chicagotribune.com
Kings of the drive--for 4 hours, anyway
For one morning, 12,000 bicyclists own Lake Shore Drive from 57th to Hollywood
By Tom McCann
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 10, 2002
For four precious hours Sunday morning, bikes ruled Lake Shore Drive.
Revving engines and four-wheeled jockeying disappeared, and the scenic highway fell silent in a way it never had in its 80-year history, thanks to Mayor Richard Daley's love of bicycling.
More than 12,000 cyclists transformed the eight-lane drive into a gently whirring bike path from 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. as part of Bike the Drive, a 30-mile ride put on by the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.
For the first time, all motorized vehicles were banned from Hollywood Avenue to 57th Street, nearly the entire length of the 15-mile drive. Though motorists were turned away from every entrance ramp by a barricade and police officers, Sunday morning's light traffic made for only minor headaches.
But the turnout of bicyclists was so large that organizers now want to make the ride an annual event, if the city will let them. And it was Daley who came up with the idea.
"It was a truly historic undertaking," said city Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Steele. "The mayor loves to bike. Anything he can do to help the cause, he'll do it."
The drive's transformation Sunday delighted hordes of bikers in colorful spandex, who gathered near Buckingham Fountain just before sunrise.
"It's so quiet and peaceful. It's simply the best bike path in the world," said Nancy Dorsch, 50, a paralegal from Jefferson Park who has been biking regularly for seven years. "Who'd ever think we'd be able to do this? We should have one of these every spring, winter and fall."
Sherry Lepacik, a factory worker from Joliet, shared the same sense of awe.
"It's a very special thing to have Lake Shore Drive all to yourself," said Lepacik, 41, as she stopped for a rest at the Bryn Mawr Avenue exit. "And when you're driving, you don't realize how hilly it is. This track has some spice."
The city has closed off some lanes of the drive in the past for races and sporting events. And for the last two years the Bicycle Federation has been able to get 4 miles of the drive closed for its annual Boulevard Lakefront Tour. But Sunday's feat was a new step.
Police officers began blocking off all entrance ramps at 5 a.m., just as the last bar hoppers were heading home from their night out.
"We had a lot of U-turns and bewildered looks. One taxi driver even tried to swerve around the barrier," said Steve Boime, a course marshal keeping on eye on the drive at Hollywood Avenue. "But it hasn't been a big deal. By the time this is over, most people are just waking up."
John Butler, a University of Chicago senior who spent the night partying in Wrigleyville, had to pull to the side and whip out his street map.
"How on earth do I get to Hyde Park from here?" he said. "It would be kind of nice to bike LSD, but I wish they would have told me. I want to go to sleep, and this isn't helping."
At least one taxi driver also felt the inconvenience.
"Lake Shore Drive is my main artery. It's just a big hassle for me," said Ahmed Abbasi, 34, who had to improvise at Bryn Mawr while trying to drive a businessman to his downtown hotel. "It's just a couple hours, so I'll guess I'll have to deal with it."
Many bicyclists had little sympathy for the motorists. In fact, there was a pronounced anti-car sentiment throughout the event.
"The cars can give it up for just one day, can't they?" said Andrew Berman, 55, an engineer from Oak Park who commutes by bike each day. "Our over-reliance on automobiles in this society is appalling. The cars have got to go."
"Eight-lane obscenity! De-pave Lake Shore Drive!" Josh Deth shouted as he finished the course with eight other bikers.
Deth, 28, is part of Critical Mass, a group of several hundred cyclists who gather at Daley Plaza each month to ride en masse on the city streets, including the drive. "The mayor's idea is a great one, but he got it from us. We've been taking over the drive for years, and we should do it more often."
His friend Michael Burton said the highway was not part of planner Daniel Burnham's vision for the lakefront. The drive was originally designed as a quiet residential thoroughfare, Burton said, but boosters turned it into a highway in the 1930s and extended it to Edgewater by the 1950s.
With 2,000 more participants than expected, the Bicycle Federation raised almost $80,000 for biking education and events in conjunction with the city.
With the increasing number of bike racks and city paths Daley has installed, Bicycle Magazine last year named Chicago the nation's most bike-friendly large city.
Participants regretted that the only thing left out of Sunday's event was the mayor, who is on a trip in Ireland.
"Where is he and where's his bike?" asked Linda Stewart, 43, of Albany Park. "This bike ride was made for him." |
