I am very fond of cars with wreaths attached to their grills at Christmas. There is something both festive and hostile about it. A delicate, loving baby was born, and we mark that event by dressing up a potentially deadly machine.
In recent days I came upon two bits of garbage. The first was a short length of red ribbon. This made it to the handlebars of one of my bicycles.
A few days later, I found several feet of evergreen branches that were bound together, something that might have been used to wrap the lamp posts of a Chicago commercial district. It was sitting in the street as I rode by. I turned back and picked it up. It is now wrapped around the top tube of the bike, with the red ribbon securing an end to the handlebars.
If you want to count on seeing bicyclists in Chicago, regardless of the weather, I recommend Milwaukee Avenue, anywhere between Logan Square and the Loop. During one one-mile ride, I counted more than one hundred cyclists heading in the opposite direction. On warm summer days, you would be sure to see more on the lakefront path, but on Milwaukee, you will see dedicated, life-altered commuters.
How does one encourage bicycling? Of course, through design -- of roads, signage, lighting, and land use. The environment, at every scale, can discourage or encourage cycling. A second factor, which is more difficult to quantify or control, is through changing cultural attitudes. Attitude may be why Milwaukee Avenue is such a cycling thoroughfare. It connects neighborhoods with large young populations, usually more open to trying new or "forbidden" things.
I am very fond of cars with wreaths attached to their grills at Christmas. There is something both festive and hostile about it. A delicate, loving baby was born, and we mark that event by dressing up a potentially deadly machine.
