WEST TOWN — If you've been wondering where the city's second ward is, Saturday will be a good day to traverse the streets of the sprawling "New 2" by bicycle, along with Ald. Brian Hopkins.
Scheduled for 7:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, the free "Bike the Ward" event is a 7.5-mile social ride that begins and ends at the 2nd Ward office, 1400 N. Ashland Ave.
As of Tuesday, 30 cyclists have signed up, according to Christian Ficara, director of public affairs for Hopkins.
Free refreshments, bicycle safety checks and complimentary T-shirts will be provided to all attendees, who are encouraged to wear helmets. Cyclists can RSVP online to join the ride.
The main ride, open to cyclists age 16 and up, will travel at a medium pace through Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Goose Island, Lincoln Park and more neighborhoods.
Preview the main route, as well as a shorter, two-mile family-focused all ages route here.
At an unrelated community meeting on Monday, Hopkins said he disagrees with folks who say the ward is shaped like a lobster.
"The east and west sides are the wheels of a bike and the northern part is the bike seat," Hopkins said.
A volunteer created a transposed image of a bike over the ward map and that logo will be used on the T-shirts handed out at the ride.
The boundaries of the 2nd Ward make their way west from the lakefront through at least seven neighborhoods, weaving and snaking through, at times, single blocks of Streeterville, the Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park and Bucktown.
The 2nd was the only ward redrawn in 2011 that contains not one block from its previous incarnation. Find out if you live in the 2nd Ward, or another ward, here.
Bike the Ward logo. [Courtesy of Ald. Hopkins (2nd)]
Is this ward shaped like a lobster? [DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner]
