Friday

The weather is beautiful - muggy, but still beautiful - that's to be expected for late June in Chicago. I had a decent ride it; it would have been a great one if my noble steed wasn't have an issue with his back wheel. I'm going to take him in to be looked at after work, and will hopefully still be able to get home in time to see some of the Sox/Cubs game. As I rode past the park this morning people were already camped out in front with lawn chairs, hoping to snag some random tickets that may have been returned by group sales and the like.

On an impulse, I brought my camera to work today because I really wanted to get some pictures of the 35th street pedestrian bridge with the morning light - it looks really cool at that time of day. Fridays in the summer are conducive to taking your time on the way to work and, perhaps, arriving a few minutes later than usual... not that anyone ever notices. I'm hoping to have my camera out with me more this summer; I feel like I almost never shoot anything anymore, so I'd like to make an effort to be able to when the mood hits me. Too frequently do I see something that I wish I could take pictures of, only to lament having not brought my camera out with me. Hopefully tonight I'll have something to post up.

Tomorrow is my first 10k, and then I head over to the park to watch the game live and in person. I should have much more to write after all that!

Lake path: mostly 'ahhhh' with some 'aaargh' moments...

As I surmised, the lake path on a week day morning is virtually empty; gone are the large groups of marathon training groups that I encountered last weekend. Instead, I met with a handful of every-day runners coming up from the South Side; a couple of old Asian men out for their morning bike ride in crisp and blindingly-white button down shirts; and a small pack of riders in full kit headed south, no doubt getting in a quick training ride before heading to work. I also encountered someone who, if not actually Julie, was her absolute twin. Julie - were you riding on the path this morning ~8:20am headed south? I kind of doubt it now as you're probably on your way back from Puerto Rico. At any rate, your doppelganger smiled very nicely at me as I rode by, and I smiled back and let out the surprised 'hey!' of mistaken recognition- I didn't really have time to be embarrassed by the 'who are you?' look as we were both far past each other when I began to doubt it really was you.

On the down side (and this was indeed a very small down side), I could do without the suicidal gnats flying into my eyeballs. At 8am they should be sufficiently dulled and bloodshot from sleep to not provide the whitest and shiniest target in the area - can't they find a street sign or something to aim for instead? Nevertheless they land right in the white every single time. I guess it's time to buy a new pair of sunglasses; who knows when the old ones will turn up? I also could have done without all the slippery storm debris, but that's a small price to pay for the tranquility of being able to ride over a virtually-deserted, tree-lined path every morning. All-in-all, a lovely way to start the morning and, as I noted, a great way to end the day if I want to take advantage of the beach at the spot where I exit the path. Mmmmm swimming on a sweaty August evening - heavenly if the e coli manages to stay in check. Milwaukee - I'm calling on you - hold off on dumping so much this summer, and we'll see what we can do about the flying rats pooping in the lake. Thanks.

Special Saturday Edition

Well, I'm back in at work because I am making up some days I have to miss in July. Today I finally attempted the bike commute from the new place (rollerblading home last night was nice, but it seemed to take forever). One way from door to door took me about 25 minutes (4.7 miles) at a moderate pace. The route is about 1/3 city street, and the rest the bike path; on a Saturday the path was clogged with marathon training groups, but I have a feeling my portion of the route (heading north in the morning) will be pretty sparse on a week day. All in all it was a really pleasant ride and I can see doing it quite often (every day perhaps?) this summer. The real test will be the fall and winter when high winds whip the lake water up over some areas of the trail and the paths become icy. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it though - for now I will just enjoy cruising through shady, tree-lined paths and along the calm harbors.

Tomorrow is our first BBQ of the season (and the new place) - if you know me and haven't had an invite, email me and I'll send on the info!