finally in chicago...

or should i say finally through chicago. but that's at the end of the day. let's start at the beginning.

today was a tough day. for several reasons, but primarily physically. i usually say that the riding is the easy part. well, not today it wasn't.

i got off to a somewhat late start, partially because i had the time to spare and partially because it had started raining again in cleveland and i was hoping it would pass. it didn't. on the bright side, i got to test out my new jacket right away. on the down side, i was riding through rain again for the first 90 minutes. luckily, the jacket works quite well and i arrived at my first service plaza (gas/food stops accessible without leaving the turnpike) dry and in good spirits. i gassed up and layered up a bit (i hadn't worn much leaving since it wasn't cold, just raining) and headed out again. around this time the weather changed and got nice and warm, so i had to stop again rather quickly and take out the liner i had just put in. luckily this was the end of the fluctuating weather.

there isn't much to the rest of the day. it consisted of me sitting on the bike getting battered by the wind as i attempted to stay in my lane. seriously. it sucked. it wasn't even constant, where i could just ride at a lean, i was getting thrown every which way every other minute. my neck was rather sore by the end of the day, as were my shoulders from gripping the bars so tightly. the problem with wind, besides the obvious, is that the instinct is to lean forward and speed up, trying to cut through it. unfortunately this rarely works, and it usually only results in more whiplash and having to work harder. every now and then i would counter my instincts and slow down a bit (65 instead of 70 did the trick) and actually sit up straight with correct posture. amazingly, this tended to give me a bit of a break, as the wind dispersion was a little kinder to my neck and head that way, and the slightly slower speeds helped as well. it also helped to occasionally use my offhand to hold my helmet steady so it wasn't getting pushed back against my face. that was nice.

anyway, the day went on like this, with me taking frequent breaks to rest up, including a nice leisurely lunch. afterwards, it was only about 2:15 chicago time (i had gained an hour) and i only had around 130 miles to go. cake, i though. well, as it turns out, not so much. with my rate of travel including stops to rest my muscles, what should have been a quick finish to the day turned into a crawl (literally) when i pulled into the chicago area right around 4:30. that's right, rush hour. yee haw. by the way, chicago doesn't have any of those lovely HOV lanes seattle does, so i couldn't escape through those.

since I-90 goes right through the heart of chicago, which is where everyone was either trying to get to or from, i was going at an abysmal rate and trying to find a way out of it. when i saw an exit for 290 W, which hooks up with 294 (my eventual destination) south of 90, i took it. my logic was the sooner i could get out of the city, the sooner the traffic would dissipate. since 90 kept going through the city and 290 went directly away from it, i hoped it would get easier sooner. we'll never know for sure, because i didn't keep going on 90, but it sure didn't get any better on 290. pretty soon i was back looking at the map trying to find alternate routes. i decided to push my luck and have a bit of an adventure and got off the interstate altogether, jumping on route 48 N, which took me through some random chicago suburbs to eventually hook back up with 90, or even highway 14 (my exit from 294). turns out it was a smart move. though the speed limits were low and there were plenty of stop lights, traffic was light and i was moving. always a better state to be in (motion).

it took a little longer than i thought, but i made it back to a much less crowded 90 and the rest of the way to mount prospect and my cousin's house was easy. the damage was done though. the last 65 miles of my trip took me approximately 4 hours. instead of getting in early i was a couple hours late. par for the course, it seems.

so now i'm wiped and i'm off to bed. tomorrow i head to omaha. it had better not have traffic.

rftc,

scott