Category > I've Got A Bike, You Can Ride It If You Like
Help support local bicycle advocacy organizations Wednesday night, February 15, by attending a special screening of Bicycle Dreams at the Art Theater. Tickets are $11 in advance (purchase them here) and $15 at the door, and the show begins at 7 p.m. Part of the proceeds will go to such local outfits as Champaign County Bikes. Here's the trailer:
At 7:30 p.m. on April 2nd at the Independent Media Center (202 S. Broadway, Urbana) the Illini 4000 is hosting a reception for the opening of a Portraits Project exhibit. This exhibit will include photographs and narratives of Americans from all walks of life whose lives have been impacted by cancer. Portraits Project Director Gabrielle Fairbairn stated, "For those who attend this event, they can expect to learn more about how cancer influences the American lifestyle, obtain informational facts about …
As a volunteer at the Bike Project, I see hundreds of abandoned bicycles every year that are removed from different sources. We receive bikes from Campus Parking, the Champaign and Urbana Public Works departments, and occasionally from landlords and property management companies. You've seen these bikes before we receive them: locked to stairwells, half-rotten from exposure or disuse with a wheel or two missing or taco-ed by a drunken passerby and their chain rusted stiff from spending months outside. I've …
The weather will be fine (partly cloudy with a high of 54) on Sunday for the third annual Chambana Cranksgiving, which is a bike-driven food drive to benefit the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. I spoke to Luke Thompson, the lead organizer of the event, a couple of weeks ago, and the audio appeared on the first edition of SP Radio last week. If you missed it, here 'tis:
Ever since I took a job in Gibson City a couple of months ago, I've been pretty interested in electric-assist bicycles (mainly because it's a long ways away and I haven't figured out how to get a tailwind on the way home from work), but I'd never had the opportunity to ride one. So, when Peter Davis from Champaign Cycle emailed Smile Politely World Headquarters and wondered if we'd like to take one of their e-bikes for a spin during …
Sometimes you just need to flee Champaign-Urbana on your bicycle for the flatness that lies beyond. And sometimes wind direction or a specific destination requires heading north or west, which means crossing an interstate or three. Just for fun, I ranked the local overpasses and underpasses from most spandex-wetting down to most comfortable. Your mileage may vary. 18) Bloomington Rd over I-57: To be avoided under any circumstances. There's little or no shoulder, tons of semi truck traffic, and it …
(Ed. note: this is a condensed version of Joel's experiences at Bike!Bike! For the full report, visit the Bike Project's blog.) Bike!Bike! is an annual conference of community-oriented bicycle cooperative shops. The location rotates from year to year; last year, I went to Minneapolis to attend, and this year it was held in Toronto. CITY COMMENTS Toronto is fairly "bike-friendly" just because of the sheer number of bikes that are used for transportation, but its bike infrastructure is nearly non-existant. …
Each of the next three weekends each have an exceptional local ride to give you an excuse to get your bike out of the garage (or the spare bedroom, or the pawnshop...), so give it a shot. Sunday, August 8: Dan Schreiber Memorial Ride Departing from the Bike Project at 4 p.m. Ride to Prairie Fruits Farm for a memorial service and return (total distance approximately 10 miles). From the Facebook invite: Many of us have ridden with Dan, and …
Have you ever been slightly saddened to see an overgrown, untended fruit tree dropping its half-rotted, bird-ravaged wares onto the ground? Have you wished that if people knew where publicly-available fruit was located, everyone could share in the harvest? If so, you might want to check out this Saturday's Tour de Fruit, which will "educate people about food in season in their community that's free," according to organizer Maggie Taylor. The Tour de Fruit will depart from The Bike Project, …
As electric-assist bicycles are becoming more common and reliable (and less expensive — heck, Wal-Mart has one for $279), it's becoming easier to make that cross-country trek you've always dreamed about. Brother and sister duo Oliver and Catherine Bock (pictured above) dubbed themselves the Green Riders and left their childhood home of Palo Alto, Calif., on April 22 with the goal of traveling to Washington, D.C. by June 22. You can see their route here and track their progress through …
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@Jason: You’re right about that. I get groceries at Schnucks (they carry what I buy, which I can’t say of any other single grocery store in town), and if they have a beer I’m in the market for it’s usually a quarter or two cheaper per 6-…
Best Neighborhood Bar (& Grill) : Urbana - My ‘hood- the ‘Boom! http://www.boomerangbarandgrill.com Go on a Wing Wednesday or Fish Friday, or see a band play some night. Local blue-collar Urbana terroir galore. My only beer snobbish gripe is lack of a pale hopped ale, but you…
The one thing that’s bothered me for a while about the Friar is that, for most commonly purchased adult beverages, you can actually walk down the strip mall to Schnucks and get them cheaper. It makes no sense, but there it is. I suspect it’s because Schnucks…
Maybe I complained enough in person. One time I even explained to the (wholly uninterested) clerk how to navigate the Illinois Statutes web page, and Savoy’s Municipal Code database I wouldn’t know because I only go there when I want to pay 30% more for anything, which is never.
@Rob: You seem to have the weirdest experiences. I’m in Friar Tuck every other week (don’t tell my mom that I’m a lush). They never fail to ask for my birth date but never my age, they never card afterwards, and they often allow me to use…
This column affords me a long-awaited opportunity. I’ve wanted to write my own column called Fuck You Friar Tuck Liquors. but I always thought it’d be too pithy. Here, I can say Fuck You Friar Tuck Liquors and not feel bothered to stretch it out to 750…
Ha! Exactly. You, sir, are welcome at the bar in My House.
Why wait ‘til 3 pm?
I’m excited to go tonight- should be very fun!
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“It was at this point, before he started his business, that working with city employees should’ve raised red flags…” But they didn’t because: 1) The City Clerk’s office originally mis-interpreted the rules, or are indeed re-interpreting them. 2) Champaign’s brick-n-mortar merchants hadn’t yet started whining about The Crave Truck.
Super cool! Excellent track, Excellent band.
Looking forward to trying this place!
I’m in the middle (or the beginning or end, depending on how you look at it) of re-reading Slaughterhouse Five. What a great companion column.
Get yours early. The Rave’s CD will be available at Exile and at The C-U Flea on Saturday. C-U Flea details here: http://www.smilepolitely.com/news/sp_radio_podcast_c-u_flea_arrives/
I don’t know about Gerard and a random police sargeant. My (mild) outrage is based on this: “...he worked closely with Champaign City Clerk Marilyn Banks to make sure he was licensed properly as a transient food peddler, filling out the necessary paperwork and paying a $225…
Local Yocal pretty much nails it here. I suspect there will be merchants who oppose food trucks because they arguably don’t pay their fair share to locate their trucks in high traffic (high rent) areas. The food trucks take away business from rent payers, park in city…
Oh nice! I’d totally vote for Matt Campbell!
“Smile Politely sports writer announces candidacy for city government.”
I also got to visit Big Grove Tavern during the soft open and definitely enjoyed the pork belly the most of all the dishes I sampled. The cheesy grits and the vinegary pickled vegetables were a perfect compliment to the rich pork belly.
The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
*slow. clap.* Still offering no threat of intelligence…. I know I said I thought you should just write this whole column yourself next year, Isaac, but now that you’ve gone and taken a “part deux” run at it, I’d like to modify my request: Best Music 2013,…
Actually, it’s kind of nice, the quiet. John Heoffleur’s engaging commentary/dialogue is sorely missed, however. In lieu of someone intelligent saying something, I’ve compiled a list of Honourable Mentions: BEST ROCK BAND: Take Care ::these gentlemen have four completely different sets at their disposal right now (which…
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The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!