l.a.t.e. ride

Wearing the Jamba Banana suit during a ride was initially a joke, a mere “what if… ha, that would be funny” kind of talk. The idea was inspired by a little green t-shirt on display at the Oakbrook Jamba Juice; a banana riding a bike.



The Chicago Tribune did a half-page spread at the beginning of the summer titled “Get on your bikes and join a ride” – maybe a play on Queen’s Bicycle lyrics, but nonetheless caught my attention. One in particular that didn’t conflict with my work/soccer summer scheduled was a 25-mile midnight-to-sunrise ride through Chicago.

The MacDonald’s Long After Twilight Ends ride is hosted by Friends of the Parks, a charity “to preserve, protect and improve Chicago's parks and forest preserves in Cook County.” The first L.A.T.E. Ride was in 1989 with 350 riders, but last Saturday night/Sunday morning I shared the downtown Chicago roads with over 8,000 cyclists.

pic from lateride.org


Jamba Manager Big-Ben allowed me to put up a display for donations at the Lincolnshire store. Employees and customers donated enough for registration, a dry-cleaned Banana suit ($22!) and Metra transportation to the event.

Originally I had a team of four doing the ride with me, but my crowd, well, they are a bunch of flakes. After my Saturday evening Gaels game I rushed home, grabbed my bike and headed for the Deerfield station’s 10:59pm train. I was more than nervous: middle of the night, alone, downtown, wearing a banana suit.

I met a Course Marshall on the train and followed him to the madness at Buckingham Fountain. I picked up my registration packet, Orange wave number 6987, and after debating leaving the Banana suit rolled up in my satchel, I pulled it over my body and walked my bike to the start.

A handful of pictures with strangers, a dozen witty banana comments, one stunning sunrise over Lake Michigan, and 25 miles later, I pulled that suit off faster than you could ask “are you hot in that?”


My randomness...

Have you seen the SNL episode with Natalie Portman in the Jamba Juice sketch? Watch it at DailyMotion.


My Jamba non-slips (a hand-me-down from former manager Erica). Customer Craig saw the modified kicks and thought Jamba made shoes -- nope, they're just etnies with a stick-on Jamba tattoo.


The Chicago Eagles volunteer coaches and referees for the annual World Relief Cup, a soccer tournament for refugees in the greater Wheaton area. I co-coached the Orange Dream Machine (better known as a Jamba favorite creamsicle flavored smoothie). The bright orange shirts say it all, worn by a team of preteen coed Africans who won the championship with a record of 3-0-1.

I was watching LOST episode “Psalm 23” on disc 7 of the season 2 dvd set – a.k.a bonus features -- and noticed that Mr. Echo’s carved stick included the inscription “Revelations 3.” It seems that the prop master neglected to confirm the correct spelling of this commonly misspelled new testament book (including a TV series titled “Revelations”). Mr. Echo poses as a priest on the island, so it would make sense that he is unable to correctly spell the last book of the bible – although I would go with the former as more likely an explanation. In case you’re lost: it’s Revelation. No “s.” Ok?