Full Metal Lunchbox

I managed to complete 30 miles at this year's Bike The Drive.



Highlights:



4:15AM - Shea & I leave the house early in order to get on Lake Shore Drive before it is closed for the ride.



5:00AM - All registered and warmed-up, we sit on our bikes near the front of the pack at the starting line. I start to wonder if maybe I'm a little nuts.


5:35AM - Off we go! Shea sets the pace at speeds up to 21.5 MPH. Keeping up with him downhill towards 18th street remarkably easy.

5:45AM - Not so easy anymore. Shea pulls further and further ahead as I gasp for breath and clutch my chest on the approach to 31st street.

6:15AM - Museum of Science and Inudstry driveway, turnaround at the southern end of the course. Many miles to go, but fortunately there is plenty of free junk food available to intrepid cyclists.


6:45AM - Oak Street "S-Curve" and the day's only mishap. Drop my water bottle onto the road. As I dismount my bike and start to run back I suddenly realize, I can't run at all--my legs wont pull up more than an inch from the pavement. Limping back to my bike, I realize I have no choice now but to finish this thing, as walking away no longer possible.

7:10AM - Bryn Mawr on-ramp, north end of the course. Lots of people, junk food, and grassy space to collapse upon. 22 miles down, 8 to go. Shea has already finished and indicated by cellphone that he we will do another short course for fun, thus proving that he is even more nuts than I am. Lots more free junk food. Strapped a candy bar to my bike and headed off for the final leg downtown.

7:20AM - Shea mistakenly thinks he sees me riding south at Fullerton and abandons his second ride. He is still convinced that he saw my evil twin.

7:45AM - Crossed the finish line at Monroe. Feel like a million bucks, except in my legs where I can't feel much of anything.

8:00AM - Pancakes and sausage have never tasted so good!!


9:00AM - Not much to see but crappy t-shirts and overpriced bikey things. Having regained the ability to walk, Shea and I get back in the car and head home.

Later that night we had a huge barbeque with a bunch of friends. After dinner, while our friends played Crainium, Shea and I passed out on the back porch over a bottle of Knob Creek.

(Note: I would finaly take the candy bar off my bike Wednesday night and eat it at work around 2AM. It was yummy.)

It's about 1:30 in the morning and I'm here in my corner cube at 427 S LaSalle.

I've finished my early shift chores (monitoring the database, fixing things, making small talk) and now I'm staring off into space wondering what to do next.   Not sleepy yet.   Should study... but am tempted by the newspaper.   Wonder what Dilbert is up to today.

I don't really have anything interesting to say, but I'm going to post to this blog anyway just to let you all know I'm alive.




Here are some random thoughts:

Usher isn't cool.

Neither is Kevin Costner. (But you probably knew that already.)

Here's a handy homemaker tip: When hosting a simple barbeque (along the lines of hamburgers, hot dogs, brats) it's kind of stupid to grill everything in advance and then just leave it to sit out.   Does anybody really like to eat cold hot dogs?   Who's with me on this one?

Beware the pretzel people! Seriously, if people were meant to bend this way, the lord almighty wouldn't have created Lay-Z-Boy.



And finaly..

Coming soon to a video store near you: JAR JAR BINKS: THE TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY.




That's all I have to say.    Your comments are welcome.

After several weeks of colder-than-usual spring evenings it was finaly warm enough tonight to ride my bike to work.

There was virtually no traffic on the bike path all the way downtown, and the view of the skyline as it loomed larger into view was magnificent.

This improvement in the weather is here just in the nick of time, because I desperately need the exercise.

My pants feel like they are getting a little smaller each day!

Justyna says that I should just eat less.   But that's not easy when I work nights, because I'm awake as much as 20 hours per day.  Hard to avoid eating.

Thankfully Bike the Drive is also giving me a good excuse to get in shape.

I'll be biking the drive with Shea, and I'd like to be able to keep up with him without suffering a coronary.  Shea is one of those guys who can ride 100 miles before breakfast and has the special shoes that clip to the bike pedals.

Anyway, tonight I managed the 10.5 miles to work in 47 minutes, just 5 minutes shy of my fastest time from last summer.  So I might be in better shape than I give myself credit for.

I get off work in 3.5 hours, and I'm wondering if I'll attempt to ride all the way back home or just be lazy and throw my bike on the bus.

Sadly my pants are so tight that riding my bike is a little uncomfortable. (Sigh)