Join Hammond Mayor Thomas M. McDermott, Jr. as he celebrates a decade of cycling fun when the Whiting Hammond Highland and Munster After Midnight Ride (WHAM!) kicks off this Saturday night August 7th and into Sunday August 8th when nearly a thousand riders will depart from Hammond’s Wolf Lake Pavilion at 11:45 p.m.
This year to help commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the ride, the City of Hammond will issue a proclamation and honor Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor, a cyclist from Indiana known as the “World’s Fastest Man”.
WHAM! is a non-competitive ride that brings together urban and suburban communities to celebrate the enjoyment of cycling and community. With that in mind, bring out your 2-wheelers, tricycles, or unicycles and enjoy a ride through beautiful neighborhood bike paths and city streets. Riders will enjoy a 30-mile-long or 10-mile-short scenic route. Feel free to decorate your bike or come dressed for the occasion as many riders do every year.
The ride begins and ends at Hammond’s iconic Wolf Lake Pavilion. Ride along the majestic shores of Lake Michigan, enjoy the tranquility of both Wolf and George Lake in Hammond. See firsthand, Hammond, Whiting, Munster, and Highland’s spectacular parks and neighborhoods, ride through historic Downtown Whiting, through Hammond’s many bike trails and bike bridges, to the half-way point at Wicker Park and back.
This a free event. Registration is encouraged in advance at whamride.com. T-shirts and biking jerseys will be available for purchase beginning 9:00 p.m. at the Pavilion stage Riders are welcome to park in the Pavilion lots anytime after 9:00 p.m. and enjoy music and pre-event socializing leading up to the beginning of the ride. T-shirts are $15 and jerseys are $100. Previous WHAM! t-shirts will also be available for purchase.
“The WHAM! ride has become part of the region’s annual summer festivities and it’s something I look forward to every year,” said Mayor McDermott. “If you haven’t participated in WHAM! or haven’t in a while, come enjoy our 10th Anniversary of riding through Whiting, Hammond, Munster, and Highland this Saturday night. I am also looking forward to honoring Major Taylor, someone we should all know and appreciate as a world class cyclist.”
