June 9, 2015 – Sunny, 85 degrees

Miles Today: 36

Miles to Date: 1,968

States to Date: 10

Today was day of skirting the suburbs and visiting friends, old and new. It began with breakfast with my high school buddy David and his fiancé Charlene. We went to visit David’s latest commercial construction project. I pedaled to Glen Ellyn, where I had lunch with Eliza Klein, my first meeting with a facebook friend and immigration attorney. After a writing break I cycled over to Mount Prospect to enjoy dinner and stay with my Cambridge friend’s Mark and Pandora Brewer. My route included some lovely bike paths, shady residential streets, major commercial thoroughfares, and a few miles through an industrial park near O’Hare Airport. Not all picturesque, but all interesting.

Along the way I passed dozens (hundreds?) of Chicago’s most dubious contribution to our architectural vocabulary – the split-level. I grew up in one; everything is always a few steps away from where you want to be. But Chicago has more variety than anyplace else.