As a foolish youth, I took a bicycle trip around Lake Michigan
with two other guys, and we planned on staying at the Y in
downtown Chicago, listed as a 'supplemental youth hostel' in
the American Youth Hostels guidebook.

We wheel our bikes into the lobby, and a guard says, "You can't
bring those in here." What are we supposed to do? "You can
lock them up in the parking lot." Yeah, right. Luckily my uncle
had room for us.

This was after the day we spent riding up from an Indiana Dunes
youth hostel, through South Chicago. We rode right past some
of the big high rise housing projects. People out in the
barren "yards" of these places were yelling at us as the
three of us in our biking duds, with full packs on our
expensive racing or touring bikes rode past.
Then one of us got a flat tire, in an area of abandoned
businesses. It was a quick, nervous tire change! Next came
the experience of downtown Chicago during the afternoon rush
hour. We found it faster to walk our bikes through the
crowds than wait in the traffic. But I was nervous about all
the gear strapped on my bike, as I waded through the crowds.

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