Riding L.A.T.E. into the night

     A couple of weeks ago, thousands of people gathered around Buckingham Fountain at 1:00 in the morning.  But don't worry, it wasn't for some cultish ritual.  There were bikes involved.  The production was all about the 2014 L.A.T.E.(Long After Twilight Ends) Ride, a 25-mile bike ride throughout the streets of Chicago to benefit Friends of The Parks, a park advocacy group in Chicago.  The night started off with packet pick-up at Buckingham Fountain, as well as various sponsor tables, a central registration table, and a stage with live music acts performing.  At the appointed time, we set off in various waves into the Chicago night.  After taking a quick straightaway down Columbus, we rode into the downtown areas, bearing south on State Street until we ran into Chinatown.  At that point, the bikes were turned North towards our next destination of Humboldt Park, the location of the rest stop for this year's ride.  At the rest stop, all of the riders got a chance to grab some water, get some snacks, use the restroom, and enjoy the views out of the boat house there, which are quite something else if I say so myself.  You be the judge:

     After emptying our bladders and filling our stomachs, we set back out on the trek.  Our ride took us north to Foster Avenue, when we turned Eastbound and (eventually) Down.  Riding at that stretch, I had a particularly enjoyable encounter with a fellow rider who was blasting oldies out of a speaker attached to his bike.  While I was jammin' out to the tunes of yesteryear, we made the turn onto the Lakefront Trail and headed South.  At that point, we barreled down 6 miles of pristine Lakefront land, with the last few miles being punctuated by the beginnings of daylight and ultimately the sunrise.  Afterwards, we rode through the streets of downtown just as the city was beginning to wake up from its slumber.  The 2014 L.A.T.E. Ride was a complete success, the advocacy for the parks was achieved, and I will certainly be doing this again next summer.