Whoa! Cyclist on LSD!

[Lise]

No, not that kind of LSD. Lake Shore Drive, here in Chicago. I left the chiropractor's office, evidently a bit out of it. Decided that since I was downtown anyway, I might as well head south a bit on the lakefront path. It's a gorgeous day, I was testing out my new Sugar Knickers and Icebreaker shirt.

I ride up the hill on Roosevelt Rd, dum-de-dum-de-dum, stopped at the light, doodley-doodley-do, de-dum, oh hey, I should be over there, on the sidewalk, so I can go under LSD and get onto the path. WHOA! WHOOPS! Traffic's moving! I'm in the middle of two lanes, so, I start moving, too! Thinking maybe I can hop off onto a sidewalk ... at ... some ... point... NO! CRUD! I'M ON LSD! A rather fast moving, cars only road. As soon as there's grass to the right of me, I pull onto the 3' "shoulder", heave my bike over the guard rail, and scramble my butt over after it. Yikes. I was right at a curve where no one would expect a bike to be on the road. I think of myself as a pretty savvy city rider, but not today!

After slowing down my heart rate, I headed south. The Gold Star Memorial Park is open, between Soldier Field and the lake. It's a memorial to fallen police officers. For the past two years, I've run a 5K in the spring to raise money for this memorial. They opened it a few weeks ago, and today was my first visit. It's beautiful, very peaceful and reflective. If you get to Chicago, please go south of the beautiful museum campus, just a little ways. You don't want to miss this.

[Bruno28]

Geez - glad you're ok. I think I remember trying to figure how to get across that road on my visit to Chicago many years ago.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Whoo hooo! That's the way to get the adrenaline pumping!

[Brina]

oh, scary. that would freak me out.

that park is lovely, we ran through it during the accenture tri.

[HillSlugger]

I lived in Chicago from 1985-1991. Knowing what LSD is like you are fortunate to have gotten off it without getting hurt. Glad you're OK.

[Lise]

It was so freaky to find myself riding with the cars on LSD. And I couldn't get off right away, because the road goes over the underpass that I was supposed to be on. I had to keep riding until I got to a place I could jump over. I'd been at the chiro for my sore elbow, so lifting the bike over the guard rail was not easy, but the extra adrenaline sure helped! Then I realized I was on a grassy hill, and needed to get down on my skinny tires. At least I was out of the way of the cars. That was scary. Whew.