Chicago Lakefront, May 24

For at least the early part of this summer I will be doing more biking than swimming. Today was a rare second 90 degree May day so I decided to bike the lakefront trail on the the theory, which proved correct, that it would be cooler than the suburbs. I ended up doing a round trip from Hollywood beach on the far north end of the trail to Ohio St. starting and ending at Irving Park. There were crowds at all the beaches and some people wading but only at Ohio St did I see a few serious wetsuit swimmers. Unfortunately I had not brought my swim gear so was only able to wade knee deep to take a temperature reading but with the hot sun and light east wind keeping the shore water near shore I measured 62 at Ohio Street. I did talk to a wetsuiter exiting the water and she seemed surprised when I told her that I had a reading over 60, so maybe it was colder further out. But other than the cold she seemed happy. I also took a similar reading at Hollywood beach and it was 60, still not bad for May. Few people were even wading there.

This summer there is pay parking (often $1 per hour and managed by the same company that does the new Chicago street meters) at many of the lots. But there is still plenty of free parking on weekdays, especially up in the Wilson beach area. The Irving Park lot is still free Monday -- Thursday before 6PM. I stopped at a "Mexican restaurant" in the bath house at Wilson and ordered a steak taco. It was surprisingly good and the slice of lime that came with it really hit the spot.