Our first May meetup came agonizingly close to shattering the 50F ceiling. But even though the late April shenanigans of Old Man Winter managed to temper the lake a bit, he couldn’t stop Spring
After being thwarted last week from my much coveted Sunday swim, I was delighted to see a calm lake to my left while southbound on Lake Shore Drive. And even though I had plenty of time before sunrise, I still found myself stepping on the accelerator so as not to miss out on the big show.
Last week I was lucky enough to find parking on Astor Street. I ended up over by Clark Street this time, so I did a brisk Olympic walk out to L1 as I could already see the colors changing on the horizon.
The lake was perfectly calm and at a level that I have not seen since I’ve been coming out to L1. I took a quick surface temperature reading which came back at 49.6F – identical to my in-swim reading. Oh so close but still in the sub-50F basement!
I originally planned to go with just my jammers and swim cap, but I could feel a painful sting on my lower legs as I descended the ladder. So I threw on a neoprene short sleeve top to take the edge off of the cold.
Despite the placid water, there must have been a slight southbound current as I made it out to the 1/8 mile point very quickly. But the swim back to L1 was pretty easy as well, so I suspect that it had more to do with the lack of waves and swells.
We stuck around for a short while after the swim and warmed up in the intense and abundant sunshine. By then the air temperature was flirting with 50F, so I could have stayed out there all morning. But the arrival of Spring has awakened more than just the lakefront – including a very vigorous yard and garden that will now be demanding my attention for quite some time.
Happy May!
