Tag: biking

Biking North

Anna wanted to try to bike from my home in Rogers Park to her house in Milwaukee, which would be the longest distance she had ever covered in one day, and she asked me whether Boris and I would like to follow her for a portion of this route and then take a train back. We enthusiastically agreed. Originally, we were thinking about going with her all the way to Kenosha, but it turned out that there were no trains from Kenosha in the middle of the day, so we would have to wait for hours to go back. So, instead of making 45 miles to Kenosha, we only did 30 miles to Waukeegan.

We would never be able to do it without Anna, because the maps are not accurate, some directions are confusing, and it’s not always obvious where the path ends. Also, there is no safe biking path from Rogers Park to Evanston, which is a shame. Biking on Sheridan is not a safe option except for a very early morning on the weekend, and things are still confusing. There are great bike lanes in Evanston itself, including multiple protected lanes, but you still need to get there!

I took notes on Metra stations where I will be able to get to the bike path straight from the train, and I might try to go on a shorter ride later, although I will still need to consult Google extensively.

Oh, and this French cafè in Highland Park where we had breakfast was something!!! I almost want to go there just for breakfast!

One last note: it always feels that you are going North, and it always surprises me. The climate is more “livable,” although I still won’t trade it for the lake 🙂

Bahai Temple in Evanston
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Bike The Drive 2026

This year’s Bike the Drive was the 25th, and participants could get the anniversary T-shirts and jerseys, all in Chicago’s official colors. That was my fourth Bike the Drive, the third one in which I did the 30-mile challenge, making the whole route and back, the second one we did together with Boris, and the first one in which Anna joined us 🙂

The photo above is the only one I copied from the Chicago Tribune; all the rest are ours, and the best were taken by Anna. She has enough balance to take pictures while biking, and we had ride coverage like never before!!!

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The South Trailhead

And finally, we achieved our goal of getting to the official end of the Lakefront Trail. If I hadn’t consulted Google Maps beforehand, I would never have reached it, because at the end, it becomes a tiny path and goes onto a busy sidewalk that goes around the Southshore Cultural Center.

The south trailhead looks even less glamorous than the north one which we pass each time we go biking, and it took me time to find the actual”end” sign.

Since I was busy navigating on our way to the endpoint, I only took some pictures on our way back. The view of lake was stunning!

That was probably the first time on our long trips that we took some snacks with us, because we knew we would be away from any breakfast places (at least the ones we know), and we didn’t have time for exploration; also, since it was a very hot day, we tried to get back home fast.

There was a bench with a beautiful view of the harbor, which Boris noticed on our way forward, and we stopped there for a snack.

Mission accomplished!

Also, it’s worth mentioning that the situation with the public restrooms- availability, opening hours, and cleanliness is tons better in the south portion of the train than on the north one!

Long Bike Ride South

With Boris in town, we are making the most of these last days of summer and this God-given weather. I took Friday off, and we did the thing we’ve wanted to do forever – going on the South end of the Lakefront Trail and, while going, crossing all the bridges over the Lake Shore Drive!

We did it, and it was breathtaking!

Model Yacht Basin
Buckingham Fountain
Back to Rogers Park!

Recharging Time

It was quite a week! There were some very positive things, but also some extremely annoying things, and lots of stress at work and otherwise. I started my workday yesterday really early, even earlier than usual, and was hoping to be done earlier as well, but instead, I had to work miracles for several hours, and then I stayed at my mom’s place for the switch to a new internet service provider, which also ran way later than I planned, so Friday night ended up not being a beginning of the weekend either! Today, I resolved not to look at anything work-related and to give myself a break from all my other queued activities and just recharge.

I might regret the latter part tomorrow, but today I feel great :). I started with a really long (33 miles) bike ride. The weather was perfect for biking (although it looked like I wasn’t the only one thinking that way), and even before 6 AM, it was pretty crowded on the Lake Front Trail.

Looking at the Loop from the South
Urban Prairie

Then I made breakfast and had a piece of cream cheese rhubarb pie, which I baked last night, and then headed to the closest beach (to maximize the time by the water). The water was just warm enough to be pleasant, and then I lay on the sand and listened to the waves, and there was nothing in the world except for the Lake and me 🙂

Sunday

My weekend regret: I didn’t go to the beach because of the weather. The wins: 1) the rain stopped mid-Saturday, so I could still go biking; 2)I did a lot of non-work work, primarily working on my open-source projects. Another regret: I am still not where I want to be with almost all of them.

Anyway, some Sunday positivity:

Monroe Harbor
There was a very strong wind from the North, and I biked rather far South, plus I left a bit late, and ended up being back to Rogers Park later than I thought. Fortunately, the Common Cup is right on my way home. I never tried their oatmeal because I didn’t expect much of it, but last time, my friend ordered it, and I tried it and loved it! This one is with raspberries and almonds!
My weekly summer bouquet from the Glenwood Sunday Market

Lena In Chicago

A summer weekend when Lena comes to Chicago is always special. We have some favorite activities that we do each time, and we always try something new. Here is a short summary of all our activities.

Lena arrived on Friday evening. It was not super late, and we tentatively planned to go to Jarvis Beach and even went there, but the wind was cold, and we didn’t feel like getting into the water (and even more so – getting out), so we just sat there and talked, and then went home.

On Saturday, I went for an early bike ride by myself, and Lena just walked to the lake.

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Biking With Anna And Other Saturday Activities

Anna sacrificed two extra hours of sleep to go on a Saturday morning bike ride with me. The air quality was significantly better than on Thursday and Friday, although the horizon was covered with clouds, so we couldn’t see a sunrise over the lake. Still, it was a beautiful sunrise.

Anna took a picture of me biking

When we came back, we tried to wake the rest of the family up, which took significantly longer than we expected, so we had to adjust the plans for the rest of the day. Still, the girls wanted to go to the Field Museum even if for a short time, so we did.

Now we are trying to figure out whether they will be able to come one more time before the end of summer.

Photos From Morning Biking

Biking In Helsinki

We are actively using the time of year (white nights) to go biking, even though I spend 10 hours a day at the co-working space, including daily workouts and meals.

On Saturday, we biked to Natasha’s place, and it appeared to be faster than taking a bus. On Sunday, we went for a very long bike ride, including a lunch break at IKEA (it started raining twice while we were biking, but we waited for the rain to calm down at the bus stop shelter). There was no biking on Monday, but then I biked to work on Tuesday (Boris escorted me both ways), and then we went for another bike ride after that to cross the new bridge, which is closed to any fossil-fueled traffic 😂.

On the way to Espoo
Lunch at IKEA
Biking to work
On the bridge
No cars allowed

Each time I bike in Helsinki, I feel incredibly jealous of the local cyclists who can bike literally from anywhere to anywhere using the safe biking lanes that are isolated from other traffic. To be clear, biking in the city during the rush hour still makes me uncomfortable, but I know that it’s mostly in my head. Other than that, looking at all the bike lanes, all the arrows, all the crossings … I totally get what Anna is trying to achieve! Even Milwaukee can’t be compared with Helsinki, and I do not even want to start talking about Chicago!