20,000 close Lake Shore Drive for Bike the Drive
May 29, 2011 8:52AM
Despite the heavy fog, the freedom of the road beckoned on Sunday, May 29. Chicago area residents hopped on their bikes for the one day a year when the length of Lake Shore Drive is open to cyclists and closed to auto traffic. Near the Art Institute. | Al Podgorski~Chicago-Sun-Times
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Updated: May 29, 2011 5:46PM
About 20,000 bikers participated in the MB Financial Bank’s Bike the Drive event Sunday morning on Lake Shore Drive.
“Everything is going fantastic,’’ said event spokesman Ethan Spotts. “It was pretty foggy this morning, but the fog really isn’t a safety hazard, and it’s a little cool but we have about 20,000 people enjoying a wonderful ride,’’ Spotts said.
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Bike the Drive is a 15- or 30-mile bike ride along Lake Shore Drive, which was closed to vehicular traffic from Hollywood to 59th Street until 9:30 a.m.
“It’s about four hours of car-free Lake Shore Drive,’’ Spotts said.
Bikers were invited onto LSD at 5:30 a.m. and were allowed to bike anywhere from Hollywood to 59th Streets. “You can bike as little or as long as you want,’’ he said.
“We have 1-year-olds in trailers, and 80-year-olds — and everyone in between,’’ he said. “A lot of people use Bike the Drive as a kickoff to their summers.’’
If they got tired, bikers were able to stop at two rest spots, one at the Museum of Science and Industry and another at Bryn Mawr Avenue. A post-event party included an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast and a Blues Brothers tribute band, in the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park.
The event is a fundraiser for Active Transportation Alliance.
