Last night.
First of all- I bike to the train, take the train almost the entire length of the tracks, and bike home. This is my route home.
It takes me 1 hour and 40 minutes. I know this because I've been timing it every day the past two weeks. The fastest it took me was an hour 32 minutes, the slowest an hour 43.
But yesterday, the train stopped at Hubbard Woods, 3 or 4 stops after I get on. I work 35 miles from where I live. All they could tell us was that the trains had all stopped, and they didn't know how long it would be until they moved again. I really wanted to be home by 7 so I could go to bible study, which, let me tell you, seems impossible to get to. Something ALWAYS seems to happen on Fridays. Once, my bike was stolen. Several times, I was sick with a fever. I've forgotten all the other reasons, but let's just say, it's impossible for me to go. They have it every two weeks, and the weeks they don't have it, nothing happens on those Fridays. Go figure.
Anyways, so the train stopped and I turned to the man next to me and said, "of course this never happens on the way to work." He roared with laughter and joked that of course it's also a Friday, and we kavetched. Then I looked up the distance on my phone from Hubbard Woods to my apartment- about 16 miles from what I could tell. Bikeable. SO I made the decision to get off and bike- I really didn't want to sit on a train full of people for who knows how long when I had a headache, was hungry, and just wanted to get home.
I started on the trail. There is a nice bike trail in the northern suburbs, but they end after about 5 miles and you need to take a busier road, Sheridan road, through the rest of the burbs. I have never done this before, and the furthest I've biked at once was 12 miles before this. But, I had most of the proper gear besides bike shorts, and it was still light out, and I had been biking an hour every day the past two weeks with my commute, so I felt strong. Even though I was super hungry, and I realized I would probably need to stop for food along the way.
And I saw some cool things. This temple:
I stopped and looked at the lake when I finally reached it and took some photos. This is me and my bike:
The line of lights hanging in the sky are planes coming in to land at o'Hare. They looked like they were hung on clouds, just dangling lightbulbs in a row over the lake.
But then it got dark. And cold. And along the lake the air was moist, cold, and heavy. I didn't have a bike lock, only bungee cords, so I bungeed my bike to a bike rack and hoped no one would take it, and ran in to a corner mart, grabbed some candy and ran out. I bought three chocolate bars and wolfed two of them down.
Again, I hadn't done this route before at all, not even driven it, so I had only a faint idea of where to go- just mainly to head south. I followed Sheridan road when the trail ran out, down through Northwestern campus, through Loyola, past mansions and dangerous neighborhoods, and saw the transition from country to rich suburbs, to inner city. All along the Hancock tower, which I live in the shadow of, grew larger, and that was my cue that I was going the right way. I watched other bikers going my direction and at times followed them and took their shortcuts. I had to stop several times and look up directions, but never got completely lost. I didn't take the absolute fastest way, but it wasn't too far off course. Whenever I stopped I wanted to quit, and fatigue would settle in, and the desire to just start crying because I was so cold and exhausted and felt sorry for myself. To push myself through this, I just told myself to keep moving, to not ever stop, to keep my legs going, which oddly didn't hurt and were full of adrenaline. I prayed the cars would see me and not hit me, and no one would open their doors in my face. I dodged giant potholes, weaved through traffic, and took in as much as I possibly could, while focusing on the things that meant my survival- what other cars were doing, traffic lights, street signs, shady characters that would stare for too long.
But all along the way, all I wanted to do was stop. I kept picturing my warm room, a cup of hot tea, and a tv show on my laptop. This is what I wanted to get back to, as fast as possible.
And it worked. And I made it. And I saw two huge raccoons. And countless other things. Biking is like driving with no windshield and no barrier between you and the world- I heard people laughing, shouting, doors creaking open, trees shuddering in the wind, cars clunking by, children playing, the waves on the shore of the lake. To bike is to experience.
It was 19 miles. I can't say it was the best decision. I can't say I'll ever do that again. I now realize the value of biking shorts. Oh hell yeah do I realize the value of biking shorts. It took me 2 and a half hours of biking, with stopping 3 times for more than 5 minutes.
But I did it.
My route: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/29936894/?open_ive_done=1
What happened on the tracks (man killed): http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-metra-train-stopped-due-to-pedestrian-incident-20110318,0,2380072.story
wow
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