Chicago and Madison

So I spent Friday evening through Monday in Chicago and Madison to see my roommate run his ironman and meet up with some old friends who live out there. It was a good time, especially seeing Birch (who was in the Peace Corps in Honduras for the past few years) and Ben.

Friday night Adam's brother Kevin being spit in the face in a cab by a cyclist for yelling "Share the road asshole!" This is why you shouldn't yell at cyclists, especially when they can get past the traffic faster than you. It was hilarious, he hit him right in the hat. We then went to a crappy bar with loud music which I wasn't particularly impressed by, but I think Chicago has potential for being a pretty fun town.

Madison was a cool town, sort of like Boulder but bigger and with less bike paths. I saw Michigan get their asses kicked by Oregon at some sports bar downtown and it became clear to me that the entire Big 10 really dislikes Michigan. I was quite surprised by how much the Wisconsin fans were cheering for Oregon.

Ben got into town (he lives way up in northern Wisconsin) and we met Birch at a free Flaming Lips concert. It was a good show but short, probably because it was free. We all headed back to Birch's house, which is about 20 minutes south of Madison on a big lake. It wasn't really in a town, but there was a bar about 100 yards from his front door. We went down and had a pitcher, played electronic cornhole, and stole appetizers from a 20 year high school reunion that was taking place in the same establishment.

In the morning, we got up and did some canoeing on the lake followed by lunch at the same bar. Probably the best part of the trip because I got to try fried cheese curds, which are delicious. I headed back into Madison to catch the second half of Adam's Ironman, which involved walking back and forth between different points on the course and cheering him on for the 10 seconds he was running by. He looked tired, probably understandable.

After the race, it was back to Chicago to sleep and in the morning, an attempt to go to Lou Malnati's. To might great disappointment, it didn't open until 4, so instead I settled for Giordano's, which is was pretty good but not mind blowing delicious deep dish like I had hoped for. I then went back to Midway and flew home. It was an action packed weekend and a good time all around. Probably the last time I go to Wisconsin, I found the lack of hills pretty disturbing and don't think I could handle that permanently.