With a bit of a chill in the air, it was a beautiful morning along the lakefront. Nice clouds, dramatic sunrise & fun waves crashing in! And a great chance to work out some of that post-race lactic acid & loosen up my leg muscles. It felt great to get out on my bike… and my legs feel much better now! And I’m just happy we didn’t have these waves crashing in for Sunday’s triathlon swim in the lake!!!

Thank you Alaska…
it’s been an AMAZING week!!!

Special thanks to the Fairbanks Potters Guild for making my first Alaska adventure possible. We had a great time making pots & stamping clay together!!! And even bigger THANKS to Theresa for coordinating & pulling it all together… as well as being my personal tour guide. She was fantastic!!!

With an overwhelming amount of clouds overtaking the sky this morning, I had little hope of seeing ANY sunrise at all … I even contemplated going back to bed without a hope a good sunrise… HA!!! Instead I sucked it up… put on my helmet & headed out the door. Clouds, clouds & more clouds. It was a very welcome surprise towards the end of my ride when the clouds dissipated just enough for a brief, but beautiful skyshow. So glad I decided to go for that ride this morning!!!

With a nice collection of clouds, the morning sky was colorful & dramatic. With the wind blowing in off the lake & the waves back along the shoreline… portions of the ride were a bit tougher than normal. But the tailwind sections were great fun! Another great start to another great day!

Warm & humid… getting an early start before the oppressive heatwave kicks in today! Another sweaty morning along the lake… looking forward to an air-conditioned day in the studio. Got a lot to do today… getting ready to head up to Alaska next weekend!!! Can’t believe it’s almost here already!!!

Not much of a cloud show today… just a thick layer of clouds lying low on the horizon. With a delayed sunrise, it was more “about the bike” for today’s photo shoot. Had to do something to keep them interesting, right? Otherwise it would have been just a dark cloud band & some water?!

The waves have settled down & we finally got some smooth rippled reflections. A quiet morning along the lake… no wind, no waves, no drama. Just a beautiful sunrise ride!

Another splashy morning along the lakefront. Humid & hazy to start… only to be overshadowed by some fun waves splashing up & over the “cement beach” along Oak Street Beach.

Sure, we finally got some beautiful sunrise reflections… but I’m getting a little tired of this Canadian wildfire haze still hanging around Chicago. The hazy horizon, the delayed sunrise & the glowing red sun. It was cool at first… but I’m ready for some clear skies & colorful clouds again! Just sayin’…

Another red sun morning with the Canadian wildfire smoke still hanging around over the lake. Wispy clouds creating colorful reflections waiting to reveal a big “red ball” of a sunrise!