On the road again....

OK...first....leg update...

I went to AthletiCo, which is a physical rehab/athelitc club sorta place which was recommended to me from our trusted leader from Illinois Runs. After going through the questions, physical prodding and treadmill observation, they think I'm a probable candidate for orthodics.

I told them that's fine, but I am going to get a 2nd opinion from Dr. Nicola from UIC. He's a well known sports doc that is used with CARA and Illinois Runs. I'll keep you posted on that outcome (as long as I don't procrastinate over getting in contact with him).

During the week, I snuck into the health club a couple days for some cardio since it was so ridiculously hot outside (yes, Africa hot). I haven't been there in a while. Since I was there last they added about 20-25 total of new treadmills and elliptical machines...and they all have their own LCD screens. SportsCenter and a treadmill...sweet.

Yesterday...since I'm not really able to take on any long runs yet (Saturday was a scheduled 8), I decided to hop on the bike for a long ride. (My running group was aware of my situation and understood why I wasn't able to help pace my group.) So as Lora went down to the lakefront solo to meet the Saturday runners, I got ready for my bike ride.

I decided to head south via the Chicago Bikeway System which starts about 5 miles south from my doorstep.

So off i went...

To get to the northern access point of the bike paths, I had to cut through the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Since it was only a bit after 7am, I stopped at the guard gate to let him know why I was there. So he gave me a quick rerouting to get to the actual bike trail that is within the CBG. The last turn I made to get on that trail was passing through a double yellow gate. You know, the kind that has the yellow planks that go up and down automatically via payment or whatever.

Anyway, I took the turn towards that gate and didn't really pay attention at the speed I was going and was aimed right at one of those yellow gates that was in the down position. I really didn't have any time to manuver away from it and BAM!!! Yep, I went right through it. Just like a hokey car chase scene from the A-Team. Luckily for me, the board used had to be pine or some other soft wood. Cuz it had some good give in it before I busted it off it's base...lol. My first thought was 'great, this guard probably saw me via a cam at this gate and they'll send the Garden Police after me.'

Of course, since I'm a typical guy, I decided to keep going. I was in the middle of a bike workout for pete's sake. I'm sure it's not that expesive to replace a 1" x 4" piece of yellow pine (I promise to make a donation to the Garden). Oh, and did I mention since it was early and pretty quiet...it made a huge noise (quite impressive actually). So as i went on my merry way, about 200 yards around the bend I saw my first set of people walking. They had to have heard it. So as I rode past, I said my 'good mornings' with a smile. The farther I went the funnier I thought that incident was. I wish I could see a video of it. Remember the scene from National Lampoon's Vacation, when Chevy Chase flew the family truckster about 30-40 yrds in the air in the dessert? How he was kinda impressed with himnself? Well, in weird way, that was me for the moment...lol.

OK...onward...I left the Gardens...and began the biking trail. From tip to tip it's 13 miles. I've done portions of it before with Lora, but the south end was new to me. It was relatively flat with a few ups and downs (usually an overpass from cars). The majority of it is wooded until you get to some open areas where there is public places for picnicking, etc.

During this portion I was witness to a runner vs. biker tiff. I'll let you decide who was in the wrong (although it seemed pretty obvious to me). Coming toward me was an older couple running with about 10-15' between them. There was oncoming traffic, ie. me and another guy in front of me. behind the couple was an approaching biker. The biker decided to weave his way between the couple and continue on. That's when this runner blew his stack. He screamed at the biker that he should never cut in between runners like that and man was he pissed. The biker stopped, turned his head and said, 'How else was I supposed to pass you?'. By this time I rode passed them but could hear the runner guy yelling for at least a couple hundred yards after the scene. I guess the biker was in a hurry and couldn't wait in order to pass properly. But I won't get into the Biker vs. Runner road/trail etiquette at this time.

OK....I make it to the end of the trail. Small dilemma. My plan was to end up at the lake front to meet up with our running group in which I could through my bike in the back of Lora's Jeep and we would head home. Timing wise it would work out perfectly and should get me about 28-30 miles of biking. But I had a few road options to make and none of them I was too confident in. I'm now at Devon and Peterson. To any of you locals, you kinda know my whereabouts. So I decide to head NE on Peterson and hook up with Foster and then head east to the lake. It's pretty busy for about 8:15am on a Saturday, but then again, it's the city.

I make it about a half a mile. Then up in front of me I see a section of road construction. You know the part when they eliminate a big section of concrete which leaves the road about 2" lower than the rest of the road? And the edges are as sharp as the corner of your desk? Yep, that's what was in front of me. Since the traffic was pretty heavy, I couldn't really stop right there. So I tried to absorb the shock the best I could. I tried to lift up as much as possible to elevate as much weight as possible from hitting the sharp edges. And that I did. Up ahead I saw a really busy intersection, so I thought I would take a turn into a nice neighborhood to avoid it and pick up the main road farther down. As I'm on this new road, it feels like this surface is really rough. But it doesn't look it, weird. So I look down and around...and there it was...a fuckin' flat tire.

SONUVABITCH!!!!

That leap over the concrete bit me. So here I am with a spare tire in my bike pouch, but no tire pump...I'm such a doofus. I leave a message on Lora's cell so she can get a laugh and so she can pick me up.

So I begin to walk....and walk....and walk....

I make it back to Devon and head east. For those of you that aren't familiar with this part of Chicago, it's a trek through a real live Benetton. I started in a WASPy neighborhood....a few blocks and it was a mix of Polish and Hispanic...a few more blocks Korean....a few more block Orthodox Jew....a few more blocks Indian/Pakistani.

I enjoyed the trek, even though I was still pissed about the tire. I was looking forward to arriving at the lakefront.

Biking - 20 miles
Walking - 2.2 miles
Crashing through a gate - Priceless