Bike Winter

Streetsblog reporter Lynda Lopez shares her thoughts on becoming a year-round bike commuter.

I prepared this list for another Chicago publication, but since they didn't wind up having space for it in print, I thought I'd share it with SBC readers. One thing I learned from researching the piece is that, not counting the local cycling components giant (and Streetsblog sponsor) SRAM Corporation, there are a surprisingly small number of homegrown bike products in Chicago nowadays. Whether that's due to higher commercial rents than other bike gear Meccas (hello Minneapolis), excessive city bureaucracy for small businesses, or other factors, it would be great to see more bike product businesses here in the future.

A photo installation by Chicago Critical Mass cofounder Michael Burton shows that, ironically, drivers regularly destroy the placards that remind them to be more careful.

For a crash course in the local bicycle scene, you can’t do better than a visit to the Chicago Bike Swap, taking place this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in a huge gym at the UIC Physical Education Building, 901 West Roosevelt. Admission is $10, $5 for Active Transportation Alliance members and UIC students, and free for kids 12 and under. The event has taken place for several years in the cozier confines of the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse in Noble Square, which packed hundreds of attendees into several smaller rooms.