Something to look forward to at the end of your Triathlon… Chicago’s BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN. Such a beautiful landmark in the center of Grant Park. Beautiful design, amazing craftsmanship & perfect photo-ops for all of the tourists to Chicago… and for those of us that live here too!!!

First there was the check-in ChiTri Expo… always fun with my friend Tracy!

But then it was race time…

It was another hot & sweaty day down on the lakefront… but this time there a good reason! Today was the CHICAGO TRIATHLON… swim, bike & run! The weather started out nice with still waters & a cool breeze for the swim… which I must admit was surprisingly “calm” considering it was my first time swimming in the lake since the last Triathlon!!! And by swimming, I mean “flailing about in a forward direction”!!! HA!!! The bike is always fun – although the headwinds heading back south were pretty strong until you get to go underground to ride on Lower Wacker Drive… which is my favorite!!! It’s like riding through the BatCave!!! But by the time I made it to the run, the temps were reaching the 90’s with blazing sun for most of the route through Museum Campus along the lake! Tough… but we finished… finally… all hot & sweaty! Another one done… always fun playing at the ChiTri with my “racing” pal Tracy Wanatowicz… and our annual post-race photo-shoot at Buckingham Fountain!!!

Dark & moody without much chance for a sunrise this morning! Just a lot of clouded drama over the lakefront… reflecting on the quietly rippled water. Enough clouds to make part of the skyline “disappear” into the clouds.

Also exciting this morning… finding that some of the bike trail “intersections” have been repainted… with hopefully more to come!!! Clearly designating the green safety zone for cars crossing the path. As well as a clear separation of the BIKE trail versus the RUNNING path. A HUGE Thank You from all of us that use the lakefront trail every day!

And this is why we can’t have nice things! HA!

Not so sure about this “art installation?” along the lakefront. It looks like there were several DIVVY bikes dragged out of the lake… and then put into a “cage” for safe keeping? But then there’s nothing to close the cage? Not quite sure why they didn’t just call DIVVY to take their bikes away when they were pulled out.

And more importantly… why were they even tossed into the lake in the first place?!!!

Meanwhile, back over the City skyline…

Buildings were being obscured by a dark & thick layer of clouds. The clouds over the lake were beautiful & colorful… the ones hovering over the City not so much. I kinda love when the tops of the skyscrapers disappear into the clouds!

And I always find it funny when the tops of the skyline disappear into the clouds… because I’m always thinking of those people who paid a ton of money for their gorgeous view of the City… and it’s GONE today!!! Waking up to sheer grayness everywhere they look out through their expensive windows!!! HA!!!

Just a little glimpse of the NASCAR “craziness” going on downtown this weekend. If you look close, you can see just a smidge of Buckingham Fountain down in the bottom right corner between all of the tents, semi’s, portos & huge red Grandstands built for the NASCAR Road Race spectators this weekend.

When you’re headed out of town for the day… and feelin’ like a race car driver on the NASCAR course for this weekend’s race in Chicago!

It was quite splash-splashy along the lakefront this afternoon. All of the beaches were flying red caution flags as the waves were dangerously high. But I didn’t care… clear skies & smooth sailing on my newly fixed-up “non-crunchy” bike all along the lakefront bike trail!