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So my Dad paid me a visit this past friday, and not only did I get him out on a bike, but he also gave me a huge sponsorship! Thanks Dad! I lent him my mountain bike (I think it's more comfortable than my road bike and I also think it takes some time to build up a rear-end tolerance for it) - and we rode to a bike shop for a helmet. I also picked up some baggy bike shorts and a mini-pump for emergency use (hopefully I'll never have to use it!). Our next stop - the Taste of Chicago! We stopped in for a quick bite of lunch and then we headed back home. Round trip, about 20 miles. It was a nice leisurely pace hovering around 10 mph, and we had some good time catching up while riding.

Did I mention I picked up some baggy bike shorts? Now I'm going to be able to ride my bike to work again! I had been hesitant to ride to my new job because it's much more corporate -I'd feel a little embarrassed walking into the office in my spandex. Baggy shorts are definitely the way to go! I also now (thanks to my Mom) have a great gore-tex biking jacket, so I won't even have an excuse if it's raining :) Stay tuned to see how soon I actually ride in! :)

The new job has a lot of my time and energy sucked away.. :(

As far as training, the last month has been terrible! I had a really bad cold and the weather was horrid, so up until about week ago, I haven't been on my bike all that much. Last week, I did force myself out on my bike. My original intention was to ride maybe 10, possibly 20 miles. After about 8, I felt so good that I decided to call up a friend (who lived pretty close to that 8 mile point). As luck would have it, he was just getting ready to go out on his bike. We met up a few minutes later, rode down the Lake Shore Bike Path to the Museum of Science and Industry (and actually just a bit beyond that). We took a break at a promontory looking out over the lake, shivered a bit (I was cold!), turned around and headed back. All tolled, about 35 miles. Nothing too special about that ride - I'm getting a little bored with the bike path :)

This past weekend, I finally got Lisa, my girlfriend, out on a ride with me! I lent her my mountain bike, bought her a helmet, and we rode down to Bluesfest on Saturday. We took it easy because it was her first time on a bike in years. That was about 13 miles worth of riding. Then the next day, I decided to do all my errands on my bike - I rode to Lisa's apartment to put up shelves, I then rode to one of my clients' office to do some work, and then I sprinted (as best I could wih the stoplights along the route) back home for a total of about 20 miles. I think this is significant, because I rode for at least 2 hours each day, and they were back to back. I'm definitely going to be working more back-to-back days into my schedule as the summer continues, because the vaccine ride has 5 days, back to back, with some fairly hefty mileage.