Bike Rides

This afternoon, despite snow and temperatures in the 20s, perhaps hundreds of Chicagoans took to the streets for a bicycle parade honoring Alex Pretti. A week ago, the 37-year-old VA nurse was shot to death by federal agents in conjuction with Trump's Operation Metro Surge immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

The organizers of the annual Sadie Hawkins Style Ride describe the event as "an all-skill-level, self-guided, scavenger-hunt-style bicycle ride, open to anyone that wants to ride." They add, "We dress in costumes or high-style gear, and bicycle decorations are encouraged as well. The ride is as long or as short as anyone wants to go, with an excellent afterparty and prizes afterwards."

A relatively recent addition to the Chicago bike scene is Femmes + Thems Bike Chicago, which describes itself as a "safe space for women, femme, nb, and trans Chicagoans to ride bikes together." The group was co-founded by Sammy Schneider (she/her), who grew up biking around Skokie. After after moving back to Chicagoland from Miami, she decided that she really hated having a car.

Metra revealed some of its plans to accommodate more bikes on more trains in a first-of-its-kind presentation and Q&A on Monday night.

The multi-day violent racial conflict, initiated by the killing of a Black teen at 29th Street Beach, was the worst in Chicago history.