The latest from the 2009 bikeblog.

I'm trying something new this year, possible for the first time because of Google Maps recently adding RSS feeds to every customized map made there; I call it a "placeblog," consisting of photos and write-ups of various random locations around Chicago I visit on my bicycle this summer and fall, only instead of presented by date they're all plotted on a city map, so that you search and browse by location instead of age. I'll be reposting most of the entries here as well, so that people can follow along in a traditional way if they want; and then you can click here for the actual placeblog/map, or click here for the RSS feed, or simply stop by the main headquarters for all my Chicago bicycle maps at [jasonpettus.com/maps].

irvingparkelatnight

Here: The newly refurbished Irving Park elevated-train (or "el") station, on the city's CTA brown line, seen at night.

saintbenedicts

Here: Saint Benedict's Church and Parish, at Irving Park Road between Damen and Western, first created in 1902 by the German Catholics who used to dominate this section of the city, back when it was little more than rural farmland. The current structure you're looking at was completed in 1918, and includes stained-glass windows imported from Munich; a massive restoration was done in 2002 to coincide with the church's centennial as an organization. By the way, Joe Meno fans, this is the specific church he refers to in his new novel "The Great Perhaps," in the flashback scenes set in 1940s Lincoln Square.

bikecrawlodonovans

Here: O'Donovan's, on Irving Park Road near Western, one of the surprisingly large amount of great pubs found on this stretch of street, seen here the other evening while stopping in for a pint and to celebrate a good long bike ride that day.

bikecrawllongroom

Here: The Long Room, on Irving Park Road near Ashland, just one of a surprisingly large amount of great pubs along this stretch of street. Seen here the other evening, after stopping in for a pint to reward myself for a good long bike ride earlier.

challengerpark

Here: For nearly a century there used to be a big problem in the Uptown neighborhood, where the CTA red-line elevated-train (or "el") tracks ran parallel and close to the eastern wall of the famed Graceland Cemetary; the resulting gap was too wide to be a mere alley, too noisy for residential construction, so instead was a trash-filled wasteland literally from from the 1890s to 1990s. Then the city finally turned it into what you see here -- Challenger Park (yes, named after the space shuttle that exploded), one of many ultra-specific kinds of parks the city maintains, which in this case contains a nicely landscaped soft-track half-mile running course, plus a fenced-in dog park at its center, and frankly not much else. It's a great addition to this neighborhood, a nice little exercise green space in what used to be a dirty, graffiti-filled apocalyptic space; I'm all for the city sneaking in more and more science-fictiony-looking "post-Industrial green spaces" around the city like this.