tour da chicago

I CORDIALLY INVITE ALL OF YOU TO JOIN ME FOR THE LAST STAGE, WHICH IS USUALLY.....THE STAIRMASTER

http://tour.chicago.il.us/tdc06.jpg

srsly you can crash in my basement

myspace

for those of you unfamiliar with the peculiarities of downtown chicago: it's three-tiered, with sub-levels below the main streets that are used for routing traffic and for maintenance/deliveries (i have to go down there a lot). the stairmaster involves jumping back and forth between these levels, usually by taking the stairs at designated points. it's like a CX race except that it's (a) on the street (b) MORE STAIRS and (c) it's two hours long.

FACT: i did it winter '06 and did better than NYC's Squid*

*this is because he wisely stopped racing after the first lap. also he is not from Chicago.

sounds very hard.

You're in med school? Can I ask you questions when I freak out and become convinced that I have some dread disease?

evn u mad

crazy

gbx, will you treat my road rash?

gbx, will you treat my road rash?

I think you have to say his name THREE times, Steve.

I think you have to say his name THREE times, Steve.

I think you have to say his name THREE times, Steve.

ILX errors Laurellius.

ILX 2An error has occurred; please try again shortly.

Ooh, that was fun!

so would it be insane for me to try biking to Chicago this summer without a ton of training? is there even a route? i guess i would take a bus back or something?

eazy mentioned this idea and he was probably joking, but it stuck in my head.

so would it be insane for me to try biking to Chicago this summer without a ton of training? is there even a route? i guess i would take a bus back or something?

eazy mentioned this idea and he was probably joking, but it stuck in my head.

lol

haha, what the hell. it was giving me errors, obv.

steve: y, but only if you buy me dinner first
jordan: give it a shot! just plan on reasonable distances

i'll clean up those errors in a sec here

so i have either been out of town or sleeping in for the tour so far

prologue: i go to med school
stage one: lol drunk
stage two: show the night before
stage three (today): big plans to get up early, but it was my friend's going away party last night, so "lol drunk"

bad news, however: someone got hit today, and died on the scene. he was married.

posted elsewhere, by someone else:

"(one account of) what happened:
on the second stretch of the ride today, i was in the front pack, which was about 15-20 people. a fellow whom i'd only met that morning, a young guy named matt, passed me on the left, ... two blocks later, our pack was approaching a huge 5-way intersection (lincoln/irvingpark/damen), matt was in front. i was maybe 20-30 feet behind him, with a couple riders between us. matt proceeded into the intersection, probably assuming he could dodge traffic or (as had happened up until then that day), stop traffic dead, as they usually see a pack of unruly bikers and stop for us, not knowing what else to do. this time, in this intersection, that didn't happen. a GMC suburban SUV was coming from the right too fast - matt tried to swerve to miss it, but couldn't. i watched in horror as the suv plowed right over him and his bike, wheels rolling right over both. the vehicle pulled over at the side of the road; matt lay in the middle of the enormous intersection, bleeding, not moving. the other riders stopped traffic, and gathered on the sidewalk at the other side of the intersection. i called an ambulance. we didn't know if he was conscious or not - i tried, with the help of another rider (nico), to talk to him, shouting at him to stay awake, to stay with us, to hang on, to fight. there was so much blood. his helmet was fucked on the front and the back, indicating that the wheel had likely impacted his head. he convulsed a bit, never opening his eyes, never responding to our cries. i now realize he was certainly unconscious during this time. police arrived quickly (we had passed two of them a few blocks before), and shortly afterwards a firetruck and then an ambulance. they took over dealing with him, put him on a stretcher and into the ambulance. the police kept asking everyone around if we knew him. no one did. a few knew his name, and gave it to them. no one seemed to know him personally. we tried to find any info we could about his contacts, his phone, his family. others were somewhat successful later.
we gave our names, and after much official delay, a few rode on to the hospital, and most of us went back to one of the rider's houses (stan + rachels). we waited for info. when it finally came, we were told he was pronounced dead on the scene. his wife had been found and had made it to the hospital. i can only imagine how she feels. my deepest condolences go out to his wife and family.
the scene of the accident plays over and over in my head. i don't know exactly at what point he died. i'm leaving the house now again, and heading directly to a bike shop to purchase a helmet."

i feel sick

well that is fucking horrible

any race that involves "dodging traffic" is a stupid deathwish. you can't combine wanting to win, going fast, and worrying traffic lights and cars are going to plow into you. if you want that street feeling, race in a criterium.

anyway yeah, poor guy. :/

you are correct

Alleycat races look insane at times. I guess some of the experienced messengers can handle that kind of pace in traffic, but jeez.

they are insane (and illegal, and dangerous, and fun, and etc). but what happened today (nb i wasn't there, but have done a number of races) isn't really anything like what a messenger does during the course of his or her day. the "safety" of the peloton as it approaches an intersection hinges on the fact that there's a LOT of bikers. the mass is usually very visible and traffic treats it accordingly (like a fire engine or whatever). however, some guy (in this case, matt), has to be the first one into the intersection, and that's always dangerous. moreover, it's something that even experienced messengers don't usually do during the day; the guy in first is sort of staking his life on the visibility of the riders behind him.

i'm usually hived off the back pretty early, and have only done one or two races in the peloton. practically, this means that i negotiate traffic pretty much the way i do if i'm riding to work or whatever. i just pedal harder between stops and slow downs.

either way: RIP m4tt 1ynch

i dint realize ppl like, raced in TRAFFIC. i mean, i didnt think that they shut down the course either, but i never really thot about it to the point of realizing that guys are racing in traffic.

pls guys dont do this.

too fucking awful for everyone involved.

i think i am done with this

part of the problem stems from the "closed course" format: this stage had a preset route that racers were required to take. an open manifest race, on the other hand, involves checkpoints around the city that racers hit in any order they please, making it more like a scavenger hunt and less like a road race staged on city streets. winning is as much about route-finding and shortcuts as it is about pedaling really fast.

closed courses encourage pelotons, which in turn encourage ppl to more brashly defy traffic laws because of the supposed safety in numbers. with an open manifest, you're usually on your own, and less likely to take risks that will endanger yourself and others.

That's horrible :( Do the participants know/accept the risks or do they feel invincible? Do pedestrians etc. ever get hit?

its heartbreaking. i knew a guy in college who played the role of the driver in such an accident, it destroyed him.

well, it wasnt a guy racing his bike in traffic, it was a young kid darting out of a side street.

the tour is much more popular than it used to be. in years past it was definitely messenger thing only, which meant that the participants were well-versed with riding in traffic, and knew the dangers it entailed. recently, there's been a lot more recreational riders showing up (myself included) who may not know what they're getting into. obviously, everyone is aware that traffic poses hazards pretty much in any situation, but it certainly gets cranked up when you've got a pack of riders who, individually, don't want to be the guy that gets dropped at the light.

like i said, this is exacerbated by closed courses. open course races are basically just scavenger hunts, and enjoyable whether or not you're fast.

I wonder what the city's response will be, if any. These races are, I'm assuming, technically illegal but everyone lets them go on anyway...?

I've been wondering the same thing. technically, i think it's not the race itself that's illegal, but the actions of the people involved in it usually are.

"cracking down" would have to involve going after the organizers, i guess. but even then, riders race at their own risk, though obviously there is no legal document that supports this. moreover, most races (ie - NOT the tour, which is its own thing) are relatively impromptu, and as i've said already, scattered all over the place. that is, a group of three riders biking really fast could just as easily NOT be a race, and an isolated clot of irresponsible guys. e.g.-- two years ago a guy got pulled over during a race, was asked if he was in "some kind of race," and said "no," even as other riders rode by and yelled/jeered/laughed/etc. The police can't really prove anything.

cutty? hunter? esquires?

Yeah but people know about races, they're not TOTALLY impromptu. If the police cared enough they could probably start getting info online or on bulletin boards at bike shops (and/or pressure shops for aiding & abetting) or via INFORMANTS. Etc. Or just start pleading with/shaming the riders & organizers for putting each other at risk -- I imagine yesterday is going to put a damper on bike events in Chicago for a while.

it happened this morning

i have no idea if the tour will go on, but somehow i suspect it will, for better or for worse. w/r/t cracking down: there's ample information online about most races, it's true. however, i'm still not sure what crime, exactly, a race organizer could be charged with, you know? if you say meet in this public place and let's go ride around the city but please be careful and obey all traffic laws (they usually say this), then you're not really doing much but organizing the equivalent of a public demonstration? IANAL, etc.

HOWEVER: many of the larger races (Monstertrack, for instance) have sponsors. Like, real ones, that contribute prizes and stuff. Not sure what their liability is, if any.

Ach, whatever. I have been a wreck about this all day, despite not even knowing the guy.

holy shit.

Well, I think technically rides of more than like five cyclists are supposed to get permission from the city of New York, but I'm pretty sure that was just to hamstring Critical Mass. Not sure what other effect it could possibly have.

Like you said, what are they gonna do? Pull you over and ask if you're with those other guys? On the other hand the police have been known to do things like purposefully door riders, and I guess if they can stick you with being in violation of the law they might get more leeway.

Monstertrack NYC cancelled supposed. for safety concerns and the inability to monitor skill levels in the now-much-larger community of people taking part. o_O

smart

More time for bike polo.

yeah, i heard that. definitely smart. when ddb and i did it there was over a hundred people. not exactly an underground deal anymore.

the rest of the tour has been cancelled, obviously, and i suspect it won't be resurrected for a year or two. which is for the best.

also stairmaster conflicted with booooooooooooredoms, so at least that's settled :-/

not quite the same, but a friend of mine is organizing this

http://www.tour-de-troit.org/