"HEADIN' SOUTH ON LSD" - ALLIOTA HAYNES & JEREMIAH, 1971
I've been riding on Chicago's scenic waterfront highway
Lake Shore Drive (LSD) for fifty years now but never perched on a
bicycle and peddling along with 25,000 other folks. The scene
was Chicago's annual Bike the Drive Fest when LSD is turned over solely
to cyclists the Sunday before Memorial Day. At 5:30 AM I steered my
trusty 24 speed onto the Drive at Jackson Blvd to an amazing view of
a swarm of cyclists in both directions where only two ton stinkpots
usually tred. Never having biked that far in my life, the 30 mile route
appeared daunting as I headed south toward Hyde Park. Circling the
Museum of Science and Industry to head back north, this aging pre-baby
boomer, born in the waning days of FDR's presidency, was lifted by a
biker's high and thousands of fellow cyclists of all ages, sizes
and backgrounds, to go the distance. An hour later I hit the northern
turnaround at Hollywood for a tough, uphill push back to the starting
line. It was satisfying to realize that we were traveling nearly 750,000
miles without a single carbon emission being expelled to poke holes in
our decaying ozone layer.
Bike the Drive is sponsored by the Chicagoland non-profit Active Transportation Alliance, whose mission is to: make
bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that
we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful,
sedentary travel to clean, active travel. You can learn more about their programs at www.activetrans.org.
Walt Zlotow is a precinct coordinator in Milton Township and an active blogger and Letter to the Editor writer. You can find him at Heartland Progressive
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