Friday 23
The Great Chicago to Milwaukee Bike Ride, which raises money for Thresholds, the psychiatric rehab center in Lincoln Park, is actually two bike rides: one 100 miles in length, the other 35. The first begins at the Glenview Train Station, 1116 Depot in Glenview, at 7:30 this morning (check- in starts at 6:30). But if that’s too far for you, you can watch the beginning of the race, hang out for breakfast, check in at 10, and then catch the 10:53 Amtrak to Sturtevant, Wisconsin, 35 miles from the ride’s terminus at Lake Park in Milwaukee, and pedal from there. Postrace activites in Milwaukee include the city’s Great Downer Avenue Bike Race and GermanFest. The entry fee is $25, plus at least $75 in pledges; train transportation (return trains run both Saturday night and Sunday morning) is another $10- $15. You can register the day of the race, but call in advance if you can: 800-637-3135.
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Mosaic is San Francisco poet Mike Stanton’s epic meditation on life, death, and poetry; he performs it in Chicago tonight as part of the weekly poetry slam at the Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway (878-5552). Things get under way at 7; admission is $4. Stanton also appears Tuesday at Estelle’s, 2013 W. North (486-8760). Readings there start around 9; there’s no cover.
Nepantla: Essay From the Land of the Middle is poet Pat Mora’s new book; the title, she notes, comes from a Mexican Indian word for “in the middle”–which Mora sees as an apt description of her own status as a Hispanic in America. She’ll read from the book tonight at 7:15 at Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark. It’s free. Call 769-9299 for details.
A few of the city’s major country and western boosters–including radio station US99, the Whiskey River nightclub, and Alcala’s Western Wear–are teaming up with the Park District to throw a concert and dance in Daley Bicentennial Plaza, 337 E. Randolph, tonight. There’ll be music from Big John Howell and the Born to Boogie Band, two-step and line-dance lessons from Whiskey River, and prizes from Alcala’s. Food is available at 6; everything else goes from 6:30 to 10:30. There’s no admission charge. Call 294-2320 for more.
