The magazine Urban Vélo features cool people in every issue who filled out this form. I don’t want to miss any opportunity to become famous in print! Here are my answers to the form:

Your Name

Steven Vance

Location

Chicago, IL

Occupation

Blogger.

Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?

I live in Bridgeport, a cool neighborhood a couple miles south of the Loop. I love riding in the city, but preferably at night when fewer people are driving. Weekends are annoying because the traffic changes – shopping is the name of the game and it makes for a different transportation environment. I want the city to construct protected bike lanes.

What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?

Portland, Oregon. Because there were so many other people riding. Riding a bike to get around was the normal thing to do – I didn’t get honked at or told to ride on the sidewalk. The grocery store I visited had their bike parking with 10 feet of the entrance. I was riding with a crowd of other bike people biking at 1 AM on a weekday.

(Dang it, now I’m wondering if New York City was my favorite city to ride in. NYCDOT has been throwing down bike lanes left and right in all boroughs for 4 years straight now. But I think Portland wins out because of its calm.)

Why do you love riding in the city?

It’s a lot easier than riding in the suburbs.

Or just say whatever you want about riding in the city… Poetry anyone?

If you need a ride, I’ll give you a seat on the back of my Yuba Mundo. No charge.

I submitted this photo with my application.

As far as bicycle magazines I know about go, they can be compared to conditions of the city like so:

  • Suburbs – Bicycling Magazine – boring, bland, the same every month. Thumbs down.
  • Urban – Momentum Magazine – diversity, families, becoming a more popular and convenient place to live. Thumbs up.
  • Hyperlocal – Urban Vélo – getting down to the nitty gritty, who lives here? who lives there? who does what? Thumbs up.