Tag: biking

Fall

We’ve had a little bit of warmer weather recently, and on Tuesday, I moved my workday to an even earlier start than usual and came back home to take a bike ride. I was less of a traffic jam than I was afraid it could be, and it was really warm and calm – a perfect fall afternoon!

Other Weekend Activities

The problem with the past weekend was that it was soooo good! This was a God-given September, and the last weekend was the biggest gift, with the sunny sky, almost no wind, and the upper 70s.

I could not have it waster! Besides, I had some activities planned a while ago, and I didn’t want to skip them. And I am very happy with how it went:).

A long bike ride:

I saw Jupiter – more than once!
And a supermoon!
Long bike ide
I saw maples turning red
The bees were on my balcony
I was on the Historic Houses tour
And I closed the season at the beach!
Although it was almost 80F, the water was cold! I got into the water just out of principle – I had to close the season! And I said “Thank you” to the Lake!

There was also clinic escorting, and Georgia Apple Cake, and visiting with mom, and lots of other things, and talking with people, and many things which I wanted to do and didn’t have time to, but I still think I had my priorities straight.

This Weekend

it was, in some sense, a “getting my life back” weekend, although I guess one weekend is not enough at the moment. I had a chance to have breakfast outside, which didn’t happen much this summer.

I biked a lot, although since the sun is not out until 6-45AM, I could not do a really long bike ride.

I went to the CSO Symphony Ball for the first time in my life. It’s not like I do not go to fundraising events, but if I go, it’s for more socially-oriented events. I think there are enough well-off people who would be happy to fundraise for CSO and other cultural institutions.

This year, I received two free tickets to the Symphony Ball for participating in the CSO for Kids Ambassadors program. I didn’t expect it :), and I am not going to lie, it was nice! I took my mom there, and because of that, I skipped a pre-concert champagne toast: I knew that mom wouldn’t be comfortable there, and also, I also wanted to make sure she ate something before we went.

The concert was amazing, and also it was a spectacular view of women in evening gowns and men in tails and white ties.

Other than that, it was mostly finishing writing multiple things I had to write or promised to write and planning my cultural activities for the next two months. Also, I baked an experimental version of my favorite blueberry pie, using strained skyr on place of rahka, and this is much better than using ricotta)

And now – diving into the new work week.

Bike The Drive

My second Bike the Drive, and this year, I signed up for the 30-mile challenge, knowing that it would mean 36 miles for me (adding 3 miles each way to the closest entrance).

I am very happy with my results. I didn’t have to push myself; the whole ride was “within my abilities.” I was a little bit worried about the heat, but I was able to finish before it became really hot.

Excluding the wait at the start and two stops, my active biking time was 3 hours, which means 12 mph on average, including the city biking, and I hit 14 mph and even 15.2 mph on some 1-mile splits.

I didn’t like the main rest stop and the activities which were offered there. I liked the breakfast even less than last time. And I liked the MSI rest stop a lot: with plenty of boxed water, fruit and healthy snacks freely available, with the music, and with the sense of unity that was somehow missing at the main event. I think that next year, I am not going to pay for breakfast, and I am not even going to stop at the main event, and I will have a longer stop at the MSI.

I still didn’t find my photo on the event site, but I will keep trying :).

Five minutes before start
At MSI rest stop
Continue reading “Bike The Drive” →

Everything The Lake Can Give

I didn’t have a single day off while Boris was here. First, I just took a week and a half of vacation, and second: there was too much work! I was glad that Lena and I chose this weekend for our visit – it gave me an opportunity to disconnect from work almost entirely. Granted, I was doing a lot of “other” things, but it was still a disconnect.

Today I took the morning off, and Boris and I went for a relatively long bike ride in the morning (the weather was absolutely perfect!), and when we returned, I told him that I saw the waves on the lake while we were biking, and I want to go and jump in these waves before the lifeguards come. Boris does not understand the joy of jumping in the waves, but he walked to the beach with me and took some pictures of me in the waves.

I Am Back

I typed the title of this post on Thursday morning and didn’t move any further :). Life after the return was intense :).

There are a lot of things going on at work, including some reorganization and interviewing people for an open position. The to-do list is so wast, I do not even want to start on it. Let me rather tell you what I have done so far.

The was this amazing concert on Wednesday which I already blogged about. I went to the youth shelter on Thursday night. I was asked to make pizzas, and some of the youth were so excited waiting for my coming that they made most of the prep by the time I arrived. There was one new staff whom I liked a lot. One girl who did a TickToc recording from out previous cooking asked me whether we could do it again, and I said yes, and we had a lot of fun with that! She asked me about my heritage and what I had for dinner when I was a child, and we had fun chatting about that.

I biked along the Lakefront. I went to the beach and soaked my body in the lake. I received both my CSA deliveries. And I am on my way to the clinic escort.

Helsinki Day 6

On Saturday morning, Anna biked to our place, and we had a two-and-a-half-hours bike ride all over Helsinki. Both Anna and I were tired, but Boris wanted to show us all the best places, so it took a while 🙂

Anna was filming the whole route with her 360 camera, but for now, I only have a couple of pictures:

By the time we were done with this ride, and Boris and I parked our bikes, it was almost eleven, which meant that the ice cream place by the Sibelius monument was about to open!

In the afternoon, Nadia and I went clothes shopping; that was the birthday activity I promised to her many months ago. We also picked up several outfits for Kira and some Moomin toys for both of them. And in the evening, the four of us went to the concert at the Church in the Rock. We sat in the very front row, as close to the musicians as none of us ever sat, and listened to this truly amazing concert!

In Helsinki – Finally!

We made it! Everybody had their passports, the plane was on time, the luggage was not lost, and Anna’s family was settled in their AirB&B.

Anna is going to use my old bike, and Nadia got a new one; both of them will be donated after this trip, but they will serve us well for now.:)

My Saturday Bike Ride

There was a severe overnight thunderstorm all night Friday to Saturday, and when I went for my morning bike ride, I found all a tree blocking my way on the Laekfrom trail – the first time since I moved to Rogers Park!

There was no rain in the morning but it looked like the sky was still in the stormy mood:

There was a sunny day after that, but I was busy getting ready for our trip!

Lena In Chicago

My friend Lena, who used to live in Palatine, and now lives in Ann Arbor, is in Chicago again!

She is my only friend who moved away a while ago, but still,l we not only keep in touch but visit each other regularly. Moreover, through the years, we came up with the annual visit schedule: she visits me for Christmas cookies baking, for the Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show in spring, and for one summer weekend, and I visit her at the end of summer.

This time, in spite of completely unpredictable weather, we had an almost perfect weekend. The only item on our agenda that we didn’t check was a Millennium Park concert, and that’s because of the rain – again! Actually, I am sort of proud of us because we waited for the first rain to stop, still went to the Riverwalk, had a nice dinner facing the Chicago River, and then looked at the forecast and saw that the rain was about to start again, and when back home instead of tempting our good fortune :).

We visited the Art Institute, saw the Van Gough exhibit and Japanese drawings, had lunch there, went to the Lurie Garden, then – to the Field Museum for the Kings of Europe exhibit and 3D dinosaurs movies, and then to the beat the rain and still made it to the Riverwalk 🙂

Today, we went for an early morning bike ride, then, after breakfast, went to the Glenwood market and then – to the beach.

Finally, it’s that time of summer when the lake is warm, even in the morning. I think it was the first time this summer that I could lay on the sand and do nothing for an hour!

(I am still three chapters behind in the book, and still have piles of work, but I am glad I am not giving up on my summer :))