Cycling in the City

Yes, mom, I always wear a helmet!

More and more, we've been enjoying riding our bikes around where we live. Bikes are fun to ride, good for the environment, and build a workout right into your day. They're also quite easy to park, and can be faster than driving if traffic is an issue. The cooler weather this weekend was perfect for biking, and we took advantage by riding all over town!

Saturday night we met up with my friend Megan, who I will credit with being one of the first people to get me interested in biking. My first big ride was with her, going down to Green City Market and Navy Pier when we had a work event last summer. We were going to see a movie at the Music Box, and it only made sense for us to ride there! The ride was quick and light on car traffic, and I felt very safe will all three of us having lights on our bikes. It was so easy to ride there, and not having to deal with parking the car was a highlight for me! And in case you're curious, the French movie Unforgivable was really obnoxiously French and pretty stupid. But the company was lovely, so no complaints from me!

Then, on Sunday, we decided it was time to check out a gem of a bike and coffee shop that opened about six months ago in Lakeview. Heritage Bicycles and General Store is as charming as it sounds. It has a warm and stylish interior-- a bit of country feeling, nestled in on Lincoln Avenue. I'd heard great things from friends who had visited the shop, and also saw multiple stylish bloggers were hanging out there while visiting Chicago.

They build custom bikes from scratch, and the owner was working on one while we waited for our drinks. He was so friendly and welcoming, and showed us some of the finer points of crafting the bikes. The baristas were very friendly, too, and Joe's cold brewed iced coffee was almost as perfect as my drip down hot coffee. The space had a great communal table, plus a couple smaller ones in the windows. They have a huge patio outside, too, plus another feature that the city put in out front...

This is the only sorta crappy iphone shot I took, but Heritage Bicycles is lucky enough to have a parklet out front! It's a new concept in Chicago, apparently modeled after cities like San Fransisco. They basically take over a few parking spots (2 or 3, I'd guess), and make a charming little oasis in the busy city. This parklet had beautiful planters, and fun green tables for people to hang out at. We brought our coffee out to enjoy, but also saw people eating take out, reading books, and working on a laptop. It is not actually associated with Heritage, from what I could tell, but it just adds to the appeal of the place!

 We stopped at the perfect neighborhood bookstore on the way home, to grab a gift for a friend. Joe and I agreed that we had to head home and take care of the usual Sunday stuff, but would have loved to have spent a few more hours just playing around town on our new favorite mode of transportation. Anyone else feel me on the cycling love?

He's not so sure about me taking pictures over my
shoulder while stopped at a red light :)