Bike the Drive

Today was my favorite bike ride in the City of Chicago, Bike the Drive. I have so much fun doing this ride that I look forward to it each and every year with a giddy, child-like exuberance. Then again, who wouldn't want to ride a bike right down the middle of Lake Shore Drive, car-free*?

I was about 10 miles into the ride itself (18 overall, as I rode downtown from home), heading north from the Museum of Science and Industry, going about 23 miles an hour when I heard a pop and felt pain. Fortunately for me, the pop I heard was not either of my knees, and the newfound pain was not from one of them, but from my head. It was a very acute pain and I knew I had to pull over.

Thinking that I had been hit by a rock or a piece of glass or some other kind of road debris, I took off my helmet, then my bandana. Stuck, by his stinger, to my bandana, was a bee. Which, in turn, of course, meant that he had stung your humble, and at the time, sweaty narrator.

I had pulled off the road next to a guy mowing the grass who happened to walk up to me, having seen me stop in apparent pain. I asked him if I was bleeding, or if there was some mark on my head. "There's a big red mark, but not blood." That was a relief. I explained to him what I had deduced had happened. "You should be more careful."

Wait. I should be more careful? How in the world could I have anticipated a bee flying along Lake Shore Drive while I was riding up it? This was just plain dumb luck, for both myself and the bee who got stuck with a bald, bandanaed head covered with a helmet, and just got stuck in one of the many air vents. Basically the equivalent of a bird being sucked into a jet engine, just without all the rotors.

I will post pictures sometime this week, as there were numerous snipers out there, some even set up camp in between lanes. I'm sure that I had my picture taken at least 5-6 times, so if I can find those shots, I will post them.

In the meantime, I'm going back to trying to rid myself of this headache and find a way for my cat to be comfortable on this rather hot day.

*NOTE: I definitely do not mean carefree. I mean without cars.