreaking cyclists

[This article runs in the May 22 issue of Time Out Chicago:
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/museums-culture/29680/just-the-ticket]

By John Greenfield

In March bicyclists rejoiced after City Council passed Mayor Daley’s new bike safety laws which assign $150 fines for drivers who endanger bikers, $500 for actions that result in a crash. The ordinances cover fouls such as passing within three feet of a bike and opening a car door into a pedaler’s path.

But the deaths of two cyclists in April, killed by cars in Logan Square within a few days of each other, beg the question: are police enforcing the new laws?

No, said a dozen bikers responding to a query on the Chicago Critical Mass listserv last week. Brendan Neuman reported when he got “doored” by a car last week in Greektown, an officer who witnessed the crash failed to cite the driver.

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond confirms that the number of tickets written so far is probably extremely low, because of the newness of the ordinances.

But Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Steele says the laws have already raised awareness. “With all the media coverage this received, our hope is people who saw the TV coverage or read the news said ‘Hey, I need to be more careful when I drive.’” He adds his department is working on a flyer for distribution to all officers this summer to make sure they know about the safety ordinances.

But aldermen have also requested that CDOT help reign in dangerous cyclists. “Are we going to insist that bicycles obey the rules of the road?” asked Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) at a hearing before the laws passed. In 2005 Stone vetoed the construction of a bike bridge, citing its proximity to a senior center.

Ben Gomberg, Chicago’s bike coordinator, responded that the City was looking into ways to increase compliance. One strategy from the City’s Bike 2015 Plan is: “Develop and implement an enforcement program targeting particularly dangerous bicycling.”

As a nod to the aldermen’s concerns, the flyer will also remind officers about laws that apply to bikes: cyclists must ride in the street, not on the sidewalk (if over 12); use a headlight and rear reflector at night; and stop at all stoplights and stop signs. Steele acknowledges that the memo should result in more tickets for bikes as well as cars. “Those laws are there for a reason and they should be enforced.”

But the last time the police announced a crackdown on bicyclists, with plans to fine Lakeview lawbreakers $25 to $250 in summer 2005, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation stated in a bulletin the CBF believes “enforcement efforts should focus on traffic with the greatest impact on safety” – i.e. cars.

Spokeswoman Margo O’Hara confirms the CBF would like to see the City’s limited police resources used to ticket cars, not bikes. After all, drivers injure bicyclists, not the other way around, she says.

O’Hara adds the perception of reckless bicycling as a widespread problem may be fueled by media bias in reporting deadly crashes. “They often blame the victim, focusing on what the cyclist was or was not doing. You only get the driver’s perspective because the cyclist has been killed.”

Chicago Musicians Say Bicycling Inspires Them

By John Greenfield

[This piece runs in the May 22 issue of Time Out Chicago with photos:
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/music/29681/song-cycles]

John Herndon, drummer with Tortoise and various jazz groups

“The rhythm of riding relates to my role as a percussionist,” says Herndon, an ex-messenger who enjoys biking with son Hollis, 4. “I sing along with the rhythm my legs are making.”

Herndon bought a Klein while performing in Europe in 2005. “That was amazing to have a bike on tour.” Back in Chicago, he tried to ride it home to Ashville, NC. switching from highways to country roads in Kentucky. “Dogs were on my ass the whole way.” He finally bailed and hitched a ride with a trucker.

Nowadays Johnny’s machine is a Bridgestone. He recently used it to pull a minimalist kit on a trailer to his weekly residency at Danny’s. “A goal of mine is to bike to more shows.”

Mark Messing, leader of Mucca Pazza

“I often write music in my head while riding,” says Messing, car-free since 2004. “It’s one of the best times.”

Members of his 30-piece “circus punk marching band” tow Sousaphones and glockenspiels to gigs on bike trailers. “We load the tympanis upside-down – it looks like a caterpillar.”

Their studio Maestromatic shares a space with West Town Bikes community cycle center. Manager Alex Wilson built Messing’s workhorse so the musician doesn’t know what brand lies beneath the reflective tape.

He enjoys biking Chicago because it’s flat and he gets to pass cars stuck in traffic. “I like thinking about all the money I no longer spend on gas, parking tickets and getting my car de-booted.”

Sally Timms, singer with the Mekons, Wee Hairy Beasties

Timms, a regular commuter, likes to croon while cycling. “You can really howl away, especially on Elston where there’s no one else around.” She also uses saddle time to brainstorm song arrangements.

Growing up in Huby, West Yorkshire, UK, she often rambled the countryside on a five-speed, and now she gets around on a Diamondback. “I don’t care for it the way I should but it’s never let me down.”

“It’s faster than the CTA, it’s exercise and it’s non-polluting,” she says, but as a woman she occasionally endures catcalls. “If you’ve gone out in a skirt you’ll get comments, that’s for sure. But it’s faster than walking. I wouldn’t walk down Elston at night but I’ll ride on it.”

Andrew Bird, violinist

“I’ve definitely written songs while biking,” says Bird, who commutes and goes on day rides. “Just occupying your body so your mind can wander is pretty key.” “A Nervous Tick Motion” is one of many melodies that have come to him on two wheels.

He brings his appropriately-named Heron on the tour bus. “I bought it for myself as a reward for all the touring I do. It’s been great, but four years ago in Saint Paul I spaced-out and went over a curb and my handlebars and bashed the hell out of my knees.”

He likes to cruise the backstreets of Bucktown in the summer, late at night. “On Hoyne or Leavitt between Division and Webster with the streetlights and canopy of trees, it feels like a movie set.”

Bob Weston, bassist with Shellac

“I like the weird, unspoken camaraderie out there between cyclists,” says Weston, a former courier who bikes as his main mode.

“But it’s not like I’m out there riding with the Rat Patrol. I don’t hang out at the Handlebar. I’m not part of some messenger subculture. I’m just a dude who uses his bike for transportation.”

Although he plays an aluminum bass, he rocks a lugged-steel Centurion single-speed. “A lot of modern bikes are really futuristic and ugly. I like simplicity.”

Weston usually cycles to guitarist Steve Albini’s studio then rides in the van to gigs, but he pedaled to the Hideout for most of the band’s six-night stand last winter. After one concert he found his ride covered with a half-foot of snow. “I think I caught a ride home with my wife that night.”