Tuesday, August 26, 2008

FBC1: Take it to the Beach, Billy!

The first FBC ride is official. Here's the details:

Wednesday, Sep 3

7-8PM-meet at the Piano Man at Grace/Clark

Ride starts at 8.

Destination: Castaways at North Avenue Beach. (Route TBA at Piano Man)

Rules:
Follow the rules of the road when necessary.
Don't be an asshole.
Be aware and help out less experienced bikers.

Monday, August 25, 2008

In the beginning...

It all started with a trip to Spokane, WA to visit a college roommate who married a high school friend of mine a few years ago. As luck would have it, the Spokane chapter of the Fucking Bike Club was having their monthly ride the same weekend so, astride a loaner brown-metallic Trek 620, I took to the streets with 71 other bike yahoos on a quest for beer. Under a full moon, we assembled at a bar called The Swamp, and ended 7 miles northeast at The Hub for pitchers of Kokanee Lager.

There was a really cool and friendly vibe to the whole beer-fueled thing. It was exactly what I would've asked to do during a visit to a strange town, but how often can that be provided?!

At any rate, I told Jeff, the organizer, how cool I thought the FBC was and that I was thinking of starting up something similar in Chicago. Jeff agreed it to be a great idea and suggested I call it the Chicago Chapter of the FBC. Why the hell not? Three days later after a handfull of Millers with my brother Darin, Chicago's Fucking Bike Club was two members strong.

If I remember right, the rules for the FBC Spokane were...well, something, something, and don't be an asshole. (I'm sure you can find the rest on his blog) That sounds pretty good, especially when combined with the following statement especially applicable to the Chicago chapter:

This is not show and tell or a fashion contest. This is for the bicyclist who loves to ride
and drink beer.
We will have a ride during the first week of every month. Hopefully we can get an emailing list up and running with all the announcements of the dates as well as the start and finish lines.