Monday, July 02, 2007

Monday Evening Ride Home

Since I'm taking the next three days off from work, I decided to bike back home tonight. I don't usually bike a round trip in one day but since I can sleep in tomorrow I thought I'd take advantage of the weather.

During the day I took my car out to charge the battery. I find if I let it sit more than four days the battery dies. So I drove to a nearby White Castle for a pair of double cheeseburgers, fries and a coke. I don't normally eat such food for lunch but it really seemed to power my ride home. The last time I had a burger for lunch and biked home, it had a similar effect. I was supercharged.

But I had to idle the engines between Roosevelt and Monroe again. The Taste of Chicago crowds spilled over on the Lakeshore Path. Just as I crested a hill north of the Field Museum, there was an ambulance, a fire truck, a bunch of bikes, and bicyclists standing around on the path. I guess there must have been a major crack up. I slowed but couldn't determine exactly what happened. I biked with more than more my normal vigilance. Good thing too. Lots of people on the path oblivious to bicyclists. I'm not knocking them though. I'd probably be oblivious too if I didn't make it down here that much. After Monroe the pedestrians eased up a bit.

The winds were at my back this time. That and my slider enhanced diet enabled me to speed up to almost 25 mph. In less crowded parts of the path, I was zooming by people like they were stuck in cement. I even coasted by a really tricked out roadie on a training ride.

My wife and sons met me on the Green Bay Trail at Tower. We walked the rest of the way home. It was a nice way to cool down.

Distance Traveled: 24.0 miles
Distance to date: 3106.9 miles
Price of gas: $3.45

1 comment:

Christopher Paul said...

why don't you round trip it?