Last day in Chicago

I woke up to this Thursday morning and knew I would be riding Zwift tonight.

Wednesday Ride after Work

I headed out from my Aunt's house at 5:30 and it was surprisingly still light out. I took the same route north as I did for Monday's ride only it was overcast and didn't look the same.

Will you be my Valentine?

Steven Tramposh, a founding father of the Newtown Lunartics was in town on business and texted me wondering if I wanted to get together for dinner. I had nothing to do so I told him to take a train out to the suburbs and I would pick him up and we would go to one of my favorite places in Chicago, Meier's Tavern. I even got him a Valentine's card as a joke.

We drank German Bier, ate hamburgers and caught up. He moved to New Jersey a couple of years ago and occasionally rides with us when he visits Newtown.

BCLC Monday Night Recovery Ride

On Monday evening I walked the dog early and gave her a big treat before heading out to Lake Bluff for the Bicycling Collective of Lake County's Monday night recovery ride. I had 45 minutes to ride 12 miles to get to the start of the ride and I am hammering the whole way since I left a little later than I should have.

Solo to Volo

Today's ride was aimed at riding somewhere new and getting as many new Wandrer miles along the way but on the roll out I had some synching issues with my lights causing me to stop and reset my Gramin. 

Mom's Joke of the Day #699

Saturday turned out to be a glorious day to be on the bike as I headed out from Northbrook to Lake Bluff. Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was hovering around 42 degrees - which is unheard of for Chicago in February!

Zwifting in Chicago

 

My first day in Chicago I decided to ride Zwift in my Aunt's basement.  I brought my old phone in which I have an HDMI adapter for and I can run Zwift off it and onto my Aunt's 72 inch TV. I had to go out and buy a power strip and an extension cord because there are no outlets near the floor in her basement.

Leaving on a jet plane

My Aunt, who I stayed with twice last year for two three week periods flew me out to Chicago to dog sit for her while she went on vacation. There was no way I was going to go out there and not ride so I started looking for a bike bag. A buddy of mine had a bag but he was leaving the weekend I was returning so that wasn't going to work. Someone offered me a bag for free which I gladly drove up state to pick up. I brought him a couple of four packs of his favorite beer from Counterweight to say thank you.

Cold and Snowy week in Chicago

A big change in the weather arrived which first started with snow

Mom's Joke of the Day, revisited

I met up with the Monday night riders again in Lake Bluff because this was going to be my last outdoor ride for the next week because there was a cold front coming in where the highs weren't going to get over 25 degrees for then 6 days. After my Show and Go ride on Saturday I found a CycleOps dumb trainer on Craigslist for $25!

Suburban Gravel

 

The definition of a gravel ride in and around Chicagoland invariably means riding crushed stone paths. That is what I found when I joined this Meetup in Wheaton, IL called the Adventure Bike Club. If you want to ride real gravel, I am told that you need to head out towards Sugar Grove or head up to Wisconsin.

Wheeling Wheelmen Show and Go

Found a Meetup ride for Saturday and it was going to be a good test for the booties that I bought at REI earlier in the week. The Wheeling Wheelman have a ride that starts from Willow Stream Park in Buffalo Grove. I decided to drive to the meetup point only to find no one there. Then this couple, Dave and Eva show up and I ride with them at leisurely pace for 3 miles until Paul catches up to us and I get on his wheel for a more demanding pace.

The Brat Stop Revisited

Last year I rode to the Brat Stop on the recommendation from my Dermatologist and I decided to make it my big ride destination of this trip. Since Veterans Day was in the end of the week I decided I would do this ride on Friday, however, the weather boffins said Thursday had a predicted high of 75 degrees, which Friday was supposed to be 45 degrees. I switched my day off to Thursday.

Mom's Joke of the Day

Meetups are a wonderful thing. I found the Bicycling Collective of Lake County who puts on a night ride in Lake Bluff every Monday night. They meet at the Heinen's Grocery Store lot at the corner of Waukegan and Rockland. They have an A/B ride that goes out for around 18 miles and a C/D ride that does around 12 miles.

Tighthead Brewing Company

I didn't ride Tuesday because it rained again in the morning and I had dinner plans with my uncle and his family.  On Wednesday, after work, I headed out on the singlespeed to ride to the Tighthead Brewery.  It was pretty hot, nearing the 90s but again the slight breeze that seems to be always blowing and the lack of humidity made riding here very enjoyable - what can I say, I like the heat.

Whole Foods has a bar?

Up until this point I have basically just been riding solo but I had been continually keeping an eye out for a group to join. Through one of the cycling Meetups I found a post from a northern suburbs guy looking for others to ride with so I messaged Darren and said that I would love to ride with you since I am in the same vicinity.

Singlespeed Tour de Chicago - Bonked

I have always wanted to ride my singlespeed through a city and today I was going to ride through Chicago.  From her house and back it was around 65 miles and despite a little early unpleasantness it turned out to be a really nice day.

Beermiscuous

I found what I thought was another brewery to try, Beermiscuous, in Highwood, which is between Highland Park and Lake Forest. In fact, right across the street from the old Fort Sheridan. 

Cock Sizing

My front brake cable was acting funny on the Waltly so I rode the singlespeed this morning to the Northbrook Veldrome

Buffalo Creek Brewery Ride after Work

With the mercury into the 90s but very little humidity I headed out Tuesday, July 19th on route that would take me north to Libertyville and then head south with a brewery stop 3/4s of the way through the ride.