Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Summer has finally arrived

But not for long, I guess

Yesterday we hit 90 or thereabouts, although the humidity was not bad so it was not oppressive. 

However I see that the upcoming forecast is getting cooler again though. 83 today, 54 on Friday. 

Well, that’s May in Chicago for you. There will be time for sweating and discomfort later this summer, I’m pretty sure.

After getting out on the bike 3-4 times in March - April but not at all in the last 4 weeks I finally got out for a couple of hour long rides on Thursday and Saturday, and will do one this afternoon. 

Biking is my primary source of exercise in the warmer months — I aim for 3-4x per week, 45 minutes or more. This amount does a lot of good for my metabolism, cardiovascular system, leg strength, mood and emotional state, and sleep quality. 

About 20 years ago I had a job that was about 8 miles away and accessible by bike path, so I decided to start riding to work twice a week. This worked great, and kept me in pretty good shape. 

The only tricky parts were drying off at work and having dry clothes to wear, and making sure I had enough calories to handle the ride home during the hotter part of the day. I used powder and paper towels plus a change of clothes for the first challenge, and found that the best solution for the second was a small bag of vending machine potato chips right before I left. The salt, carbs and fat were perfect for energy.


Energy food looks like this sometimes. Don’t listen to “experts”. Your body knows different.

I did this bike to work twice a week from May - September for about 10 years at two different jobs that were pretty close to each other. Sadly that came to an end when I got one of those “work from home” jobs that everyone seems to love so much.

Working from home does not provide this opportunity. Keep that in mind.

Memorial Day is coming up

Did you know it’s literally one of the most important days on the calendar? I’ll post an essay about that on Thursday.

Enjoy your Tuesday friends.