Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

By John Ruberry

Last week, during a run on the North Branch Trail at Harms Woods in Skokie, Illinois, a speeding cyclist came close to running me over and causing enormous physical harm to me.

And that got me thinking.

Chicagoans voted for a handful when they elected Brandon Johnson as mayor. He’s a leftist whose candidacy was pretty much paid for by the Chicago Teachers Union. 

In July, his transition team released “A Blueprint for Creating a More Just and Vibrant City for All,” their gameplan for America’s third-largest city. In it you’ll find a recommendation that Chicago should “lower the default citywide speed limit to 20 mph generally and 10 mph on residential streets.” Currently, unless otherwise posted, the statewide urban default speed limit, when no signs are posted, is 30 miles per hour. 

That means for what you might call a through street, or an arterial street, such as Cicero Avenue or 111th Street, unless posted differently–and yes, possibly higher–the speed limit is 30-mph. Expressways have a 55-mph speed limits in Chicago.

Residential streets, or what Chicagoans have always called side streets, appear to also have a 30-mph speed limit too. Although, common sense–there are pockets of it here and there in the city–compels most drivers to motor along around 20-mph. The many stop signs on Chicago side streets, as well as the numerous but not-so-clearly marked speed bumps, which are tall enough to scrape the bottoms of most sedans and SUVs if you are driving too fast–are another form of discipline. And believe it or not, many drivers keep an eye out for pedestrians and cyclists. I do.

An aside: A Southwest Side man, fed up with an alley speed bump damaging his car, removed it. He was fined $500.

These proposed lower speed limits are another bad idea from Chicago, which seems destined to be passed in population soon by Houston. It’s another utopian parlor game idea brought to the mainstream. Most people, even those who don’t drive cars, probably agree with me. Our economy and our society are auto-centric and will remain so indefinitely. Disclosure: I work in the automotive industry. People like their cars. And if people don’t own one, often they wish they did.

In 2014, New York City recently lowered its default speed limit to 25-mph. Residents are fleeing New York too.

That’s not to say that bike riders have a legitimate beef about idiotic and reckless drivers. Many cyclists are severely injured and killed by cars. While running, I’ve been nearly hit by an automobile a few times. But bikers aren’t all angels either. More on that in a bit.

Now one thing conservatives and moderates don’t do, is yell and scream when liberals present fringe ideas. “That’ll never happen,” is a typical response they offer.

Abolishment of cash bail is one of those “loony” ideas that no one took seriously ten years ago. Well, liberals kept pushing, albeit slowly at first, but next week the SAFE-T Act takes effect in Illinois–it abolishes cash bail. The defund the police movement–and some municipal police departments, not in Illinois, did see cuts in funding. Defund the police was another left-wing parlor game dream concept. Thankfully there has been some pushback lately. The left’s war on popular home appliances, such as natural gas stoves, dishwashers, and even ceiling fans, has begun.

One can view the low default speed limit movement as a secondary front of government’s war on internal combustion engine automobiles. But Chicago drivers, few of whom drive EVs, also have to cope with seemingly omnipresent red-light cameras as well as speed cameras that spew out tickets to motorists for driving just 6-mph over the speed limit. A 20-mph arterial street speed limit offers a new revenue stream for Chicago, which, because of unfunded pension mandates, is functionally bankrupt.

Why aren’t more Chicagoans going full “Howard Beale?” He was the tormented antihero in the Network movie. You know, sticking your head out of the window of your home and screaming, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” Watch the clip in the link. And the Howard Beale reaction works much better in cities.

Oh, let me return to those bicycle riders. Presumably, the proposed default 20-mph speed limit in Chicago would also apply to them. Or would it? What I call the cyclist lobby possesses the imperiousness of the green movement and the aggressiveness of a testosterone rush after a brutal workout. 

Prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, I saw many senior-citizen regulars on the North Branch Trail during my runs. But lockdown queen Lori Lightfoot, Johnson’s predecessor as mayor, closed Chicago’s Lakefront Bike Trail. 

Where did the cyclists go? 

Some brought their bikes, or rode them, to the North Branch Trail. Several cyclists nearly ran me over in 2020. My guess is that they were speeding along well over 30 mph. Did I say speeding? Harms Woods is part of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and the speed limit on paved and dirt trails is 15 miles per hour. I suspect there were many complaints about these Tour de France wannabes, because in 2021 I noticed newly posted 15 mph speed limit signs on these trails. A year or so later, all of those signs were gone. Likely there were more complaints, but not from the same people. And not only were those speed limit signs gone, but so were those elderly trail walkers. Those hiking regulars never returned.

Wait, there’s more! 

Many of these speeding trail cyclists ride three abreast on a very narrow trail. And it’s now a rarity when I hear a bell ring, horn honk, or an “on your left” shout out from cyclists passing me during a run. 

The photograph at the top of this post is of the North Branch Trail during the 2020 lockdown.

When I pass a walker or a runner on a path, I always say, “On your left.” My parents taught me manners.

Oh, until the running and cyclist paths were separated on Chicago’s Lakefront Trail, I experienced numerous close collision calls with cyclists while running there. Just as when there is a crash between cyclist and a car the “winner” of that collision is obvious, so it is when a bicyclist plows over a runner, particularly one like me, who is nearing retirement age. But don’t feel sorry for me. When it’s between me and a cyclist racing up an elevated bridge on the North Branch Trail over a busy street, I usually prevail.

Northeast of where I live is Sheridan Road, which bisects some of the wealthiest communities in America. Sometimes I see packs of bicyclists of more than a dozen, zooming in and out of traffic, seemingly oblivious to cars. 

While I don’t see those bike packs within Chicago’s city limits, with a 20-mph default speed limit, will emboldened cyclists misbehave recklessly in the same manner?

As for myself, I can take solace knowing that in three months the North Branch Trail will be nearly bike rider-free. Winter will be here, and the cyclists will retreat into hibernation. As they will in Chicago, whether there is a 20-mph speed limit or not.

While I see fewer runners on the trails on rainy days, particularly cold ones, I almost never see cyclists. 

Say what you will about automobiles, but they have roofs and windshield wipers, as well as heating and air conditioning.  Unless your car’s A/C is broken, unlike a cyclist commuting to work on a hot summer day, you won’t need to shower when you arrive at your jobsite to remove newly acquired body odor.

Oh, on occasion, I do ride a bicycle. And yes, I’m one of the good ones.

UPDATE September 12:

They’re not all gone! During this morning run, I saw a 15 mph “Share the Trail” sign in Harms Woods just north of Golf Road. I also saw many cyclists–and one jerk on a motorized bike–going much faster.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.