My "Bike the Drive" experience

For the second straight year, I participated in the annual "Bike the Drive" along Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. In the days leading up to the ride, the weather was predicted to be anything but ideal. Fortunately, the rain held off until late Monday, but the temperatures were below normal, with daytime highs along the lake in the mid-60s and lows in the mid-50s.

Starting at Grant Park at 5:34 a.m., I rolled through the giant red inflatable "Bike the Drive" arches at Jackson Drive and LSD and turned north. Following the natural curves of this most beautiful drive, I witnessed a dim orange sun rise over the carousel wheel at Navy Pier as I rode with a surprisingly large number of equally hardy cyclists. Wearing a long sleeve t-shirt under my Livestrong jersey and woolen tights over my cycling shorts, I was reasonably comfortable as my cycle computer indicated a temperature of 53 degrees. Just after 6:20, I reached the northernmost point of the ride at Bryn Mawr Avenue, where they had a wonderful rest stop set up. Manned by a corps of hard-working volunteers, tables were stacked with energy food -- bananas, mini muffins, cookies, Clif bars, and (of course) water. I had a couple of bananas, a couple of cookies, and saved two mini Clif bars for later. At 6:40, I resumed riding, now heading south with the wind at my back and the sun starting to warm the air. I now rode with sunglasses.

Unlike last year, I had chosen to start my ride northbound so that I'd have the opportunity to travel this section of LSD twice. In my opinion, the southbound section of LSD just north of the Drake Hotel and the John Hancock building is the most picturesque segment of the entire ride. A light fog slightly shrouded the tall buildings ahead as I passed trees on my left and high-rise condos on my right. The sky was now blue and I felt the sun warming my left cheek. My
worries about the weather melted away. I was in hog heaven.

I retraced the classic curves of Lake Shore Drive back to the start/finish line at Grant Park, where (surprisingly) they had another food-stocked rest stop set up. They didn't have that last year. "Nice touch," I thought to myself as I grabbed a couple more cookies, swallowed some water, and momentarily played spectator to a steady stream of cyclists rounding the curve from Columbus to Jackson en route to LSD. At 7:20, ready for more riding, I mounted my bike and joined the ever-growing river of riders.

The south route took me past the Field Museum and Soldier Field. With a less picturesque stretch of road now ahead of me and with the wind behind me, I felt the urge to increase my speed. My cadence increased, and I reached the Museum of Science and Industry shortly after 7:45. A scene right out of Woodstock greeted my eyes as I followed the river of bicycles past the front lawn of the museum and into its main entrance. There were cyclists everywhere, along with many more tables of food, many more port-a-potties, and legions of people, relaxing, eating, taking pictures. What a sight!

Shortly after 8 o'clock, I started northward again, knowing that the wind would once again be in my face. Thankfully, the breezes were lighter and warmer now. The weather gods are with us! The ride would maintain its glorious effervescence!

Shortly, the distant skyline of Chicago came into view, with only traces of the light fog I'd seen before. This section of Lake Shore Drive, with the looming, extraterrestrial appearance of Soldier Field and a panoramic view of the entire Chicago skyline, is one of its most picturesque segments. I passed Soldier Field at 8:35, passed Buckingham Fountain at 8:38, passed the start/finish line, and continued northward for the second time in three hours.

Realizing that my time was limited, I only rode to the half-way turn-around at Fullerton Avenue, stopped for a moment to enjoy the early morning beauty of Lincoln Park and the Chicago skyline and began my final home stretch. Two hours and twelve minutes after passing the same manicured landscapes and cityscapes, I tried to look everywhere simultaneously, knowing that my Bike the Drive experience was nearing its end. At 9:20, I stopped on the bridge overlooking the Chicago River, where many people had similarly stopped to take pictures and re-gain their breath after completing its uphill approach.

Sometime just before 9:30, I turned off of Lake Shore Drive and worked my way back to the start/finish area and the post-ride festival, where my wife Tammy greeted me enthusiastically. Once again, cyclists were everywhere. An ocean of cyclists, bicycles, and vendor booths filled much of Butler Field with an aura of excitement and positivism -- a natural high.

I have not yet heard what the estimated attendance of Bike the Drive was this year. If I were to guess, I'd say that there were fewer riders this year than last. Also, Butler Field seemed to clear out faster this year. Perhaps last year's appearance by the Beatles tribute band American English held people a little longer than Funkadesi did this year. This year, I took a number of pictures with my RAZR phone while riding, a maneuver that I hadn't yet perfected by last year's ride. These photos, along with whatever professional photos may have caught me along the route, will keep the Bike the Drive spirit alive in me for months.

Another challenging ride pushes me over 200

Did you ever hear the joke about the grandfather who told his grandson that in order to go to school in "his day," he had to walk 10 miles, in the snow, uphill (both ways). Well, today I took a vacation day from work and had an afternoon ride that reminded me of that. During the first part of the ride, I rode into a brisk, westerly wind as I coursed my way through Schaumburg and Hanover Park to reach the Poplar Creek Trail and its pastoral 8.9 mile loop. However, by the time I started back for home (this time in a largely southerly direction), the winds too had shifted southerly, so (once again) I rode into a moderate breeze. The ride was 26.5 miles, but its mileage felt more like the mid-30s.

As I have said before, this may be a blessing in disguise. The challenging nature of many of my recent rides are working out my quads, knees, and cardiovascular stamina. I'll try to remember this fact when I Bike the Drive this Sunday and ride a 36-mile segment of the Trek 100 on June 6th. Perhaps this is the personification of the saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Today, I exceeded 200 miles for the season. My current seasonal total of 210.6 miles is only 9.5 miles behind last year's total at this time, which is pretty impressive when I factor in that I didn't have the 112 miles from my February, 2008 Florida vacation this year. Although I've done my share of complaining about the wet, cold, and windy spring we've had so far, I obviously wasn't deterred too much. For a year in which I've already stated that "breaking my distance record of 1,226 miles is not my primary goal this year," that's not too bad.

A Mother's Day tribute

Today . . . Mother's Day . . . I rode a relatively short distance, but my heart was with the two breast cancer survivors in my family -- my Mom and my sister. I am very grateful for their good health, my sister's successful surgery last week, and the advances in medicine that have enabled them to defeat their own bouts with cancer.

On this day -- yet another with below normal temperatures and breezy conditions -- I rode a little over 16 miles on side streets in Roselle and Schaumburg. Occasionally, the sun would peek through, reminding me that its warming influence will soon be taking charge of our weather, bringing summer-like weather to our area. Like many others in the Chicagoland area, I can't wait!

In preparation for . . .

My last two rides -- 14 miles last Saturday and 20.2 miles this evening -- bring my seasonal total to 167.8 miles. But more importantly, these rides are preparing my body for the day when warm weather will return and this prolonged rainy pattern that we've endured so far this spring will finally end. I eagerly await the day when warm temperatures and dry trails will finally allow me to plan routes that are longer, more interesting, and encompass a variety of landscapes and terrains. Poor weather has so far limited my routing to paved trails and local roads. [I'm not a big fan of mud!] Last year, it wasn't until the latter half of May that our weather improved. It looks like history may repeat itself again this year.

My immediate goal is to be ready for the May 24th "Bike the Drive" and the June 6th "Trek 100." "Bike the Drive" will be 30 miles, assuming I complete both the north leg and south leg of the ride, as I did in 2008. Perhaps I will even go a little bit extra if time permits, as I was able to do last year. Only time will tell.

I'm more concerned about the 36 miles that I plan to ride in the "Trek 100," which starts at Trek's world headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin. Whereas "Bike the Drive" is quite flat, the "Trek 100" route likely consists rolling hills that could prove more challenging.

Perhaps all those windy rides served a purpose after all!