“Everybody makes it out to be some kind of superhuman feat, and it’s not,” says Randy Neufeld, who has ridden his bike to work all winter, even on the snowiest and coldest days. He’s the executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, so it’s his job to persuade more commuters that bicycle transportation is a safe, nonpolluting, even fun alternative to cars. He only grudgingly admits to having taken a few minor falls or to being cut off and yelled at by angry motorists. But he readily admits that there have been more days than usual this winter when bicycle commuting’s been a drag. “Until this year I was telling people how easy it was,” he says. “It’s been a tough winter for people getting around–however they get around.”
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The big snows of December forced him to ride on just plowed and salted main streets such as Ashland and Halsted when he commuted from his home in Ravenswood to his job just south of the Loop. Those streets are wide enough that even when snow forces cars to park away from the curb there’s still room for cyclists. Of course the salt is a problem. “It really wrecks your bike,” he says. “You have to just lube your chain like crazy.”
By early January city crews and a couple of above-freezing days had finally cleared the driving lanes of side streets, and Neufeld had only the cold to contend with on his 40-minute commute. One morning when it was 25 degrees, he took Wilson to Clark, then veered onto Halsted and stayed on it till he was close to the Loop. Then he “stairstepped” east and south on downtown streets until he reached CBF’s office, at Clark and Harrison. It was an uneventful trip, except that he had to yell “Heads up!” at a bunch of pedestrians who almost stepped in front of him near Union Station. He insists most winter rides are just as easy.
Neufeld doesn’t expect other people to haul pianos with bikes; he just hopes to coax more of them onto bike paths and city streets. “About half of adults own a bicycle and ride it at least once during the year,” he says. “And most of them may not be comfortable riding around the city on their bikes.” So CBF puts maps and how-to booklets in schools, libraries, and stores. It also holds classes in schools, workplaces, and community centers. “Encouraging bicycling in a city that is, in terms of resources and facilities, entirely designed for automobiles is difficult,” he says. “The city of Chicago’s working very hard to improve bicycling, but that doesn’t mean it’s bicycling nirvana yet.”
