Pedal Pusher

I finally ended up getting a bike yesterday. Paid $75 for a used Schwinn Varsity. Really good condition as far as the rims, handlebars, frame, gears, and brakes go. I even like the color. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure from the frame that it's a woman's bike. I don't really care though, the lower top tube makes it easier to dismount - no fear of slamming a leg or package into a bar.

Ended up taking a ride out on the Lake Shore trail up north a few miles yesterday. Gives a really nice view of the city. And for whenever we needed a break, there were a few beaches to chill and grab some food/drink. As for getting to the lake, we had to ride through city streets and whatnot. It was a little scary at first, but that actually doesn't last that long. There's enough of a bike culture here that people will pass you or slow down if they're near the bike lane. I'm actually more scared when driving next to bikes, rather than vice versa. Don't really know if that's good or bad.

I was spent after the ride yesterday, which was kinda pathetic. Sure the pace was faster than my liking, but I'm just out of shape. There was only one real hill, and it was a bridge. After mapping it out, we rode something like 12 miles. Like I said, kinda lame. Today, I went for a ride on part of the southern part of the trail. Really nice views around the Museum Campus. The old Meigs Field (of MS Flight Simulator fame) has a few trails circling through the island now. Once south of here, the trail isn't nearly as crowded, except for around the beaches. After mapping it out, the ride was something like 18 miles. Better, but still nothing impressive. Ah well, at least the efforts match my bike frame.

Chicago Chilling

I've been back in town a week and have been enjoying the Chicago summer. Had some good company when I got back into town, giving me the chance to play tourist for a bit. Checked out the Art Institute for the first time. Monstrous collection of art. I'm not really an art buff, but I figure I should make at least one visit to the Institute. I'm pretty sure they frown on talking in the galleries, but it's funner to make up stories for each painting.

Did the obligatory Mag Mile stroll and ended up hanging out at the Signature Lounge on top of the Hancock. Depending on how many drinks you get, it's about the same price as the observatory decks in town, but you get a drink with the view. Also got to check out some improv sketch comedy courtesy of Second City. Hilarious show that's very current and witty. The group's produced a lot of big names: Bill Murray, John Belushi, Eugene Levy, Andy Dick, Dan Castellaneta, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Steve Carrell, Stephen Colbert, and Tina Fey to name a few. So it's kinda cool that I may have seen someone on their way up...probably won't remember them, but still.

Stumbled upon a pretty good eatery: Flat Top Grill. It's a stir fry place with totally customized dishes: pick your own noodles/rice, veggies, sauces, spices, meat. Give the bowl over to the grill, they cook it, and you get it back a few minutes later all cooked and delicious. $9 is a little expensive, but you get unlimited bowls for lunch at that price. There's apparently one in Champaign now, for the UI crowd.

Had some Asian tapas at Shochu. Being an appetizer place, I wasn't expecting to leave bursting at the seams. But the serving sizes were ridiculously small, especially for the amount of money being charged. That said, the food was pretty good. I only really remember the quail legs, bacon wrapped quail breast, and wings. First two were pretty good, but the wings were a bit hot for my liking. Guess it's good that we could only have two wings a piece.

Checked out Hopleaf, a Belgian bar. Haven't had that many Belgian brews before this, but I'd recommend trying out a few. Some of them are pretty unique and are a nice change from light beer. The glassware is actually pretty unique too, adding to some of the fun - seeing what glassware gets paired with each beer. One beer came attached to a wood block, serving as a goblet holder and handle. (Yes, they use goblets.) They offer some pretty good food too - the pork belly, sausage, and mussels are all I can attest to though. I'm pretty sure the pork belly is mostly fat and I'm okay with that. It was delicious fat.

West Coast Swing

This being my last free summer, I figured I should do some travelling. I ended up heading out to LA and Seattle for about ten days. Made some day trips to San Diego and Vancouver as well. Got to check out some places for the first time and without family. Also got to hang out with some good friends and whatnot. Nothing too dramatic happened, but was overall a pretty good, relaxing time. I just wish I had more time and money to keep travelling.

SoCal

Amazing weather for the entire stay. Checked the weather once and it was 70s and sunny across the board. Home base was Santa Monica, and they've got some pretty nice places out there. Expensive (1 br/1ba for $450k), but nice and pretty close to the beach. Checked out Angels Stadium, which I thought was a pretty nice, but Disneyfied offering of a park. Other highlight was the Magic Castle. Being in Hollywood, it was an exclusive place: had to be or know a magician to get in. Kinda cool, but annoying at the same time. You basically get dinner and the chance to catch different magic shows throughout the castle at your own leisure. I was really impressed by the shows, especially since they were in such small groups and close quarters. Only thing that sucked was getting harassed by one of the magicians...asshole. Damn good "illusions" though... Oh, and I got some of my future revealed by a shemale psychic: I'm moving east, not very religious (except in church), and starting a business.

Santa Monica Beach & Pier

As mentioned earlier, we made a daytrip to San Diego. Caught a Padres/Dodgers game: Petco Park is probably the nicest one I've been to so far. It's modern, actually a part of downtown, and has lawn seats just beyond center field. Headed out to Coronado beach after the game. Very quiet and chill beach, with a decent mix of families and younger crowd. Only thing that sucked was being under the flight path to the nearby naval base. Coronado Island's pretty cool though - plenty of nice houses and eateries/bars just a bridge ride away from San Diego and a gorgeous beach to boot. San Diego's Gaslamp district is where we spent the night: very walkable area and plenty of places to eat/drink. Even saw a few US Open folk about, since Torrey Pines is around the area. I thought San Diego was a chill town with a pretty nice and active downtown.

Petco Park from the lawn seats

Coronado Beach

Overall, nice weather and beaches around SoCal. My main gripe is with LA and its traffic. It took 45 minutes for one 8.5 mile trip. And for as many freeways as they have, they're all ridiculously well travelled. Guess that what happens with sprawl and a particularly car-heavy city. As for the sprawl, it took 1.5 hours to get outside of LA's influence on the way to San Diego. And its the same scene for those 90 minutes: suburbia (parts of LA included). The other gripe with LA is money - it costs a pretty penny to eat and drink in that town. And that's coming from a one year Chicagoan. And something that kind of annoyed me was the occasional exclusivity and smugness of some areas and people of LA. My opinion might be a bit biased since most of my time was around Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood. That said, there are some pretty ghetto areas too, especially around USC. But like I said: nice weather, beaches, and a more relaxed vibe to the area in general.

Pac NW

Really beautiful part of the country. Coming from pancake-flat Illinois, I can appreciate some hills, water, and trees...even better when all in one place! Got to check out the tourist spots: Pike Place Market (and the first Starbucks), Space Needle, Seattle Center, and an Elliot Bay cruise of the city. Got to check out a few nice parks too, each with pretty good views of the city: Kerry and Gasworks. The latter is a happening spot if you're into kite flying - made me realize that I'm pretty much an amateur when it comes to that. Regarding the former...I got to Kerry Park via bus, which dropped me of a few blocks short. No big deal, I've walked longer distances in my day. Wrong. These were a few blocks of severely steep hills...and I was heading up. Got up top and was sweatier and huffier than I'd like to admit. Also made it to a Mariners game. It's a nice modern park, but a bit separated from anything to do afterwards, a la US Cellular and Angel Stadium but not as bad.

We also made a day trip to Vancouver. Nice city, done in the Pac NW style: compact, on the water, and against some nice mountains. Made our way up to the Vancouver lookout, which bore a striking resemblance the Space Needle. Also headed over to Grouse mountain and proceeded to hike up for a bit. Alas, the mountain got the better of us - stupid 4000 foot rock. Grabbed dinner in the Gastown district. (For those keeping track, that's three places with "gas" in them.) An older, very walkable part of town with a decent collection of restaurants and bars. Overall, I liked the Pac NW quite a bit. What it lacks in beaches, it makes up for in scenery. Also a chill vibe to Seattle: similar to San Diego, with less surfer influence and more tech influence.

Would have liked to hit up the Bay Area and Vegas had I been in SoCal longer. Maybe next time. I'm pretty sure if I weren't in Chicago I'd prefer it out west vs. east (sorry Magic Castle psychic). Might be proved wrong though: heading out to DC, NYC, and Philly next week. I'm pretty excited, even though it'll be an ultra short trip.

Seattle from Kerry Park

Safeco Field

Seattle from Elliot Bay

Bike Hunting

I've been on the lookout for a bike for a little bit. In keeping with my laziness this summer, it's taken awhile for this effort to gain any momentum. I've recently overcome said inertia and have been heading out to different bike shops and test riding different bikes.

I've actually got a pretty narrow range of bikes that I'm looking for: used, reasonable quality, cheap price, road bike, and certain riding characteristics. It's a narrow and reasonable list, but makes it a bit harder to find the right bike. Between all that, reading up on bikes, shops' weird hours, using only the CTA, and checking out neighborhoods, this hasn't been the fastest process ever. Having said that, I've got it narrowed down to a few shops and bikes. If I have time tomorrow and/or it's not storming, I might actually make a purchase.

One of the biggest surprises to me is how helpful bike shops have been. Most haven't tried to push any bikes on me whatsoever. I'll give my price range for a used road bike and they'll legitimately try to accommodate me. There's no hassle, judgment, or anything of the sort. Beyond that, they're more than happy to answer my questions: seems most are excited to have new people in the cycling world and are not annoyed by newbie questions. There's no condescension or holier than thou whatsoever. Those two things have made this experience kinda fun so far, even entering it knowing pretty much nothing.

Another surprise to me has been the differences between bike types and individual bikes. Between mountains, hybrids, cruisers, and roads, things are noticeably different: handling, speed, and ride...especially between mountain and road bikes. And even within the same bike class, things such as handling, shifting, braking, and ride are different enough that even I notice them.

I mentioned earlier that only taking the CTA has slowed me down in getting a bike. True, but I'm in no mad rush to get this bike, or in general for that matter. It's been a great way to check out different neighborhoods. Between rumbling through on the L and buses and wandering on foot, it's been a nice, cheap way to see parts of the city...and I'm hoping a bike let's me do even more of that. Outside of downtown, Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. I've been to most of the higher profile ones, but bike hunting has let me see places I usually wouldn't be in.

So yeah, that's the majority of what I've been up to the past two weeks, outside of the usual weekenderies, chilling, Cubbies, and whatnot. Yes, I said Cubbies - it's amazing what fantasy baseball and a few games at Wrigley will do to a minor Cubs interest. The next week and a half I'll be out on the west coast though, so that's a nice change of pace. Planning/hoping to hang out in LA, San Diego, Seattle, and Vancouver - and am pretty pumped for the trip!