End-O-February Cyclepaths Ride

The most recent Cyclepaths tavern ride was well-attended. Departing from Bernice's Tavern, we toured the finer establishments of McKinley Park. Our second stop was El Toro Loco on Ashland, where we had to ring a buzzer, present ID's, and get patted down to enter the bar. The bartenders, both named Luisa, were quite friendly and gave us excellent service, including all the spiced nuts we could eat. Luisa-who-served-our-drinks even offered us additional spiced nuts to take with us.

Our next stop was supposed to be Harry's Pub, but Harry's Pub was very very closed. We regrouped to determine an alternate destination. Always concerned with the fate of a fine neighborhood tavern, one of our numbers spotted someone lurking in the back yard of a nearby house and interrogated him as to the plight of Harry's.

"Hey! Do you know how long that bar has been closed?"
"Naw, I don't even live here."
"Well, can I call the police, then?"

The lurker didn't respond. We rode away snickering. The next stop was Chesterfield's on 39th, where hearing club music, we sent in an emissary to determine if there was a cover. As it happened, there was a $20 cover, so we opted to loiter and smoke a cigarette; mostly to determine if the cover applied to everyone, or just tipsy bike freaks. After a while, the bar sent its own emissaries--dressed in biker (M.C., that is) leathers. They promptly lit cigarteets of their own and informed us that the cover was on account of the private party and female strippers providing the entertainment. We conversed briefly. Apparently, they support the Outlaws and give "mad props" to anyone who rides a bicycle long distances in cold weather.

Our last stop of the evening was a bar that, as far as we could tell, has no name. It's on the corner of Ashland and Archer, should you want to look for it. They have cheap PBR and an internet jukebox that cranked out America, Metallica, and 80's hair metal, for better and much much worse...