The Chicago History Museum is offering a “Ride Like the Devil: a Devil in the White City Bike Tour” on August 11, 2018, from 9 am to noon.
Cycle back to 1893, pedal past sites related to the World’s Fair, and discover its lasting influence on Chicago. Along the way, tour guide Greg Borzo, author of Where to Bike Chicago, will uncover Daniel Burnham’s grand plans and the devilish doings of H. H. Holmes. The route will take riders past the site of one of the greatest attractions of the Columbian Exposition, which was modeled on the design of a bicycle wheel.
The tour begins at the Rookery Building (former home of the offices of Daniel Burnham, Director of Works for the World’s Fair) at the corner of Adams and LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago, runs for 3 hours and includes 15 to 20 miles of biking, and ends at Midway Plaisance Park in Hyde Park. BYO bike and helmet (mandatory). Tickets (available here) are $25 ($20 for Museum members).
A bicycle exhibited by the Gendron Iron Wheel Company inside the Transportation Building. [Image from White, Trumball; Igleheart, Wm. World’s Columbian Exposition Chicago, 1893 (P. W. Ziegler, 1893).]