the first ride outside

today i was able to free my bike from the death grip of the indoor trainer and get outside for a long peaceful ride. i had great hopes when it said the temperature was 57 degrees. dressed myself in layers, felt nice and warm. however, i think the slight east/south/east wind was pulling some cold from the lake and dropped the temp just a little bit. needless to say, the changing scenery was far better than anything inside.

somewhere around mile 25 i paused to take some pictures of the sky line and partially frozen lake... just to prove to any naysayers that i was actually outside today riding. well here i am. and there is the frozen lake in the background. it really was a spectacular day, completely blue sky, slight wind, very relaxing.

out on my ride i ran into several of my friends who were out running and enjoying the weather as well.

maybe this is a sign of things to come, maybe the weather might actually be warming up...but then again it is still march in chicago which means that we are probably still in for another snowstorm.

time to go find some toe covers for my shoes, and maybe some warmer gloves, everything else stayed nice and toasty warm.