Back to the Grind

First day commuting in a few weeks. I didn't hit the road from work until about 5:30 pm. I was really cooking down Roosevelt Road and feeling good about myself until I realized I had a stiff tailwind. It was about time I had the winds with me for a change. During the majority of my bike trip, I seemed to always be pedaling into the wind. It was cool so I wore my Goretex Jacket and light fleece pants. I was getting pretty hot though. The Goretex doesn't really breathe enough for fast biking.

Again my Garmin GPSMAP 60C was giving me trouble. At every bump it would turn off. Really annoying since it takes a minute to reacquire its position every time it does this rendering it useless for accurately tracking mileage, ETA and such. I was finally considering just getting a bike computer. But it seemed to have worked so well for so long that I thought I might be able to fix it without having to send in for repair.

The Lakefront Trail is pretty empty now. Mostly die-hard runners. Somewhere south of Addison I was passed by a commuter on a road bike with a messenger bag on his back. Initially he had such a quick pace that I thought of just letting him go. Then his pace slacked off and I realized I might be able leach off his slipstream. Shortly thereafter we passed a biker stopped on the trail and the guy in front of me asked if he needed help. Then I realized I knew this guy! Our kids go to the same preschool and swim classes and my oldest son practically gushes about his daughter. So for some reason I was determined to stay on his tail even if it killed me. We'd seen each other dozens of times and been introduced but I couldn't remember his name (I'm great at remembering faces but I have some pathological problem with names). I kept up with him pretty well but by the time we hit Bryn Mawr the ride was taking a toll on me. Fortunately the trail was ending and we'd be taking it slower on the city streets. So at a red light at Sheridan Road I said hello and we reintroduced ourselves (I'll remember his name now).

He commutes about as much as I do but for some reason we never came across each other until now. We take the same route all the way into Evanston. We stopped at around Clark and Touhy so I could put on my Phantom JetLite (I didn't think it would so dark though). He turned off at Chicago and Greenleaf and I continued northbound home.

By the time I reached the Green Bay Trail it was even cooler so I was actually pretty comfortable. It was also pretty dark and so the trail was like a tunnel. If my GPS was working I'd know how long it would be until I got home. Oh well, life really stinks some times. Beats driving though.

Distance Traveled: 24.3 miles
Distance to date: 929.0 miles
Price of gas: $2.51