Ohio Street, July 14

Ken and I happened to be swimming in our "new" 100 ft pool this morning and after discussing our schedule for the day realized we would both be at or near the lake around noon. We decided to meet and do a short swim. Because I was having bike repairs on North Avenue I parked at Diversey harbor which now has the "Mayor Daley" meters. It cost $6 for 3 hours which was not awful for visiting the loop. I rode down on my bike and met Ken at Ohio St at 12:30. We did a short swim (200 yd out and back by my bike GPS) and since we still had time did that again for a total of about half a mile. The water felt cold getting in, perhaps because I had been riding in the sun and perhaps because of our earlier workout in an 81 degree pool. But after a bit it felt fine, in fact it measured out at 75 F where we were near the beach. Ken remarked that he had swum further out earlier in the week and found pockets of cool. In fact we have been very lucky that the warm water has stayed on the Chicago side of the Lake for so long, Michigan City had an official shore water temperature of 49 today!

Otherwise conditions were not great. There was a strong wind from the Lake with chop and small waves. The water was cloudy with underwater visibility about to your fingers. But a noon time Lake swim is always a treat and today was no exception.

The bad news is that 12 hours later I was hit hard with an algae allergy. So I think I will limit my lake swimming a bit until the water cools off.