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Today it was 70 out and beautiful. If I'm not mistaken, it snowed a Saturday or two ago... but as far as manic spring weather goes, I much prefer things in this direction. I rode my bike to work for the second time, which was lovely. I'm wondering if I'll ever get tired of the lakeside commute if I keep it up all summer (I'm already tired of the north side lakshore trial, but that's because it's too crowded). I'm also enjoying figuring out which albums I have that are almost exactly the length of my commute. Today's was Akron/Family's Meek Warrior, which is exactly as long as it takes me to get from the 55th street entrance onto the Lakeshore trail to my office door (including locking my bike up).
Work was the usual, so we'll skip that part. I got it in my head yesterday that what I really needed to do was go see Spoon, Deerhunter, and Micachu tomorrow night. Honestly, it's rare that a show has three bands I'd really like to see, and three I haven't seen, at that. And if I could dodge the ticketmaster fees, it was under my $30 limit for a show. So, I decided, why not just bike up to the Vic (which has a functional box office that sells tickets for the Aragon). I think, at least I'm pretty sure, I had some idea of the fact that I was going to have to make this trek on city roads. And so I set off northways after work, trying to find roads downtown that weren't full of cars during rush hour (this is impossible). Miraculously, there was only one jerk taxi that tried to run me onto the sidewalk, and everyone else, every single other car over the five-mile journey (during rush hour!) was courteous. Probably because it was nice out, so everyone in Chicago was in a much better mood. Though I did have bike lanes once I was out of the loop, so that helped too. (Holy crap I can't believe google tells me it was five miles up there. It went by so quickly I even overshot the street I was looking for! Probably because I was terrified... And because, unlike the lakefront, it wasn't windy).
The ride back was kind of like a fantastic version of I-Spy for city-dwellers. There was an Asian guy on rollerblades in a bright red cape (my personal favourite), businessmen sitting in the sand with their feet in the lake, a dude with a car stereo installed on his bike, newscasters (going "Look! The sun has returned to us!"), and a gaggle of gay men having some kind of photoshoot, all crammed together with the usual north side rabble of joggers and homicidal people on race bikes who think they're Serious Business, plus all the normal people who were out to try to shake off the horrid Chicago cabin fever. I will probably be doting on my bike for the next forever, but (un)surprisingly it was almost suited to dodging through this sort of nonsense. Hooray for lightweight, nimble bikes! (My poor old 6th grade bike was just... not meant to be a city bike. Poor thing. It tried so hard to explain this to me.)
So... my day was surprisingly nice and very active. I consider it a success. Though I've now finished consulting the google, and it tells me I biked a total of about 25 miles today. And my entire journey back down the lakefront was against the wind. I am going to feel this tomorrow. I am going to feel it very, very badly (also, I've already concluded that every bit I save in transit costs is going to go right back into my food budget. I've had two dinners tonight...)
I also think it's time for me to name my bike. I'm open to suggestions, because otherwise... er... it may end up being named The Stig, because it's been hanging out in my apartment with me, kind of looming in the background with its arms folded.Some say he thinks that pants are an acceptable road trip snack, and this is why all of my clothes now have mysterious holes in them. All we know is... he's called The Stig.
Work was the usual, so we'll skip that part. I got it in my head yesterday that what I really needed to do was go see Spoon, Deerhunter, and Micachu tomorrow night. Honestly, it's rare that a show has three bands I'd really like to see, and three I haven't seen, at that. And if I could dodge the ticketmaster fees, it was under my $30 limit for a show. So, I decided, why not just bike up to the Vic (which has a functional box office that sells tickets for the Aragon). I think, at least I'm pretty sure, I had some idea of the fact that I was going to have to make this trek on city roads. And so I set off northways after work, trying to find roads downtown that weren't full of cars during rush hour (this is impossible). Miraculously, there was only one jerk taxi that tried to run me onto the sidewalk, and everyone else, every single other car over the five-mile journey (during rush hour!) was courteous. Probably because it was nice out, so everyone in Chicago was in a much better mood. Though I did have bike lanes once I was out of the loop, so that helped too. (Holy crap I can't believe google tells me it was five miles up there. It went by so quickly I even overshot the street I was looking for! Probably because I was terrified... And because, unlike the lakefront, it wasn't windy).
The ride back was kind of like a fantastic version of I-Spy for city-dwellers. There was an Asian guy on rollerblades in a bright red cape (my personal favourite), businessmen sitting in the sand with their feet in the lake, a dude with a car stereo installed on his bike, newscasters (going "Look! The sun has returned to us!"), and a gaggle of gay men having some kind of photoshoot, all crammed together with the usual north side rabble of joggers and homicidal people on race bikes who think they're Serious Business, plus all the normal people who were out to try to shake off the horrid Chicago cabin fever. I will probably be doting on my bike for the next forever, but (un)surprisingly it was almost suited to dodging through this sort of nonsense. Hooray for lightweight, nimble bikes! (My poor old 6th grade bike was just... not meant to be a city bike. Poor thing. It tried so hard to explain this to me.)
So... my day was surprisingly nice and very active. I consider it a success. Though I've now finished consulting the google, and it tells me I biked a total of about 25 miles today. And my entire journey back down the lakefront was against the wind. I am going to feel this tomorrow. I am going to feel it very, very badly (also, I've already concluded that every bit I save in transit costs is going to go right back into my food budget. I've had two dinners tonight...)
I also think it's time for me to name my bike. I'm open to suggestions, because otherwise... er... it may end up being named The Stig, because it's been hanging out in my apartment with me, kind of looming in the background with its arms folded.
