Visitors from outter space... no, not really...

Yay! I had company this weekend. Kim, in town for new job training, and Robert came to ride bikes with me on Sunday! we got in roughly 37 miles biking from my house down the Lakeshore Trail south of the city! It was a great day for a ride. Not too warm, and overcast, though that didn't stop be from getting fried on my face and arms.. damn whitey!

I don't currently have bike computer.. (paula ;) ) so I don't have stats, but it was deffinitely a leisurely pace. I think we gave Kimmy a little workout, but I know that Robert was chompin' at the bit. I was too sorta, but was running a relatively low 36x17 on pavement, so I was pretty much spun out anytime we picked up the pace. Case in point when about 20 bicycle cops came pouring out of their compound and onto the trail and passed us in single file. It was actually Kim who took up the chase to reel them back in. I asked Robert if she has lot's of tickets.. he says "yes!" :D

So we jumped into the Piggy Peloton (please, no flames.. It was just a funny name.. I like cops.. for the most part. Unless they're pulling me over.. for running a YELLOW light!.. fucker.. >:( ) Pics to follow as soon as Kim and Robert get them downloaded.. :D

Anyway, they peeled off to go police the Gold Cup tourny that was in town at Soldier Field, and we continued on our way.

On our return trip, as we paused on the bridge over the canal at Whacker street, Robert got a whole boat load of tourists to wave back at him as they passed below us. It's nice to see that people haven't become so jaded that they can't indulge a bunch of goofy adults in spandex and colorful jerseys waving at them from a bridge!

We topped the day off with some good grub and great Guiness at McNamara's on Irving Park. Good day, great friends.. who could ask for anything more??

My first Chicago ride report...

Ok.. so I've not been around here much. Truth is, I get precious little time in front of the computer any more, and when I do, it's work work work... I think i'm getting averse to sitting down at the computer.. Who'da thunk it...

Anyway, I've had the chance now to settle in a little bit, and i've got a couple rides under my belt. (yes, sadly, only a couple.... :( )

I got up to Kettle Morain in Wisconsin a few weeks ago with Ross. This was a pretty decent trail. Long fast singletrack. There was some nice technical stuff thrown in on a supplemental loop that we hit off a connecting trail. Overall, I'd rate it about a B-.. Not bad, but hard to justify the 1.5 hour drive (without traffic)..

More recently I've been to the Palos Forest preserve in Willow Springs, IL.. For my MI homies, the best comparison I can draw would be to Stony or Bloomer. Mostly that Palos is a system of separate loops connected by two track or other singletrack connector trails. There's also a fair amount of legal and bandit trails.

The terrain is fairly similar to Stony too.. I think most of the trail at Stony flows much better, but there are some sections that are pretty fun. Gravity Cavity is a short, mile or so section that's pretty straight, and runs mostly downhill. There's a fair amount of root drops and fun little features built into the trail, but as far as speed, it's not terribly steep, and you have to watch out for riders in the other direction.. >:( "Out and Back" is a nice little 1-2 mile out and back with some really nice 2-3 foot log piles and decent flow. But, again, lookout for other riders...

There's plenty of mileage to be had, so I won't lack for training miles. But speed an climbs are going to be lacking.. gonna have to find some back road hills somewhere..

Well, that's it for now.. I'm pooped... It sucks being out of shape...