I happen to be busy with work, but I highly recommend that anyone free on the morning of Saturday, October 10th, go on the South Side History Bike Tour.  I understand the route isn’t changing much from last year’s ride, but why mess with a good thing?

Since last time I posted, I’ve moved from Kenwood down to South Shore…

Took the train to Omaha for a wedding…

Started working full-time for the University of Chicago Alumni Association (for which I also built an awesome website, but more on that later)…

Took the train down to Memphis to see my family…

Gone to another good friend’s wedding at Bond Chapel…

Seen a couple of good concerts, including Grizzly Bear at Metro…

And taken a whole lot of crappy iPhone photos, because my real camera is broken and has been sitting idly in Nikon’s repair shop waiting for a backordered part for well over two weeks and counting…

The hope here is that sometime in the near future, I’ll be in better control of my life again.  Not that I have much of anything to complain about, but I’d like to catch my breath!

Of course, I also enjoyed seeing a few other sites in the area, which is constantly changing as it’s redeveloped.

The church in question was built in 1879 as the Sixth Presbyterian Church.  In 1969, Sixth merged with Grace Presbyterian, a black congregation, to form Sixth Grace Presbyterian, which is still located at 35th & Cottage Grove.

The building has been used by at least one congregation since, but has clearly been empty for a while.  It has begun deteriorating very rapidly.

Some traces of its former beauty remain, but not for long.

Perhaps most exciting, I was able to get a few shots inside, despite the very effective board-up of the building.

See a few more of my photos here, or see Megan’s here (including some action shots of yours truly).

Update: Here is Megan’s post on the church.

After a hiatus of several months, I rode in the July Critical Mass ride, which is typically the largest and most boisterous ride each year.

The route was a joy to ride, especially Michigan Avenue, where we were a big hit with the throngs of shoppers on the Mag Mile.

But there was something else going on, too:  a long detour to the end of Upper Wacker led the entire mass to… a marriage proposal?

In case you’re wondering – she said yes!

(This story and photo got picked up by Gapers Block.)

On Sunday, July 26 – the day of my 24th birthday! – Lee Diamond guided another of his acclaimed Chicago Neighborhood Bike Tours, this one venturing to the South Side for the first time:  Hyde Park.

There was a huge turnout assembled at the start in Washington Park.

The tour wove through Hyde Park, passing many local landmarks and sites of interest.  The tour group was a bit too large and unwieldy to make many stops, and I am temporarily without a camera strap, so I got relatively few photos.  (But I didn’t really need any more photos of Hyde Park, anyway.)

Check out a few more pictures here, and keep an eye out for future tours – they’re well worth your time!