Work responsibilities prevented me from biking home until today. It was in the high 40s, drizzling, and light winds. I started work at 5:00 am so I left around 2:30 pm.
Biking through mid afternoon traffic on Roosevelt Road made me realize the importance of City of Chicago's Traffic Control Aides. During rush hour there are Traffic Control Aides at every major intersection from Ashland to Columbus keeping people honest and moving traffic along. But Roosevelt Road is still busy off peak and it was a gridlocked mess for motorists. Fortunately it was absolutely no problem for me. In fact it greatly improved my ride through the area. I often have to wait out the lights at Halsted and Union. But a big construction rig was turning and blocking all traffic. So I just zipped around everyone and had eastbound Roosevelt all to myself. There was much of the same from Des Plaines to Canal.
Since family and dinner weren't waiting for me, I took it easier on my ride home. I passed an older gentleman with a plastic bag hanging from his handlebar. He reminded me of a co-worker who did the same thing with his groceries. The guy was biking home and caught one of his bags in his front wheel. He flipped his bike, broke his collarbone and was off work for a week and off his bike for months. He probably lost his groceries too. So let that be a lesson to you little leaguers out there.
Sherman Avenue in Evanston use to be a pleasure to bike on. But now it is a pothole and gravel mess from University Place to Gaffield. It is amazing what a wet winter can do to asphalt and concrete (some people at work pronounce it "ash-fault"; kind of annoying after a while).
Distance Traveled: 24.3 miles
Distance to date: 2237.2 miles
Price of gas: $2.64
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