Tuesday, August 1st: new month, new bike forecast. Is it good? Is it bad? Let’s find out.

(It’s good, by the way.)

TUESDAY WEATHER INFOGRAPHIC:

Overall: high 80, low 67, calm winds, mostly cloudy, 15% chance of rain, most likely around 1pm

AM: mid 70s, partly cloudy, calm winds, real nice but 10% chance of rain

PM: high 70s, mostly cloudy, 15% chance of rain

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How pleasant is it?

That pleasant.

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In recent bike news:

• Check out John Greenfield’s overview of Milwaukee Avenue improvements at Streetsblog Chicago

• The NYC Department of Transportation says cycling safety has improved thanks to a greater number of riders on the street. Other findings of interest to Chicagoans:

-“The vast majority of cyclist fatalities occur on streets without bicycle facilities.”

-“The launch of Citi Bike [i.e., bike share] coincided with a drop in cyclist KSI [killed or severely injured] within the bike share area.”

-“The overwhelming majority of cyclist fatalities and cyclist KSI occurred at intersections”

• On the LFT:

#bikechi: 1. New traffic pattern for #chiLFT at Oak-Ohio puts everyone near lake. Stay dry! 2. Beautiful blacktop Fullerton-North (not open) 

— #BikeCHI (@BikeCHInorth) July 31, 2017

Seems awfully narrow. Hmmm.

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Spotted on the road:

Escaped pet rabbit, caught and given to local shelter, where someone had apparently called about a lost rabbit. We assume the story had a happy ending, but we can’t say for sure.

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STREET CLOSURES

and

PARTIAL STREET CLOSURES

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OVERALL COMMUTE RATING:

3.5/4. Excellent. Ride bike!

Monday: the first day of a new week full of new bike forecasts. What’s in store? Let’s find out.

[Ed. note: Earlier version of this post said August 1st. But that’s wrong, because there are 31 days in July.]

MONDAY WEATHER INFOGRAPHIC:

Overall: high 84, low 68, partly cloudy, not too humid, winds all over the place but calm.

Kinda hot.

AM: mid 70s, calm, partly cloudy

PM: low 80s, partly cloudy, winds from the east at 7mph

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How windy is it?

Not very windy, according to this new Lettuce Cat.

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STREET CLOSURES

and

PARTIAL STREET CLOSURES

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OVERALL COMMUTE RATING:

3.25/4. Good rideability, but a tad hottish. Enjoy!

More brisk winds from the north Friday.

FRIDAY WEATHER INFOGRAPHIC:

Sunny, nice temp, etc etc. But look at that wind!

More explanation in the frivolous visualization below:

No matter who you are, one half of your commute will be pleasant and one half unpleasant. Unless you’re going east or west. There.

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How windy is it?

Almost that windy! (No planes were harmed in the making of this gif.)

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DIVVY REPORT: In the Loop, Dearborn and Van Buren closed for maintenance.  Up-to-the-minute updates here.

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STREET CLOSURES

and

PARTIAL STREET CLOSURES

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OVERALL COMMUTE RATING:

2.8/4. Everything’s great, except for the wind. Enjoy!

(Oops! No bike forecast yesterday. Sorry. Life is busy.)

Thursday: looks all right… except for that PM wind. Oy.

Overall: high 79, low 69, 20% chance of rain, 80% humidity

AM: high 70s, mostly cloudy, 15% chance of rain

PM: high 70s, partly cloudy, windy as heck from the north-northeast

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How windy is it?

Okay, maybe not quite that windy. But 16mph is a lot, and if you’re commuting to the north in the evening, I’m sorry for your headwinds.

Our advice: consider avoiding the Lake Front Trail in the PM. Surface streets should be calmer, climatologically speaking.

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DIVVY REPORT: RIP 29th and State. It’s official: station removed from the system. Other up-to-the-minute updates here.

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STREET CLOSURES

and

PARTIAL STREET CLOSURES

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Spotted on the road…

This is Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY. The oldest bike path in the country, built in 1894. (More on this later, maybe.)

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OVERALL COMMUTE RATING:

2.75/4. All right!

Tuesday looks all right.

TUESDAY WEATHER INFOGRAPHIC:

Overall: high 80, low 67, winds from the southish around 10mph

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DIVVY REPORT: State and 29th: still offline. Will it ever return? Up-to-the-minute updates here.

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STREET CLOSURES

and

PARTIAL STREET CLOSURES

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Spotted in Rogers Park:

Note the mural. Rogers Park residents like using participatory budget money for murals, so just about every underpass in the 48th (sorry Joe Moore) 49th Ward has a mural. Cool.

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OVERALL COMMUTE RATING:

3.5/4. Not much to complain about. Enjoy!

New week, new weather.

MONDAY WEATHER INFOGRAPHIC:

There you have it. Looks like it’ll be 10-15 degrees cooler than this weekend, which puts us close to ideal bike commuting temperature.

Overall: high 72, low 64, 20% chance of rain, fairly windy from the north-ish

AM: high 60s, partly cloudy, 15% chance of rain, wind from the north at 14mph

PM: low 70s, sunny, wind from the north at 13mph

Oh, also: river flood warnings for the Des Plaines River out near Riverside. Any Riverside readers? No? Ok.

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REPRESENTATION OF EXPECTED WINDINESS:

Courtesy of Lettuce Cat. See how the lettuce is blown off the cat’s head? That’s an indication of gusty winds.

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DIVVY REPORT: State and 29th: still offline. Will it ever return? Up-to-the-minute updates here.

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STREET CLOSURES

and

PARTIAL STREET CLOSURES

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And, spotted on the road:

Dunno what it says, but seems rude. Loyola Park.

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OVERALL COMMUTE RATING:

3.25/4. Good. Enjoy!

Friday: looks all right. But really: who knows? How accurate is contemporary meteorological science? Not very!

FRIDAY WEATHER INFOGRAPHIC:

Overall: high 84, low 74, 20% chance of rain, light winds from the east-ish, 70% humidity

AM: mid 70s, cloudy, possibly rainy, light winds from the east-southeast

PM: low 80s, partly cloudy, wind from the east-southeast at 8mph

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DIVVY REPORT: What’s with State St. and 29th? Still offline. Up-to-the-minute updates here.

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STREET CLOSURES

and

PARTIAL STREET CLOSURES

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Spotted on the road…

Blobby mortar, Lincoln Park.

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OVERALL COMMUTE RATING: 

2.75/4. Eh, not bad.