4/30 Ride Recap -The Windiest Ride of the Season

Once again the wind was a big factor in our ride. We met up at Panera Bread in Wilmette with a huge group from the Evanston Bike Club heading to Cuba Road, our planned destination. However, with the forecast for the SSE wind to pick up from 14 mph to 24-26 mph by midday, a number of us talked Felix into changing our route so that the big wind would push us home. We made the somewhat dubious decision to ride south and take the Chicago Lakefront Bike Path. The logic of escaping the wind on the ride home by riding right into the teeth of it might have been a bit flawed. As we headed south, at times we struggled just to maintain a speed of 14 mph. However, we did make it to the the South Shore Club at the end of the path. The ride home with the wind at our back was swift. At one point, a rider who had fallen back a bit indicated "I was going 27.6 mph and you guys were becoming a dot." We had a couple of sprints that were over 30 mph on the wind aided trip home. Coming back along the Lakefront Bike Path at a wind aided speed and dodging all the other bikers, walkers, and joggers was quite the adventure.

A highlight of the ride was a stop at a French Bakery in Hyde Park that Rich led us to. Someone will have to help me out with the name of the bakery, but it must have been French because that was the only language the manager was speaking.