ChiWhoBike #78
I’ve been bike riding since the seventies, and when I moved to the city in ‘95 was when I first started riding more urban and got into road bikes and stuff like that. And I’m a butcher for Jewel, and for the most part I was able to bike commute to all these Jewel’s, ‘cause they transfer you after a few years, and you get to go here or there. But for the most part, they kept me pretty bike friendly. So I’ve worked at quite a few Jewel’s that I was able to commute with.
I’d say I use this bike more for touring, and I got racks for bike camping. I bought this bike in ‘22, and in ‘23 I convinced a buddy of mine from the Chicago Cycling Club to do some bike camping with me. We just saw some YouTube videos, and were like, ‘Hey, we can do that.’ And I don’t commute anymore to work, only because I’m at the Jewel right across the street from my house. And I do miss it a little bit, and I have a commuter bike that’s just a single speed that I can lock up anywhere, so I don’t feel too bad if they would just steal it. I mean, I’d still cry a little, but I use that if I want to do errands or go to a little restaurant or brewery or something, because I can lock it outside. But yeah, this one’s been more for trying out this gravel stuff that my friends used to tell me about all the time.
I’m not the biggest technology person, but I did evolve with the whole Facebook and Instagram stuff and use it to introduce people to bike riding or push my other cycling friends to ride more. I have some music snob friends, so I did a whole series on Facebook of like 30 rides inspired by Morrissey quotes, like I went to the Stockyards for his Meat is Murder song, and went to different places all over the city that were just inspired by Morrissey songs.
And the other one was, I did a series called Run the Jewels, where I had to start from where I live to all the Jewel’s I’ve ever worked at in my 40 year career. And it was fun! It was me pushing myself to go to all the different Jewel’s, because It ended up being like 32 of them. So I like using social media to have fun and get people to bike ride a little more too.
