This past Sunday, as everybody was getting ready for Memorial Day, Lake Shore Drive was closed down for 6 hours. Why? For your information, it wasn't because the city likes closing roads down(though it sure seems like that sometimes). It was actually to facilitate the 13th annual Bike The Drive, an event that is put on each year by the Active Transportation Alliance to generate advocacy and raise awareness of alternate modes of transportation. The ride stretches the whole course of Lake Shore Drive, going from 57th Street all the way up to Bryn Mawr Avenue. Riders start out in Grant Park and then proceed either north or south, turning around at either terminus and heading back in the other direction.
For this year's event, 20,000 people registered, making it the 2nd most well attended event in Bike The Drive's history. The cyclists ranged in age from 11 year olds, all the way to married couples with grown children. One of the riders said that it was "tiring, very tiring...[but] It's fun. It's kind of weird to think you're biking somewhere cars normally go down at like top speed". Even though organizers exercised their best efforts and screened a pre-ride safety video, there were a few bumps and scrapes. But for the most part the ride was fine, as said another rider "It's a long road and there's a lot of space, It's very surreal to be out here on Lake Shore Drive with no cars. I'll definitely do it next year".
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