Day 19 - July 10 - Arlington Heights Il to Racine WI - coolest day yet with wind off the lake

 Weather - 74F (23C) at 8am with 80% humidity in Arlington Heights but the temperature dropped as I rode east towards Lake Michigan from where the cool NE wind came.  The contrast is often seen in the Chicago area with inland areas warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter that places along the lake front.  The sun was in and out all day but the wind was consistent from the NE and picked up quite a bit at times, thus slowing me quite a bit.  Overall, it was the coolest day of this trip with the high temperature only reaching about 75F (24C).


Distance:61.8miles (99kms)

Elevation gained: 915 feet (279 meters)

Average Moving Speed: 12.2mph (19.6k[h) but since a lot of this was slowing for lights, kids on bikes etc.

Calories expended: 2196

Estimates sweat loss: 5.11 liters  (174 fluid oz)

Shvitz Index:3/10 due to the cooling effect of the constant head wind and the moderate temperatures.


The route today took me first to the graves of my parents-in-law.  It was a busy day at Shalom with at least five burials being prepared at 8:30am.  Then I rode east towards Lake Michigan on busy streets before heading north to Wisconsin mostly on bike paths.  The only real elevation changes were overpasses and some streets in Highland Park

After going back to my parents-in-law former home, it was time to get on the bike path that I know well from many visits to the North Shore.  I did see a funny sight in a convertible that I was standing behind at a red light.



Highland Park has a lot of signs exhorting people to 'care' - it reminded me a bit of Soviet or the Communist Party of China propaganda posters.


The bike path from Evanston all the way north to Kenosha follows the busy commuter railway line and

goes in and out of station parking lots and many wealthy suburbs and a few not-so-well-off



. 


 One interesting development is the conversion of the large military base of Fort Sheridan into an incorporated planned community.  The old officer homes are now privately owned.


Just after I stopped to admire the station at Lanke Forest and now smooth and debris-free the Robert McClory bike path is compared to those I have ridden on the southwest and west suburbs, I hear that ''whishing' sound that no cyclists likes to hear.  I pulled over and extracted a small sharp piece of glass that had lodged in the groove of the tire.  Luckily it was a cool day, and sitting in the shade at the station, I soon replaced the tube and blew it to nearly the suggested PSI.


The bike path had a lot of kids on electric scooters and electric cycles till I got the northern end of it at Kenosha.  There the path became a lot less busy and seemingly more rural.



When I stopped to take a photo of the 'entering Wisconsin' sign on the path, I was attacked by mosquitoes.  Welcome to our patch.



Even without seeing the sign, I knew that I was in Wisconsin since this corner bar with the Old Style sign in Kenosha typifies the state for me.



Tomorrow I plan to traverse the Milwaukee metro area and I hope it will be easy navigation and less traffic since it's a Saturday.  The weather forecast is for continued cool weather with the NE winds continuing to blow off the lake. So it will be slow going.


Comments

  1. AKJuly 11, 2026 at 4:30 AM

    The coolest day must have felt almost Artic to you after temperatures on most of the journey . In contrast, it’s probably about 72f here, just after noon, and its already too hot for me

    ReplyDelete

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