This event has been a fixture on the Chicago scene for about 10 years now. Sponsored by the Friends Of The Parks (a civic watchdog group that does a great job of overseeing the administration of the Chicago Park District) the ride is an acronym for Long After Twilight Ends. A good name: the ride begins at 1:30 AM, covers about 25 miles of Chicago streets. It starts in the downtown Grant Park area, goes through a lot of the city, and returns to the downtown area along the lakefront path. This is the first year I've ridden in the LATE Ride.

Jan and I left her apartment on the northwest side of Chicago, the Wicker Park area, around midnight. We were to meet up with a group of volunteers from WGN Television. It's only about a five mile ride downtown, but it was interesting to watch the convergence of people - on bike and in vehicles with bikes attached. The "limit" on participants is supposed to be 10,000 and as you would expect, not everybody signs up in advance. I have no idea of what the participation was, but no doubt it was close to this figure.

One of the first things I noticed on this early Sunday morning of July 19th, shortly after midnight, it that in the dark even in the well- lit parks, and everybody wearing some form of white T-shirt and bicycle helmet, it's difficult to recognize anybody. Stay close to your companions, or find something outlandish to wear on your helmet.

The sponsors emphasize "It's a ride, not a race" but when you see 10,000 rides lined up ready to leave it is very impressive, even to a seasoned bicycle tourist. The general plan had participants wearing color-coded numbers (there were about eight different colors, I think) and to release them in waves. I left in the first wave, and have no idea how effectively this worked. I suspect that, as the distance increased from the starting point, the line between the waves became blurred. Near the end, I got the impression that it was one long continuous stream.

As I looked south along Columbus Drive where the ride started, it looked like a continuous flow, with a pulsating beat of flashing red lights. Looking back, there were far fewer white lights of headlights. But still the large, almost ominous, snake-like current of white-clad cyclists.

There were several rest stops along the way, complete with portable toilets, water, soft-drinks, and other refreshments. At the end of the ride (we got back shortly after 5:00 AM) there was breakfast for all the registered participants, Cereal, milk, yogurt, a sweet roll, raisins, and fruit juice. Yes, it was impressive seeing all the cyclists sitting (sprawled?) along the lakefront, watching the sky to from dark, to red, to light as the sun rose over the lake. However, shortly after sunrise a storm blew up and it rained. Not hard a first, then harder, but it didn't last long. Long enough to cool down the enthusiasm. An impressive show of lightening too.

As the ride started, there was a good deal of jocularity in the crowd. (From a motorist stuck in traffic: "What are you riding for?" Response: "For about an hour so far.") As the ride progressed, this fell off considerably. At around 20 miles into the ride, going down Foster Avenue back to the lakefront, it was amusing (to me) to listen to the silence. The hum of the tires, the clicking of the gear shifts, but not much else. Truly amazing to see such a large crowd, but hushed. Even at the beach refreshment area, everyone was resting, silently. I tried sparking something by asking: "This is fun, can we go around again?" and was greeted with cold stares or some rejoinder like "Go ahead, we'll wait for you" or "Have fun, once was enough!"

There's probably a lesson in Group Psychology here someplace. For the first few miles, Chicago's Finest blocked of the streets and intersections for us. Where this ended, we were supposed to "Observe traffic regulations, and rise single file." Yeah, right. The light turned from green, to amber, to red - and it didn't even slow the onslaught of cyclists. I can see why they do this overnight, when the traffic is at a minimum. I pitied the poor motorist who got caught up in this, but not enough to slow down or stop. For most of the entire ride, the group took over the streets, sometimes even spilling over into the wrong lane of traffic!

I saw only two accidents, both cyclist-cyclists, none with a motorized vehicle. I did see a couple of flats, a few chains that fell off. There were sweep vehicles following to help with emergencies.

At one rest area, Jan and I did get separated. I couldn't find her at all! So I took a shortcut I knew of that would intersect the route, and waited. I parked by bike in a well-lit spot hoping she would pass by and recognize it. She did, and I only waited about 10 minutes or so. I can't see doing this in a large group, somebody's going to get lost! There were a few youngsters on this trek. A lot of kids on tandems, or those bicycle trailers, Even a lady with a dog in her handlebar basket!

One danger that was dramatic, to me, was passing-on-the-right. I never realized how dangerous this is. Even in a car, and especially on a bike, I'll be very careful about doing this in the future. Even with a rear-view mirror (I had one, clipped on my glasses) the right- rear view is a real blind spot, At a slow pace, bicycles tend to wobble. I didn't see any accidents occur, but I'm willing to bet that those that did were a result of this practice.

Just as in cars, following too closely is dangerous too. But just as in cars, if you allow enough room, somebody's going to cut in front of you. If you're following a companion, you soon find yourself way behind, and have some catching up to do - by perhaps engaging in some questionable riding practices yourself.

Would I do it again? I don't know. I do a lot of riding around town, and do some long road-tours too. Usually alone. I'm not sure I really need this massive ride. I'm an early-morning person, but I got home around 7 AM, and slept until 3 PM! Tomorrow I've got to get up at 3 AM again, to start work. This is going to raise hell with my system! But it was fun, and I'm glad I finally went, after putting it off all these years.

Of course I would express my appreciation to those who organized this thing. They really did a great job. Getting the rest stops in place, marking out the route, setting up for the breakfast, and all of the tasks necessary for this one night of riding. It must have been an organizational mountain, a logistical nightmare. Arranging for all those Porta-Potties too.

Bob Kastigar
19 July 1998

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