Larry Myers

mostly cycling and technology

Daily Note

March 24, 2024

We need to talk about the CTA Red Line. Today was the first time I’ve ridden it since pre-pandemic times. I used to ride to almost daily for my commute back around 2016 or so. It had its moments, and sometimes you had to move cars due to someone or something causing a problem, but it was mostly just fine.

Riding it twice today was gross. The cars all had a linger odor of smoke and urine. Multiple people smoking. Some tourists looked absolutely shell shocked while running the subway portion in River North. This is not how public transit should be. If the city wasn’t to recover post-pandemic for tourism and getting people back downtown they will absolutely need to fix the CTA. Get more trains running, actually police anti-social behavior that will drive casual riders away.

The alternative is watching city traffic get worse and worse as people opt to take Ubers instead or drive themselves.

All Notes →

Articles

Own Your MX Record

Your email address is the most important digital asset you have. Make sure you own and control it.

How to Create an Astro Markdown Plugin

Creating a Markdown plugin for the the Astro framework is great way to make it easier to author content for a static website. This tutorial will show to how to create a basic plugin.

How to Run Your Own Minecraft Server

Want to be the coolest parent ever? Run a home Mincraft server.

We Can Have Nice Things

An explanation of a phrase I've found myself repeating during my career.

The Downsides of Remote Work

Sometimes you need more than the endless solitude of the home office.
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About Me

I'm a [Dad, Technologist, Cyclist] living in Chicago with my wife, kids, and cats. There are some ghost shrimp in a fishtank too, but I'm not sure I count them as members of the household.

When I'm not getting paid to code I'm usually playing outside and exploring the city.

Things I've Built github logo

Cycling Weather Forecast

weather.larrymyers.com

There's plenty of weather forecasts out there, but none did a good job of answering the question: "When should I go biking tomorrow?"

So I built one for myself. It's an extremely lightweight traditional webapp with a Go powered backend.

Metra Train Tracker

metra.larrymyers.com

Metra has never had a good train tracker, I doubt they ever will. This is a React app with a Go backend that is geared towards people who want to know when the next train is coming with just a quick glance to their phone.

Wordle Solver

wordle.larrymyers.com

Some days you just don't want to spend the time staring at your 3rd guess trying to figure out a word that fits. I built this wordle solver to allow me to spend more time analyzing guesses and less time trying to think of words.

Chicago by Bike

Palos MTB Trails for New Riders

When you are new to mountain biking Palos can be both awesome and intimidating. With the right approach it's a great place to learn.

The Lake Michigan Ferry Tour

A self supported 5 day bike tour around the lower half of Lake Michigan.

Illinois Prairie Path / Fox River Trail

Endless miles of mixed surface trails through the western suburbs.

Sheridan Road

Ten miles on one of the best cycling roads through the North Shore.

2024 Ride Stats

Year to Date 411 mi
Week of Mar 25 31 mi
Week of Mar 18 38 mi
Week of Mar 11 56 mi
Week of Mar 4 48 mi
Week of Feb 26 16 mi
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