Biking in the Time of COVID

Because I try to be a good spouse (sometimes), Michele and I sat down to discuss the possibilities of me taking a bike ride.  We agreed that the 606 was too crowded and thereby posed a threat of virus transmission.  Off of our earlier walk on the lakefront, it seemed the lake wouldn’t be too crowded, and it wasn’t.  As for the ride itself, you take the bad with the good.

 

Like the lack of restrooms and water fountains—they’re all closed or shut off.  And then there are the signs, admonishing everyone to “Keep Moving.”  There are actually small groups of city workers strategically placed at intersections and beaches to enforce the directive.  Never have I felt so loved in my hometown.

 

I did about 45 miles, south to close to the Indiana border, then to the trail’s northern terminus.  For you fans of the old S-curve on Lake Shore Drive, they’ve incorporated one on the bike trail just north of the Chicago River at the mouth of the “flyover” intended to make it easier for joggers and cyclists to maneuver in the tourist-heavy area around Navy Pier.  Since I didn’t know about the curve, I nearly veered into traffic and took another cyclist with me.  Sorry.

Did I mention the sand trek?  At another point, the powers that be decided to shut the trail down at North Avenue Beach, but not really.  From what I could tell, they closed down all of ten feet.  Unfortunately, there aren’t any signs, so I followed everyone onto an alternate path that eventually dead-ended into sand.  Nothing like walking the old Schwinn through a couple hundred feet of sand to get the heart pumping.

 

Not all of the ride was this aggravating, I’m happy to say.  There are stretches of the trail that have been planted with wildflowers; this has been a project years in the making.  Well, it looks to be complete, and it sure is breathtaking.  Let’s just say the Midwestern prairie is home to some sublime flora.

 

And the lake is the lake, beautiful when it wants to be, like today.  And the hill at 47^th Street is the hill at 47^th Street, an easy-enough challenge going north but a mountain on the way back after four hours of pedaling.  I made it, though, and I don’t think I sucked in anybody’s COVID along the way. 

I hope.