Midnight Bike Ride
The Midnight Bike Ride returns on Thursday, September 19 at 9 pm.
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders.
-Carl Sandberg
Since 1989, Loyola University history professor Timothy Gilfoyle has conducted a "midnight bike ride" for his students and friends. The event introduces students to major themes in American history by visiting various historic sites in Chicago.
A Brief Introduction to the Midnight Bike Ride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rslSQGO2PAI
Check out highlights from the Fall 2017 Midnight Bike Ride on the YouTube Series "I Am Your Neighbor."
The Midnight Bike Ride begins in the plaza just south of the East Quad and bounded by Cuneo Hall, Madonna della Strada Chapel, and Mundelein Center on the lsc-map-080924.pdf of Loyola University. Riders normally return to campus between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. the following day. The ride takes place in the late evening and morning hours in order to avoid daytime and rush-hour traffic and because participants always see and learn more on a bike than during a bus ride or walking tour. Riders pedal at a leisurely pace (this is not a race), frequently stopping at important historical and architectural sites. Pit stops to eat, drink, and visit the rest room are frequent. All Loyola students, faculty and alumni are invited, and they are encouraged to bring family and friends.
Participants are urged to dress warmly, preferably wearing layers of clothing in order to adapt to the frequently changing Chicago weather. Gloves are also recommended in the event of cold weather, particularly in the early morning hours. Participants should bring money to pay for food and drink, and are also required to sign a legal waiver of release prior to the ride.
Don’t have a bike? No problem! Loyola students may rent bikes for $50 from Bobby's Bike Hike (https://www.bobbysbikehike.com/chicago/bike-rentals/) located at 540 N. Lake Shore Drive at the eastern end of Ohio Street. You can take the Red Line to Grand Avenue, walk one block north to Ohio Street and then follow Ohio Street east to the last block and you will see signs for Bobby's Bike Hike on the south side of the street. You will be required to sign a waiver, pick up the bike before 6pm on the day of the ride, and return the bike by 5pm the following day. Bobby's is easily accessible via the Lakefront Bike Trail which extends north to Hollywood Avenue and the LSC campus.
Past bike rides have visited the following places:
- A. Finkl & Sons Steel Works
- Goose Island Brewery
- Unicom Cooling Plants on State Street and Wacker Drive
- Site of the Haymarket Tragedy of 1886
- Lower Wacker Drive
- State Street
- Uptown Theater
- Where the Chicago Fire of 1871 began
- Hull House
- Pre-1855 "Sunken Houses"
- Bucktown and Wicker Park
- "First" Apartment Building in Chicago
- Water Tower
- "Bughouse Square"
- Prairie Avenue Historic District
- St. Ignatius College Preparatory School (origins of Loyola University)
- World's First "Skyscraper District"
- St. Valentines Day "Massacre" site
- Oldest Railroad Station in Chicago
- Chinatown’s On Leong Merchants Association
- Oldest House in Chicago
September 19, 2024
The Midnight Bike Ride returns on Thursday, September 19 at 9 pm.
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders.
-Carl Sandberg
Since 1989, Loyola University history professor Timothy Gilfoyle has conducted a "midnight bike ride" for his students and friends. The event introduces students to major themes in American history by visiting various historic sites in Chicago.
A Brief Introduction to the Midnight Bike Ride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rslSQGO2PAI
Check out highlights from the Fall 2017 Midnight Bike Ride on the YouTube Series "I Am Your Neighbor."
The Midnight Bike Ride begins in the plaza just south of the East Quad and bounded by Cuneo Hall, Madonna della Strada Chapel, and Mundelein Center on the lsc-map-080924.pdf of Loyola University. Riders normally return to campus between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. the following day. The ride takes place in the late evening and morning hours in order to avoid daytime and rush-hour traffic and because participants always see and learn more on a bike than during a bus ride or walking tour. Riders pedal at a leisurely pace (this is not a race), frequently stopping at important historical and architectural sites. Pit stops to eat, drink, and visit the rest room are frequent. All Loyola students, faculty and alumni are invited, and they are encouraged to bring family and friends.
Participants are urged to dress warmly, preferably wearing layers of clothing in order to adapt to the frequently changing Chicago weather. Gloves are also recommended in the event of cold weather, particularly in the early morning hours. Participants should bring money to pay for food and drink, and are also required to sign a legal waiver of release prior to the ride.
Don’t have a bike? No problem! Loyola students may rent bikes for $50 from Bobby's Bike Hike (https://www.bobbysbikehike.com/chicago/bike-rentals/) located at 540 N. Lake Shore Drive at the eastern end of Ohio Street. You can take the Red Line to Grand Avenue, walk one block north to Ohio Street and then follow Ohio Street east to the last block and you will see signs for Bobby's Bike Hike on the south side of the street. You will be required to sign a waiver, pick up the bike before 6pm on the day of the ride, and return the bike by 5pm the following day. Bobby's is easily accessible via the Lakefront Bike Trail which extends north to Hollywood Avenue and the LSC campus.
Past bike rides have visited the following places:
- A. Finkl & Sons Steel Works
- Goose Island Brewery
- Unicom Cooling Plants on State Street and Wacker Drive
- Site of the Haymarket Tragedy of 1886
- Lower Wacker Drive
- State Street
- Uptown Theater
- Where the Chicago Fire of 1871 began
- Hull House
- Pre-1855 "Sunken Houses"
- Bucktown and Wicker Park
- "First" Apartment Building in Chicago
- Water Tower
- "Bughouse Square"
- Prairie Avenue Historic District
- St. Ignatius College Preparatory School (origins of Loyola University)
- World's First "Skyscraper District"
- St. Valentines Day "Massacre" site
- Oldest Railroad Station in Chicago
- Chinatown’s On Leong Merchants Association
- Oldest House in Chicago
September 19, 2024