Soggy Morning

I was pleased to see that it was just misting this morning as I set out on my bicycle ride into work. It was raining pretty steady the night before and I was thinking I'd have to take the train in. If I didn't have to bike over 24 miles I'd just gut out a rainy ride. But spending at least an hour and a half soaking wet in 40° weather is something I'd prefer to avoid.

My good fortune was short lived. In Wilmette I encountered light rain. In drizzling conditions my outfit does a good job keeping me relatively dry and comfortable. But my Goretex jacket doesn't quite cut it in steady precipitation. By the time I reached the Lakefront Trail the rain began to diminish and I started to dry off. For the most part I was still comfortable but the threat of getting soaked adds just a bit of stress to my ride.

My feet were in very good shape though. I wear neoprene booties over my bike shoes in cold weather. When wet weather threatens I don a plastic shopping bag over each shoe. In the past this didn't do much good because moisture on my pants and long underwear seeped down to my socks eventually soaking me to the skin. But this time I wore my pants and long underwear outside my booties. Great success.

The Lakefront Trail was nearly deserted. From Hollywood to Roosevelt Road I counted only 36 people; three dog walkers, four city employees, one guy on cross country training skis, one bicyclist and one homeless guy. The rest were runners and walkers. I seemed to have a nice tailwind though. Not a bad ride for the first day of winter.

Distance Traveled: 24.3 miles
Distance to date: 1462.3 miles
Price of gas: $2.49