Ride your bike on the lakefront in January and, ahhh, you’ll feel like you own the city.
Yes, you can bike in January, facing those razor-sharp winds blowing off the lake, even if your friends think you’ve lost your mind.
But just wait.
About the time robins start poking around for worms, human activity on the lakefront paths begins its yearly crescendo, cresting explosively right about now.
The paths have become muscle-powered expressways of thousands of cyclists, owners walking their dogs and vice versa, skateboarders, joggers, power walkers swinging their hips more or less rhythmically, children tossing Frisbees, along with a few brave folk just ambling by, taking in the frenetic spectacle.
This is the time also to look out for bicycle crashes, collisions between skateboarders and power walkers, and trips and falls by beginner in-line skaters getting the hang of how to stop.
Although the city fines cyclists who ride on sidewalks, biking and jogging paths through the parks are free-fire zones. And there is little the city can do. The only prescription is courtesy and common sense by all users.
Here are some suggestions.
Take off the earphones. Unless you are sitting admiring the lake or lying on the sand, earphones will prevent you from hearing warnings that can keep cyclists, in-line skaters and others from crashing into you.
A crowded path in the park is no place to re-enact the Tour de France on your $2,500 road bike–particularly when other people can’t hear your shouting because of their earphones.
Skateboarders ought to impress their peers at the giant facility at 31st Street, designed to challenge users of all skill levels.
Inexperienced in-line skaters should practice in alleys and empty parking lots rather than tottering nervously through the traffic on lakefront paths, particularly at rush hour or on weekends.
That leaves walkers, nature watchers and other more contemplative types. Our only advice is to keep to the grass or the sand and avoid the more athletic hordes whizzing by.
Or if you really value peace and privacy, bundle up and go out for a stroll in January, when the air is clean and most everyone is gone.
