ChiWhoBike #66
When I got here in 1994, I was starting law school. I was living in Lincoln Park, law school was downtown, and I found that biking was an easier and cheaper way to get to and from school. And I did it for a long time, and then for a while stopped commuting because I had jobs that required me to dress up and look nice and all that stuff. And it was just kind of too difficult. But then about 10 years ago, I started figuring out how to go back to commuting on a bike.
First I was trying to do it two or three days a week, and then slowly over time I figured out how to plan ahead at night and pack up clothes. I kept a couple of suits at the office, I would watch the weather. I was doing it two or three days a week, and these days I’ve kind of gotten back to the point where I’m doing it almost every day that I go downtown. My office has gotten more casual in terms of dress, so it’s easier to pack clothes to wear to work, and I figured out how to do it and plan ahead.
They say Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, and there are amazing neighborhoods that you can explore from your bicycle and get to pretty easily. I mean I live in North Center, but two of my favorite neighborhoods in the city are Rogers Park and Pilsen. And both of those neighborhoods are just fantastic destinations for biking, and along the way you go through I don’t know how many different neighborhoods, you go on side streets and see beautiful architecture, interesting storefronts, people, neighborhoods. There’s just so many things that you notice more about the city when you’re on a bicycle or on foot than you notice from a car.
The older I get, the more I feel biking is a way for me to stay in shape and keep my wits about me. There’s so many upsides to it - it’s good for the environment, it’s good for your health, it clears your head. And all the anxiety that people seem to be having in the world of late, there is nothing better to me after a hard or challenging day at work to get on my bike and ride home. I can clear my head and I don’t come home with the anxiety from the workday, and I think it just makes me a less anxious person, and maybe my family appreciates it a little too.
