Now, I have collapsed into a chair with a tall glass of very very very cold water. I was in desperate need of what Anand often demands, the coldest water in the world. (Sometimes he asks for water colder than we can make. That's always something of a challenge.)
Holding the bike steady and standing for the 20-minute train ride was perhaps the most arduous part of the whole process -- used a lot of teeny muscles that I don't normally. Biking along the bike lane on Jackson in Oak Park was glorious, even though I was kind of exhausted by then.
I may need to invest in some bike shorts, though. Didn't think of that, and as I was wearing a knee-length sundress on a windy day, came perilously close to flashing a white-haired old lady who was smiling gently upon me as I rode by.