Prognosis: A little sore, but still good for another ride.
So how am I feeling, a day after making an eight-mile bicycle trip (13 km), which was not only my first long trip of the year but also now officially the longest amount I've ever bicycled in my life? Eh, not so bad, actually, besides being a little stiff and a little sore; don't forget, though, that eight-mile trip actually took me two and a half hours altogether, and I made something like 20 stops to take photos for my eventual Google map on the subject. So, it's not like I was exactly pushing myself yesterday, so it's not exactly unexpected that I'm not too worn out; but still, given it was my first long ride of the year, and was done exactly nine days after having oral surgery, and that the thought of putting in an eight-mile day a year ago when I was a smoker would've been a joke, no matter how slowly I took things, I'm grateful frankly that I could manage yesterday's trip at all, much less come out of it not too sore. (Of course, I did sleep 11 hours as well last night, which should for honesty's sake be noted. I'm such a decrepid old man, I swear.)
Anyway, I'm hoping this is all good news, as far as my plans to slowly increase my maximum distance this summer -- for example, the 16-mile trip I'm planning for Memorial Day (from my place in Uptown to Jackson Park on the southside, as well as Washington Park and the Midway); or the 30-mile trip I'm hoping to tackle by the end of the summer, from my place to the Chicago Botanical Gardens in Glencoe, via the North Branch national forest trail (and then back home by train via Metra, because you must be high if you think I can take a 60-mile bike ride in one day at this point in my life).
By the way, didn't want to let my muscles get all tight and spasmy today, so ended up taking another ride, although not nearly as long today of course -- just down to Intelligentsia Coffeehouse, via the lakefront path getting there, then a straight shoot up Broadway on the way back (total distance 4.25 miles, or 7 km). Here's a shot, for example, from the busy Belmont underpass in Lakeview, where I also shot a video for my eventual Google map; for those who don't know, one of the most magical things about the Lakeview area of the lakefront is that it was originally developed during the Victorian Age, and contains all kinds of intricate structures from that era like these grandiose apartment buildings you're seeing, most of which miraculously survived the years that Lakeview was a slum neighborhood (roughly 1950s to '80s -- post-war white flight ruined the neighborhood, punk-era gentrification saved it). Anyway, my eventual map will be getting a lot more into Lincoln Park and Lakeview's tony Victorian roots, and how elements of that spill all the way up into my neighborhood (for example, the golf course and tennis courts found near Waveland, originally created because of both activities' sudden popularity in the early 1900s), for anyone who's interested in learning more.
