Recent spoke cards from Fiascos:

Full Moon Fiasco 32 true-up

---click the photo for some more pix---

Thanks to everyone for making it a great ride. The weather was perfect, had a great group, and a kickass route.

In a rare bit of pre-planning, Sol, PJ and I ventured out earlier in the week to scout a route going north to cut through and connect a series of parks. This also marks the first time the Fiasco has actually crossed the city limits!

About 15 minutes after we slinked out of Gannon's we pulled up next to the river along the North Channel Trail. Beers were produced from packs and jollility ensued. Rico rode the bucket o' booze, emblazoned with the FBC logo, which I promptly tumbled into and was nearly ridden away with by a bike pirate:

We cut a path along the river up into Lincolnwood, then back to Chicago on Touhy to circle around to Lerner Park for another beer break. Later, we pulled into Cary's on Devon Street to find that it was open mic night or something. And to find plenty of pitchers.

Great ride, everone. The Racketeers and their entourage were missed, but it was great to see so many new folks. And now for an image to haunt you till next month, I present Full Moon over Devon:

Full Moon Fiasco 31

Full Moon Fiasco 30 true-up

Hey yall. Good times last Tuesday. Once again, we were back on a school night. Looking ahead, July will be on a Friday. August will fall on...ahem...the third Saturday of the month. Those of you who know the Marauders know exactly what kind of brew that stirs.

Anyway, a nice ride through the North Side. Cruised through a couple of parks, then south to Logan Square to land at the Two Way, aptly named for the entrances on both Fullerton and Milwaukee.

On the way, we had Willow cranking the pedals of her little bike as though she were powering the entire northside. We had Craig portaging the Modus Hoperandi. Thanks Craig, it was delicous. We also had a bunch of yahoos that didn't ride with us meet up at the Two-Way. You know who you are. Good to see you anyway. When it started getting late, a few of us fools gave up the seven dollar pitchers and went to Corner Bar for $4 pitchers. If memory serves, we took a photo of our Full Moons inside the bar, but proof has yet to be rendered. See yall next month!

Fiasco XXIX True-up

Fiasco XXVIII true-up

So the Midnight Marauders' rides just kill me. Not figuratively. Well, to be honest they don't kill me but usually make me wish I were dead for the two days following. I woke several hours after my 6AM arrival at home missing a wad of cash, most of my brain, and any vestiges of good health. BUT I had two empty plastic 6-pack holders in my pocket. I threw them away without cutting the holes. Watch out, ducks.

This month marked a special and dangerous occasion: Full Moon Fiasco and Midnight Marauders fell on the same night. The Fiasco was the opening act, teeing up what was to be an over-par course. The kind of course that makes you feel like you're biking under water. The kind of course, that's really damn fun.

Oh yeah, and for intermission between the rides, this photo was taken:

Fiasco 27 true-up

Sorry folks, no pix this time around. There is a FULL MOON Over Byron shot out there on someone's camera, but gave me the 'ol "no response" thing when I asked for it. We'll see.

Also, since there's no pix I can't really click through them to jog my rusty box for events that really stood out.

First of all, it was great to see so many new faces. I brought about 16 spoke cards, and gave nearly all of them away to noobs. Welcome! And a pleasant number of folks I haven't seen in quite a while. Welcome back, fair weather bikers! The rest of you, you know who you are. F-yeah. Keep bringing it big. And getting drunk.

For the third time in the history of this event, I personally led the group ride. For the first time in the history of my leading the ride, I didn't fuck anything up. A little preparation and scouting goes a long way. Or something.

We snaked through the North Branch Riverwalk, which is becoming one of my favorite short stretches of path in that part of town. Good views of the river through the trees in the dark makes it worth it. Also makes a good pee stop for all those fartblossoms that forgot to go before leaving the bar.

After a roundabout tour of Lakeview, we landed at our destination: Wrigleyville North. This has been one of my standby dives for quite a while. There's a good band that plays blues and old school country on Friday and Saturday nights. For years, I had no idea the name of the band, so aptly dubbed them the Beer Guts. As luck would have it, the Beer Guts were playing that night. Sweet.

Without wasting any time, I started priming my belly with beer for the eventual late night burrito. The joint just north of the Sheridan Red Line has what has hitherto been a magical hangover prevention burrito. It didn't work this time.

UPDATE, March 7. The full moon over whatever street that is picture finally arrived. As you can see, the double decker makes it's debut:

Full Moon Fiasco 24 & 25 true-up

--click HERE to see some pix--

Once again, it's been awhile since my last post. Since then, we've ping-ponged at Little Village and slipped into the Malortex of a weekday night. We pedaled through a snow storm and gorged on Korean bbq at 2AM. Also, braved frostbite for this daring photo:

At any rate, it's been a great year! Let's do it up again in 2011. See you out there!

As a bonus, here's a picture of my ride during the last Fiasco:

November's spoke card, replete with roman numeral typo: