Been awhile since I’ve posted. Not much riding. Between a busy work schedule, some travel and – if the weather man is right – today is the 26th out of the last 29 days we’ve had some rain.

If you’ve ever spent any time in the summer in Texas you’ll know that it just doesn’t rain that much. This is weird. And that stat above doesn’t count all the rain in May and June. I don’t mind so much though because the alternative at this time of year is brutal and unrelenting heat. Still, all this rain is driving me nuts.

Since my last post I took a short break away from Austin the weekend before this last one and sampled a little life in the big city. Chicago that is. Just a whirlwind trip, joining K on a visit to see her son.

I caught the above picture at a bicycle shop there named Cycle Smithy. They had some great old bikes hanging throughout the store.

More specifically, we spent our time in Lincoln Park. Brian lives in a cool tree-lined neighborhood that’s walking distance to just about anything you need.

Would have loved to say we got a chance to rent some bikes and tool around the city but we opted instead for some extended wandering by foot. Got over to the lakeshore that Sat morning and joined what seemed like the rest of the city trying to catch a breeze at the beach. Tons of cyclists, skaters, runners, volleyball… Nice weather to get out. Just no one in the water. Apparently a ban on swimming at the moment.

Of course we managed to also watch just a bit of the Tour, which started that weekend. Great sprint finish on that first day and some good racing to watch since as well.

Had some great food in Brian’s neighborhood. RoseAngelis, a nice little Italian place is close by. We were fortunate to get a table outside. Our eyes were a bit bigger than our stomachs even after all the walking. We got some ravioli, talapia and some other filled pasta dish. Plus, an order of calamari and some caprese salad and a tasty chianti. There were plenty of leftovers.

Later it was over to Wrigleyville and a concert in the street by a U2 cover band, followed by a visit to a backyard birthday party that Brian had been invited to. We packed a lot into the day.

As if we could possibly be hungry again, we made the short walk over to a very cool little place called Sweets & Savories for brunch on Sunday morning.

Here’s a nice shot of the city I got on our walk: