With the memory of last Spring’s protracted start still fresh in our minds, we can’t help but be thrilled with how the weather’s been behaving itself this year so far. It seems like we changed our clocks and it flipped the switch on the weather, just like it should. Sure, there’s still a bit of residual salt grit on the streets here and there, so we’ve got to be careful with that, but screw it. It’s gorgeous outside, so let’s enjoy it.
This break in the weather has also meant things coming back up to speed here at the shop. The doors at 1901 S. Western are swinging and bikes are coming in for service while others are rolling out with new owners. It’s just like we like it. It’s amazing how week-to-week things fall into their usual rhythms and patterns, yet things continue to shift and evolve for us and what we do here. Sure, it’s been ten years of fixing and selling bikes, but each of those years was different. This year is going to be its own flavor of awesome.
We know that 2015 and the riding season now upon us will have its own unique experiences. Sure, there’s the events we have planned, but better yet are all the adventures we know we’ll have along the way. Ultimately it’s all the people we know we’ll cross tracks with while we soak up the warmer months. That’s where the fun is.
I got to do a bit of Spring adventuring myself on Sunday. Fellow Behind The Moto contributor, Juan Hernandez, and I took a meandering ride South on Lake Shore Drive looking for anything abandoned and industrial that we could make the unwitting backdrop for some future moto photo shoot. We were like a pair of kids out on their bikes exploring the neighborhoods. It was simple — just a pair of growly Triumphs escaping the city on the hunt for sweet post-industrial decay. Truth be told, we kind of struck out, but the ride was great in and of itself. After the long, slow itch of winter, just being out in the wind was enough.
On our way back into the city proper, we took the high road — the literal high road. There’s something so dramatic about that big sweeping right turn on the I-90 bridge. It’s like the Chicago skyline just rises up out of the earth, immense and not to be ignored. “Here I am. A grand city, and it’s time for Spring. Let’s do this.”