Aftermath of the Storm

Last night's ride was strange, sad, and interesting. My friend had called me to warn me either not to ride up north on Sheridan or to at least ride my mountain bike. She had driven up there in the morning and said there were trees down everywhere, and lots of sticks and branches in the road. Then she called again later to tell me that it was getting cleaned up but that were ComEd and forestry trucks parked all over the road (usually no parking on that road). After the sun came out at the end of the day I felt compelled to go for an early evening ride.

The devastation could be seen everywhere. Majestic old trees that have been here for centuries were down. You could tell that many had been thick and sturdy, and very tall, but perhaps their very size made them vulnerable to the 70+ mph winds next to the lake. Some were split, some had cracked in half, and many had been torn right out of the ground. You could see the roots with a big clump of dirt clinging to them. My friend is sensitive to energy fields, and she told me that she could feel the pain and devastation of the trees as she was driving along. Yard after yard had big piles of sawed up logs next to the street waiting to be picked up. The tree guys had obviously been hard at work all day.

I read that a very special old "Indian Trail" tree in someone's yard in Kenilworth blew down. A 80- foot white oak, the Tribune called it "an increasingly rare historic landmark that American Indians had used nearly two centuries ago as a guide for safe passage as they traversed the land. Now that piece of history is forever lost."

As I left home I saw a cyclist down the street, but couldn't see the jersey. Turns out it was Scott M., who I haven't seen in a month or so. It was great to catch up with him. He's been traveling a lot for work. He was on a schedule, so after 25 minutes or so he went on ahead. On the way back I ran into Bob D., former Active Endeavors owner and sponsor, and found that he was moving to Portland in a week. He'll be working for Horny Toad out there. Good Luck to Bob and his family! I'm sorry that he's moving away, but it sounds like he and his family are really excited about it. I am going to guess that he has lived here for 25 or so years?!! Another revolution of the revolving door that is E-town....

I am almost ready to leave for Rhinelander. The one thing that is bothering me is that my front brake wasn't working right after the mud race last weekend, and the shop wasn't able to get all the way it back to normal. I found this out yesterday afternoon when I went to pick it up. My fault for not checking things out the minute I got home from the race. Not that it would have been ready for the weekend either way. They don't bleed this type of brake, I just found out, so they'll have to send it in next week. I'd prefer to take this bike, but I don't know if it's going to be ok for this race. Might have to get the other one ready to go.

I hope everyone's basement, yard, and whatever else got damaged, has recovered from the storms!!