Chicago Critical Mass June 2012

I initially wasn't sure if I would be making it to this months critical mass ride due to some dodgy weather in the area. But the radar played in my favor this time. So I loaded up the bike into the car for a nice ride right past the train station and to a nice parking place a couple of miles from downtown.

Pedestrian in Kinzie Avenue dedicated bike lane.

Kinzie Avenue dedicated bike lane.

Cyclists gathering at Daley Plaza.

More cyclist gathering.

Talked to this guy briefly at the end of the ride. This was his first critical mass ride.

Cyclists milling about.

Guy messing with his air horn.

A recumbent in the background.

More cyclist gathering.

The plaza is starting to fill up.

Cyclists resting around the sculpture.

More cyclists.

An interesting recumbent. This guy calls it Peters Gyrator.

Guy with a Brompton folding bike. Nice compact bike!

When are we gonna start?

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Everyone on the road!

The plaza emptying out.

Not many bikes left in the plaza.

This guy looking at the camera and pointing to his right is pointing to a car that the driver abandoned right where it got stuck in the midst of us! Haha!

Another bridge...MAKE SOME NOISE!

Caught the light just right.

Next to the river.

A better shot of the bridge.

The Mass is turning onto the bridge.

Inevitably someone always loses an innertube going over this bridge. And today was no exception. I heard the hiss of someones tired innertube just as we were reaching the far side of the bridge. This bridge is NOT very bicycle friendly. I was certain that MY bike would spring a leak as we meandered over the bridge.

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Is that the drinking tube for a  dromedary bag that I see?

At the end of the ride nearing Roosevelt and Halsted.

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The ride was pretty good at the beginning. But only once did I see the head of the group stop to mass up. And somewhere in the middle of the ride I found the pack thinning out and I was increasingly coming closer to getting cut off from the rest of the pack that was racing ahead. When space opens up between the riders eventually the traffic will start to inch into the intersection and then the mass has been effectively split. I found myself having to pedal like hell so that i didn't get left behind and before I knew it I was in a small pack of riders for the rest of the ride. The majority of the group of thousands of bikers had been left behind. So after we reached Roosevelt and Halsted, I turned North as the small group turned South. The ride back to the car was uneventful. Overall it was a good ride. But I couldn't help but wonder what happened to the rest of the mass ride and where they ended up going.