Thursday Hate

Non-handicapped people who use the handicapped stall.

That's my changing room, asshole!

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Shit. I know shit's bad right now, with all that starving bullshit, and the dust storms, and we are running out of french fries and burrito coverings. But I got a solution.

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Goodbye, and good riddance.

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Our cat killed one of my plants yesterday. I hate you.

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Man, I sure do miss hanging out with low brass players some days. If any body can scan this for me, I sure appreciate it. I lost my copy years ago.

(Yes, that's Yo Yo Ma and the CSO trombone section...Charlie Vernon on the right is rumored to have penned this, The Low Brass Players Credo.)


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"Every Kiss Begins With Kaaaaaay!" Every Fucking Daaaaay!

Jesus. I though those ads only ran during from Thanksgiving to Christmas. What's next?! A July 4th Patriotism Pendant? An Arbor Day Tree Tiara?

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Some real hate: I knew these things happened in threes. I guess I'll have to add another Alderman to my email list this week.

Goddammit. Oh well, I guess I won't have to worry about these guys not getting charged. When they're finally caught.

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Hump Day

Regarding the accident that killed cyclist Amanda Annis last week, please contact your state representative and let them know of your support for the Vulnerable Users Bill now before the State House (Thanks CBR).

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Anybody know just what percentage of pro-tour riders have "asthma", anyways?

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With all those breathing problems, you'd think pro-cycling wouldn't be all that interesting to watch...well, one local amateur team has a solution for you! XXX Racing, of which the author of this site is a humble member, is putting on a bicycle race in Chicago's beautiful Sherman Park!

XXX Racing's Sherman Park Criterium will be on Saturday, June 14. Free and open admission to spectators, and open registration to anyone who'd like to participate. You don't even need a team! Just a license, and only a one-day license at that! If you've never raced your bike before, but have smiled as you dreamed of tugging tight your jersey and posting up as you crossed the line, this is race for you to get your feet wet. The park's sloping easy turns make it the ideal locale for a first race.

For you veterans, please pre-register! Also note the earlier date, instead of the usual end-of-the-season event. The higher categories should definitely be more competitive.

Click here to register for the 2008 Sherman Park Criterium!



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Somebody call Chief Wiggem.

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Hipsters: even the Christian Science Monitor is now reporting on your "style." You are officially CONFORMISTS. Just like the rest of us. You know, I don't mind the bike. I have two myself. But I actually race one at the velodrome, and the other is a training tool. But I hate this "back-to-basics" mentality, as if braving the insane urban streets brakeless and helmetless is some measure of your mettle. As if a deraileur system is such a clusterfuck and that hard to maintain.

Fixie Hipsters are the new Amish. This fad cannot die soon enough.

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"Get Hitched - Or Get Plowed"? Why didn't the producers of The Bachelor just save everybody the time and go straight to this? Precedent, I guess.

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Klaus wants his grandmother's bicycle back (It's a couple years old, but something reminded me of it this morning, and I thought it was hilarious).

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Wait...I think this was a CHiPs episode.

Punishment

There's a lot of discussion going on a few other sites about the death of Amanda Annis at Armitage and Kedzie on Wednesday afternoon. I received a comment from a woman who knows the man who was cited in the accident, and asked that I treat him as an individual. Her plea has tempered my anger quite a bit, and I realize I should be wary of inciting "scapegoatism." And that of course, while I am angry that Cordell Curtis has yet to be charged with any crime at all, he certainly doesn't deserve to go to prison for the rest of his life.

But then she asked that he be left alone, and let us focus our anger from this terrible accident on making the streets and societal norms safer for cyclists and others.

What the hell have we been doing all this time?!? Bike lanes, public awareness campaigns, community outreach? Fundraisers, constant lobbying, Bike to Work Week? Ghost bikes, silent rides, benefit shows?

Yet, there are still dead cyclists. And inattentive motorists simply walking away from the havoc they caused with a black mark on their driving records. Yes, I realize they have to live with what they've done, and that they are sorry. But Amanda Annis isn't to get any consolation out it because she's dead.

So we are merely asking that the plethora of laws in place designed to protect people like Amanda Annis be enforced, and that Curtis at least receives a justifiable charge for his actions, instead of merely being cited for "traffic offenses." Otherwise, all the work we've been doing I listed above is nothing more than masturbation.

There are people who are trying very hard to reduce the encroachment of car-culture and infrastructure on our quality of life. And this incident has made us very angry. We're going to see to it that Curtis, and anyone in the future, just as we have in the past, as we continue to press against Thomas Lynch and in the case of Thomas McBride, is charged with the crime they've committed, and that cyclists are no longer blamed for their own deaths and injuries, just for "being there."

Cars. Are. Lethal. When taken for granted by careless people, they kill people just as a gun would. It is time punishment fits the crime of taking someone's life through the misuse of an automobile, just as it would with the misuse of a gun.

And lastly, as has been stated already, driving is a priviledge, not a right. If Curtis couldn't afford insurance, he shouldn't have been driving. It's a drain on society that just passes on one person's debt to others, and it's indefensible.

It's now a fully-realized tragedy that drivers who can't afford insurance are so blinded by car-culture that they believe there is no other choice than to drive without it. There are many options for people who choose not to have insurance.

Bicycles are one of them.

Monday's Muse

Zipper.

Or is it Zipster?

I like Zipper.

Zip Zip Zip.

Do my thing, do your thing.

Our thing.

Good thing.

Unzip.

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Sheridan

Sheridan

Hard to believe we met almost 7 years ago.

Has it been that long?

That was quite the blind date.

Too much to handle, you scared me off.

There was, and still is, more to you than anyone realizes.

I was still too unsure of myself

But still, curiosity got the better of me, seeing all of your other friends.

All having such a good time.

I got to know you better. Having fun wasn’t as hard.

Especially on the sunny, summer evenings with nothing better to do.

Besides going to a bar. The same bar. Again and again.

But my place was with you.

With better friends and stronger love.

I know every curve, bump, and bruise.

And you’ve given me the chance to explore

An entirely new life that was hidden until now.

You and I.

Thanks.

Heavenly

Logan Square is now that much awesomer now that this place is open, at the corner of Sawyer and Milwaukee, just up the street from the CTA station.



Coffee, espresso, and gelato. What more does a neighborhood need? Besides myself, I mean...

I stopped in yesterday, Heavenly's, first unofficial day open and had my first taste. A double, pistaccio and triple chocolate, with a large coffee to go. The freezer was a bit too cold, so the gelato was too firm and it was no Florence, but it was fresh and sweet and molto benne and the perfect topper for a sunny, beautiful, end to a relaxing, yet productive weekend.

The Italian Coffee Bar of Evanston will always be my goto for that perfect recovery meal of a soy mocha and canoli, but returning home, this place will be a regular post-ride spot for a bit of relaxation and people watching, of which Milwaukee Avenue has in abundance.

The best part of Heavenly is Larry, the owner. Not only is he a friendly, always-smiling, small-business owner making the neighborhood a better place to live, he is a dual citizen and has just qualified for the Mexican Olympic wrestling team! His store opening was delayed because he got a last minute call to meet the President in Mexico City!

So stop by and say hello and welcome, and try some of that gelato.

Additional Hate - Biker Down

This is in all seriousness.

Wednesday, a young woman was killed while riding her bicycle in Logan Square, the second fatality in the neighborhood in a week. Amanda Annis was headed west on Armitage when she was struck by a car traveling north on Kedzie.

This is what makes me sick. If you read the link I posted, you will see that Curtis, the driver, was cited for both reckless driving, possibly running a red light, and driving without insurance - yet, amazingly, will as of now not face any criminal charges.

Pardon while I try to stand up again.

How is this possible? Those acts listed are crimes, are they not? So how can you be cited for breaking those laws, yet not be held criminally liable, even when someone is dead as a result of your criminal actions?

I am lost and beside myself.

"There was a helmet recovered at the scene, but police couldn't say whether she was wearing it."

That's how hard she was struck my Mr. Cordell Curtis, who couldn't be bothered with the law.


So, I plan on calling my Alderman, and you should to, if you feel even a fraction of the rage that I am experiencing now.

Billy Ocasio
3236 W Division
Chicago, IL 60651
(773) 276-4269
bocasio@cityofchicago.org

In addition to expressing my dismay at the lack of seriousness applied to this specific situation in which yet another cyclist has been killed by an inattentive driver, I will also be addressing the seemingly appalling driving behavior of motorists in the area.

For example, I travel north (by car) on Humboldt Blvd (Sacramento) with my band mates after rehearsal at Superior St. Studios, and well after the light turns green at North Avenue - I'm talking 2 or 3 full seconds - often a car will come barreling through. It's gotten to the point the drivers waiting at the intersection wait for the inevitable red-light run before proceeding through.

Yet is there ever a police car at that intersection? No. A traffic camera? No.

Cars continue to speed down these roads such as Western, Kedzie, and Grand as though they were highways, and God damn any cyclist, right of way or not, who happens to be in their way. And the response behavior by the city, which effectively blames the victim for just being there as evidenced in this case, only encourages them.

We as a group constantly bitch and complain about traffic, or take the high road and express our hope for a better place less dependent on cars. Yet as individuals, we (royally, I don't own a car) are heavy on the gas pedal, honk at cyclists, pedestrians, and slower commercial vehicles. Even as they, through their actions, reduce demand at the pump, parking, and actually use the roadways for the betterment of our economy - generally making the world a better place to be.

As well, a friend of mine notes, drivers need to be better educated about cyclists' rights to the road, and they also need to be held accountable when they commit crimes such as this, or even more minor ones, like intentionally driving in bike lanes. These laws are never enforced, and it causes one to wonder why the laws exist in the first place.

Please don't let this institutional indifference stand. Call or write Alderman Ocasio. Make sure this murderer gets what is coming to him.

Thursday Hate

I normally keep the cycling talk to race reports and social-commentary only, but at the risk of inviting hate and trolls, I'm crossing the streams this week.

"On your left! On your right!" As Jeff says, this translates to, "Cat 5 Coming Through!"

If you're already there and I'm getting too close, that's one thing, but a hand on my ass is a far better signal. But if you're just trying to move up and shouting it as though you are trying to get to the toilet at midnight during Summerfest after Ted Nugent has just performed and your body is definitely rejecting those cheese-fries?? PLEASE SHUT UP. Also, be more creative, for God's sake. It's a race, and if you can't fit, don't get mad 'cause I'm not moving over for you. I've got one concern and that's the wheel(s) in FRONT of me, not behind.

Which leads me to guys who yell and scream constantly to "look behind you!" Yes, if you're about to jump and start a new line, give a look back and make sure you aren't going to crash the 13 people drafting behind you. But, ultimately you are responsible for the wheel in front of you, so have an out if you are in the middle and wheels are overlapped. Safety is important, yes, especially right of the yellow line, but speaking strictly pack-safety? It's a race, and people are in base-mode. Priority 1 is to accomplish your goal, whatever that it is. It's a risk to even start and they make you sign that waiver for a reason.

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Drivers who do the "annoyed lane-change" or the "annoyed acceleration." Especially around cyclists, delivery trucks, and the like. Vehicles that don't go very fast yet have just as much a right to the road as these people do. A revving engine in a 3,000lb death-machine is such a great outlet for the personal expression of your weak-minded willingness to risk the lives around you to reach the redlight 15 seconds earlier.

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My cat's ass.

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Being Jack Tripper (hang in there...just 'til Sunday).