Ohio Street, June 30

Back in Chicago the water temperature reports are all in the 70's, so even though Lake season does not usually start until July 4 I figured I better check this out. I couldn't go early so I parked at Wilson Ave and biked down, arriving at the beach about 10:30. Bike parking was at a premium but not as bad as North Avenue which was charging $5 for bike parking. Two things stood out about the water, there wasn't much and what there was was warm. I had to go far out, just like in Canada, to get to a reasonable swimming depth. This year there are lane lines all the way past Chicago Ave but with breaks -- 50 meters line then 50 meters no line. Where the lines were the depth never got much above waist deep (and I am short, a real tall guy might scrape the bottom a lot). Going further out it did get a little deeper, I even found a spot over my head, but not by much. Fortunately these lines do not seem intended to mark the limits of the swimming area. The other thing about the water is that it was warm, by shore it was 75 and further in a cooler 74 with even a few isolated cooler spots. The water was mostly flat with some gentle swells farther out towards Oak Street. With shallow water it apparently heats up fast in this hot weather although that did not deter all the wetsuit wearers. Historically 75 is about as warm as we can expect of the lake so it will be interesting to see what the rest of the summer is like.

Another change at Ohio street is a fancy restaurant on the beach with waiters and all. There didn't seem to be any takers this morning. This sort of thing seems to be popping up all along the lakeshore.