Today I went down to the Bike the Drive on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. I got up at 3:30 to wait for the Dempsey’s, who picked me up a little after 4. We drove down to Millennium Park, and after biking the wrong way, arrived at the meeting place at 5:20, only ten minutes before the race started and 20 minutes after we were supposed to be there. But all we had to do was check with the police that the barricades had been put up, so there wasn’t any problem. At least we didn’t get road kill duty like John and Bill Swee did.
We started biking about 15 minutes after the main pack, and because of that we spent most of the time passing people up, because we went at about 20-22 mph. The ride was a big circuit that started by going south on LSD 7.5 miles, past U of C and the Museum of Science and Industry. Then it turned around and went back north. Some people only went 15 miles, but even the full 30 was a short ride for us. We then headed 7.5 miles north, past the Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, the harbor, and Navy pier. At the northern turnaround point after 22.5 miles our average was 19.9 miles per hour. However, when we turned around we were met by a strong south wind driving the rain in our faces, so by the end of the ride our average had plummeted to 18.5 miles per hour, which is still 3 mph faster than our average ride.
We finished the ride wet but happy, because it wouldn’t have been a good bike ride without SOME suffering, and snagged some Clif bars and water on the way out.
Then we went to the Dempsey’s Grandma’ apartment, where we ate, drank and showered before heading over to the 11:30 Mass at St. John Vianney. Sean, Brendan, Matt and I all served there, and it was rather interesting having a Tridentine Mass said in the church that was very obviously built in the 60s. They had really hot cassocks too.
After that Sean and Brendan had to go referee, so they dropped me off in Mundelein and I biked another 5 miles home.
It was a good biking day.

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I started work last week at Sunset Foods. I work in the Deli 8 hours a day, 4 days a week. it's pretty boring work, but it pays well and I get to sample some really good food. The people are nice, but most of them aren't that interested in talking or are rather boring. However, there i a new guy in the DEli, Matt, a student at Marquette, who likes the Cubs and Cycling, and I also recently learened that he's a lapsed Cathlic. I'll have to find out why he fell away and maybe see if I can help him any.

Last Monday the Presidential Scholar Program sent me a letter saying that I failed to make it to the finalist round, and I was only a semi-finalist. Oh well, being one of the top 550 seniors in the country out of 2.2 million isn't that bad.

Last Saturday was the second ride of the Cantian ryders. We decided this time that we wanted a fast ride for part of the time, so we rode 10 miles south on the Lake Shore past with Jaun, then 10 miles North. Bill and I had a rpetty interesting discussion about politics and religion during that time, specifically about some fo the recent debates on BOL. Then we dropped off Jaun, who had done very well for his second ride, and zoomed up to Evanston. And I mean zoomed. We were going 19-21 mph most of the time, which is absolutely cruising on a bike. We stopped in Evanston for lunch at Jamba Juice and PotBelly's sandwiches. John was able to get a 20% discount at Jamba with his NW student ID, which was very nice. After about 30 minutes we had finished our sandwiches and poured wht was left of our smoothies into our water bottles and headed north again, still going at a very fast rate, even though the hills and ravines in Highland Park. We were all really feeling "the burn" for the last 15 miles though, but that's what we love about biking; you don't bike to have fun, you bike for pain. Anyway, we got to the Swee's about 4:00, and then we all played 007 on their gamecube for an hour till my dad picker me up. Joe is very good, but it the QJet and Qclaw are on I can still draw even with him. And my accuracy is better than anyone's. Anyway, very fun day.

Today was the first bike ride on the seaon I did with the Cantian Ryders. We went from St. John Cantius after choir practice, and it was raining with a hard wind coming out of the north at about 15-20 mph, so the first 9 miles along the lake front weren't to great. Juan, a new rider, had a really bad bike (heavier than mine, with low tires) so he was going REALLY slow. Eventually Joe, and Juan were left behind with Sean and John looking after them, while Bill, Richard and I cruised ahead. We made amazing time after that, because the wind died down a bit and we weren't hindered by the slow ones. Our average before then was about 11 mph (even though we rode ahead and stopped frequently, Juan's was probably about 8), but after that it picked up to a respectable 14. We even found a shortcut near Ravinia that took us though Highland park and saved a mile going to the Swees. We arrived at their house for a Barbeque with frozen feet and hands, only the find that they expected better weather and had prepared cold lemonade and ham sandwiches...ah well, it's the thought that counts, and they did have a nice warm fire. :D After dinner we had a meeting and discussed our plans for the season, Bill, Sean, and John were trying to get me to go on the GITAP, but i don't know if I'll be able to spare the time or money. Then Joe, Juan, and I played 007 on the Swee's gamecube, which was very fun, and we were fairly evenly matched, even later when John came and replaced Juan. It was a pretty good day.