Every Commute An Adventure 03/30/09

Today’s commute was a hodgepodge of scenery. As always, the gorgeous sunrise over Lake Michigan was the one constant. Will I ever tire of taking pictures of my bike and the sun? Probably not.

Sunrise over Lake Michigan

But this sun is deceiving. Let’s go back in time half a day and see what Sunday morning brought …

…a whole mess of snow. I was not happy. All I could think was that I’d already taken the studded tires off Oma. This mini snow storm was not welcome by anyone in Chicago. Luckily, it was a wet spring affair and began melting in the afternoon.

Sunday Snow

By this morning the lakefront trail was smooth sailing. The location of the trail – directly in the sun’s rays, whenever the sun is out – is a blessing and often leaves me singing, “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.”

Clear Ahead

Unfortunately, the location of the trail is also sometimes a curse. Usually the culprit is waves that crash up and ice over and fierce winds. Today it was the sand from the beach, presumably pushed up by Saturday’s thunderstorm. Bike path or sandbox – take your pick. I love sandboxes, but not for riding in. I kept waiting to go down (at least the dirt would break my fall) but managed to stay on my two wheels.

Bike Path as Sandbox

The ride home was this all over again, but with a headwind. I didn’t mind it today, though. Instead of *&%$#@, I relished the opportunity to cycle slowly in middle gear and listen to 808s & Heartbreak cover to cover (52:01 total time – hey, I was faster than I thought).

Another fun occurrence today is my profile on Bike Commuters. Bike Commuters was literally the first website I came upon when reading about how to commute by bike and ride in the city. I learned so much from that site and all the other fabulous blogs out there. I especially loved reading the commuter profiles on Bike Commuters, so I was delighted when they requested my and Trisha’s profiles.

Welcome Bike Commuter readers! Isn’t it great how every day is an adventure for us, while everybody else is stuck in traffic? Vive la velocipede!

p.s.  My Rivendell Betty Foy is built and shipped today!