Tag: biking

Let Summer Run Forever!

To be honest, I do not want summer to run forever. I do not want to live in Florida or California. But I love that summer lasts through the whole month of September!

This week, I finally gave away my early morning biking, but I have been devouring these last biking mornings for the past two weeks. I had an amazing long ride on Labor Day, and I finished my early mornings seasons last Sunday, watching the sunset on my way back.

I’d just say – living by the lake in September is priceless 🙂

Continue reading “Let Summer Run Forever!” →

Biking With My Girls

Anna brought her cargo bike with her (she ended up driving a truck because of that), and although driving a truck in the city is not the most enjoyable activity, the presence of a cargo bike made a huge difference! We could go anywhere on bikes! Both Sunday and Monday mornings, we would head to the Lake Front Trail to explore the playgrounds – thank you, Chicago Park District!

We biked to the Edgewater Art Fair on Sunday evening (because Nadia really wanted to listen to some concert), and we biked to Andersonville on Monday to have lunch with Vlad and Dylon.

At the Edgewater Art Fair, Nadia danced for forty minutes straight while the band was playing, and Kira followed as much as she could:). Neither me nor Anna could expect it!

Only later we thought that we could plan more outings with the cargo bike, including going to the Lincoln Park Zoo and to Navy Pier – both are relatively close to where I live, but unfortunately do not have convenient public transportation. We will plan better next time!

That’s How I Go Shopping These Days

Last time Boris was here, he talked me into using the bike’s luggage rack. Before that’ I was a little bit sceptical about my abilities to keep the balance/ Also, I didn’t realize how much stuff you can carry on your bike this way. Now, I am shopping at Devon Market, and at once a week the Glenwood Street Market.

And I am planningt to use my bike for shopping as soon long as possible (not sure how winter will look like)

One More Long Bike Ride

Now about the good things which happened on Friday:). I took Friday off, and we went for another long bike ride. This time we were somewhat limited by time because we had other things to do before Boris left for the airport, so we decided to put a hard limit of 2 hours total. This time, there was no strong wind (which increased our speed), but we also made several photo stops that slowed us.

We only got to the Buckingham Fountain (which was almost entirely covered by preparations for Lalapaloose.

I think it would only take us ten extra minutes to get to Aquarium, but it was a good ride anyway, and I took a picture of a place where the Chicago River flows into Lake Michigan!

A Very Long Bike Ride

One of our plans was to go on a long ride on the Lakefront Trail. I didn’t do long rides for a while, so I was unsure how long I could bike. The longest I biked this spring was one hour and twenty minutes. The total length of the Lakefront Trail is over 18 miles one way, and we are 2.5 miles away from the start.


We decided not to rush. Saturday was the perfect weather; we got out after breakfast and decided we are not doing more than 3 hours. In reality, we biked for 2.5 hours, but I was surprised by how far we went! I decided it’s time to start going back because I started to be a little bit tired. It was a good call – we didn’t realize we had a tailwind all the way there! On the way back, we had to go against the wind!


Surprisingly, it took us only 10 minutes more, probably because we made fewer photo-stops

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Biking Along The Lake

I bike towards the lake almost every morning. Soon, the sunrise will be too late to bike before 6 AM, and then, I might retreat to biking on the weekends only. But for another several weeks – every morning!sSome days, it it windy and stormy

Other days, it is calm nd peaceful:

One Sunday morning, I went to a rather long bike ride, and ended up by this “windmill” sculpture:

It’s still very far from being able to cover the whole Lakefront Trial!

Biking To The Shakespeare Garden

I tried it once, and got lost :), so I was looking for an opportunity to bike early in the morning so that there will be no traffic, and on a day when I won’t have to go somewhere. Last Sunday, I decided that it’s now or never. The potential forty-minute round trip took over an hour, but at least I found the Garden!

The catch is that you can’t “bike to” that garden, you need to walk your bike on the last stretch. And Google was bringing me to the parking lot “under” the garden from where there was no way to get to the garden itself.

Some pictures from my bike ride to the North:

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Winds By The Lake

The past two mornings were windy, and there were some waves on the lake – not crazy, but still. I hope that that’s enough reason to show yet another sunrise 🙂

Can you spot a seagull?

A Fabulous Weekend

It was a wonderful weekend. I feel like I am getting more things done here, and I am not sure why.

No, I didn’t resolve all the issues in my apartment. I still need to fix my ceiling lights/fans, and I am still waiting for the rest of my furniture for the dining room. Also, I need to change my driver’s license and mom’s State ID for new addresses. And I didn’t go to the local library yet and didn’t find a new doctor for my mom or me. 

The list is endless, but still, I had a fabulous time this weekend. Of course, it helped that we now have summer Fridays, so the weekend started at 2 PM on Friday. Here is what I did this weekend (in addition to the regular errands list)

  • I biked to Northwestern twice. The first time, I messed up a couple of times, and the second time was a charm.
  • I went to do my nails. I didn’t like the place that much, so I will continue to explore what else is around, but at least I have my mani-pedi, which were overdue.
  • I went escorting for the first time since February
  • After escorting, I took my mom to the Art Institute to see the Monet exhibit and a couple of other exhibits which will close within the next week
  •  I biked to the Glenwood Sunday Market (and bought tons of awesome stuff). I was not sure from their website whether they allow bikes on the market, and put a new bike lock in my backpack. But fortunately, they allow the bikes in, which helped to plan my purchases realistically :). I liked his market so much better than the Evanston market! I think I will be going there most of Sundays.
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  • I made sorrel soup (perfect for the hot weather)
  • Also, I made a rhubarb tart
  • I had mom and one of my friends over for coffee
  • And I went to the beach and even dipped myself into the cold water of Lake Michigan (I will show the pictures in a separate post).

And with all that, I even caught up on some work, these boring parts with paperwork, which you tend to push away beyond all the deadlines.

It feels so much as the life I want to ive!

I Learned Something New!

My neighbor not just helped me to fix my bike, but he tough me how to do it myself!

DO=on’t I have the best neighbors ever?!