Cycling Sisters

We had a wonderful Cycle-Sis ride to Wolf Lake this past Saturday. Great group of eleven, great weather, great Chicago views, and some wonderful surprises.

At our meet-up spot, the 57th Street Beach house, Tracy and Elfie, who CTA'd all the way from Lincoln Square, and Robin, who just moved to Chicago, arrived a little early and enjoyed the quiet of the lake in the morning light.

At 8:15 we headed south on the lakefront trail into a slight headwind at an easy pace between 10 and 11mph, maneuvering around packs of CARA marathon trainers.

On the bike lane on 41, we wound through the varied neighborhoods of South Shore and South Chicago and along the huge fenced empty lots of US Steel.

After we crossed the Calumet River, Margaret's rear tire caught a chunk of glass, but she quickly whipped out her tools and patch kit. Jeff, Mary, and Liz helped with more tools and comic relief. In the brief time it took for Margaret to patch her flat, Cynthia, who got a late start, caught up with us, and we met Toy. As Toy approached us in his fully loaded touring bike*, we called out, "Where are you going?" "New York!" "How long have you been riding?" "Two years." We coaxed him to stop and join us. From Venezuela Toy rode to Argentina then into North America now onto Wolf Lake.

We continued along I90 then on the Burnham Greenway behind old and new bungalows then between the crackling power lines and cool Forest Preserve. The woodsy smell marked our entry to a very different land. From the shaded woods we emerged to the open expanse of Wolf Lake: fishermen, ducks, swans, a man and his young daughter feeding maybe 50 geese from the back of their SUV. We had been riding only an hour!

We enjoyed the soft lapping of the lake while we snacked, Jeff sharing his farmer's market trail mix and dried veggies with all, Leslie marveled at the trees. We loaded up Toy with an extra helping of snacks, a Chicago Bike Map, Cycling Sisters post card, and a "Bike Lane Hottie" sticker, and he was on his way to New York, "Do you know where to go from here?" "Down and left, then down and left, then down and left."

We waved goodbye to Toy and Wolf Lake then took a brief detour near the State Line coal fire power plant to touch the Illinois-Indiana boundary marker**, wound through sleepy Calumet Park, then we headed back on 41 to 57th St. Beach House. Now with the wind we breezed around 13mph, Mary expertly in the sweep. Once we rounded Yacht Harbor, Jen bid us farewell
and broke away to finish with a high-intensity training ride. All in one warm August morning. Yeah Cycling Sisters!

* Thanks to Robin for her great photos of Toy, us, and the Lake!
**Boundary marker history tidbit:
http://www.neiu.edu/~reseller/setourp2.htm