Bike the Drive!

One great reason to run is to be fit enough to have fun biking the Tour de Troit, and this spring the Chicago version, Bike the Drive!  Alison and I signed up to see how Lake Shore Drive compares to Woodward Ave.  Okay, okay!  I know there's no way Chicago's skyline can beat the glory of the Detroit Depot, but since the Tour de Troit isn't until fall, I'm willing to step down and out in Chicago.  Part of the proceeds go to a good cause too, the Active Transportation Alliance helping to make biking, walking and public transportation more safe.  Sound like fun?  Join us!

Speaking of Detroit, there's a cool event tomorrow in Detroit for bicycle enthusiasts. Detroit Bike City is staging their first ever bike meet/swap at Cobo, and officially opening the Tour de Troit registration if you show up in person.  Otherwise, you'll have to wait until May 1st to sign up for the most fun bike ride this side of the Mississippi.  Just in case you won't be around for the show at Cobo tomorrow here's the sign-up info for the  Tour de Troit off their website:

Online registration for the 2012 Tour de Troit will open on May 1. NEW THIS YEAR: All registrations will include a t-shirt!

May 1 to June 30 – $35/$30 (student) w/t-shirt
July 1 to August 31 – $40/$35 w/t-shirt
Sept. 1 to 10 – $50/45 w/t-shirt
ONSITE (if available) $65 w/t-shirt (size not guaranteed)

If you are extra-excited to register, we are extra-excited to offer a one-day EARLY BIRD registration special in conjunction with Detroit Bike City at Cobo Center on March 24! In-person, cash only, $30 or $25 for a student with valid student ID. See you there!

3/23/12 - 4.0 miles | 45 min | 5.3 mph | 435 kcal

Marathon session in Chicago

Alas, I am referring to driving, rather than running. :/  


Alison flew back from school yesterday so we could participate in tomorrow's Tour de Troit bike ride.  Rather than arriving at DTW, she decided to fly to O'Hare to take advantage of a great deal on airfare.  Since I've driven to Chicago many times in roughly 3.5 hours, I had planned to pick her up in the Windy City and make a couple of fun side stops on the way home.  Unfortunately, it took me almost twice as long as it usually does to get to O'Hare due to the worst traffic and construction delays I have ever experienced.  Our visions of sight-seeing in Chicagoland went up in a cloud of expressway exhaust fumes.  At some points I seriously could have run to O'Hare faster than I was moving on I-94.  


As I was sitting on the highway, waiting... waiting... I mused about the bad rap we who still live in Michigan get for keeping the lights on in the only state to loose population in the 2010 census.  In 1950, Detroit was the fifth largest city in the United States, with over 2,000,000 residents.  As late as 1990 it was still in the top ten.  Detroit's population is now lower than it has been in 100 years, far less than half of what it was in its heyday, and second only to New Orleans in percent population decrease in the last decade, at 25%.  Detroit did to itself what it took Katrina to do to New Orleans.


I would like to tell the good folks in Chicago that there are some advantages to living in an area where the infrastructure was built to handle double the people than who currently live there.  Here in the Motor City it is rare to have to sit on a highway for 4 hours just because there are still enough people working to have that much of a rush hour.  Tomorrow Alison and I, along with 4,998 other happy riders will be very happy to enjoy what's left of Detroit from our bicycle seats.  Today, I was just happy to be able to go faster than 5 mph for 18 minutes straight:  in my sneakers!


Até amanhã... 
9/23/11 - 2.0 miles | 17:59 min | 6.7 mph | 214 kcal  <---  TWICE AS FAST AS I-94 IN CHICAGO AT RUSH HOUR !!!