Out Spoke'N

Man jailed for intetionally driving into cyclist

2012-02-19T01:13:00.001-06:00

One of my friends alerted me to this article in the BBC News about a man who intentionally ran into a cyclist using a bus as the weapon! I guess the road rage is only getting worse as the automobile world ages.

If you ask me, I dont think 17 months jail time is not enough justice. I hope the cyclist sues the pants off this guy.

Biking on Abandoned Rails

2012-02-12T01:58:00.000-06:00

This is a subject I have thought about before but never put much more into it besides an initial thought. But some other people/places have gone much farther with the topic. The folks over at Biking Bis had a nice post about the History of Railbiking.

This picture is from the Railbike Tours, Inc. website, where you can purchase a railbike or tour etc. Seems like a great idea doing the railbiking as another method of avoiding too much contact with automobile traffic when biking. But the mere hassle of trying to get permission from the rail owners makes this seem a bit prohibitive.

Critical about Critical Mass

2012-02-04T14:11:00.000-06:00

I saw this article a little while ago and thought maybe you guys would like to see it:

Go here to view the article. Do you agree with this. Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.

Do EVERYTHING on a bike! HAHAHA!

2012-02-03T15:07:00.000-06:00

I saw this on Vimeo yesterday. Hahaha! Impressive!

THE MAN WHO LIVED ON HIS BIKE from Guillaume Blanchet on Vimeo.

Time flies when you're having fun... NOT!

2012-01-15T07:47:00.000-06:00

Perhaps some people who had been following my blog have wondered where I have disappeared to. Well, back in the beginning of September I started a new job and it is graveyard shift and it is 12 hours a day. Between that and the holidays, I had a heck of a time trying to have a stable weekday that allowed ANY free time besides when I was sleeping. And that is enough about that horse hockey.
I managed to get in a few miles on the bike here and there during that time. But nothing like the earlier part of the year when i had put on almost 2700 miles! So as winter was approaching I had my eyes on some rollers and machines to attach my bike to while indoors. I decided to go with rollers with a optional front wheel stand for stability when I want it. There was two brands I liked. Turns out one brand is made in China and one is made in the good old USA. So I took the monetary hit and went for the American brand. It is Kreitler brand rollers. I haven't put alot of miles on it yet. But definitely more miles than I would have gotten outdoors this time of year!

That is all for now. I hope to get back to blogging a bit more now that we are in the new year.

Chicago Critical Mass: August 2011

2011-08-27T23:52:00.000-05:00

This is the second Critical Mass I have been to. I hopped on the train bound for Union station in the late afternoon right after work. It was interesting to see bikers getting on at many stops as we continued from station to station. At one point there were eight bikes lashed to the benches on my train car. When I got to Daley Plaza, the plaza was completely packed with people and bikes! The ride got started about 6:30 PM after a short tour around the block once. This time I decided I would find one of those music bikes and follow the tunes for the whole ride. Having the tunes bike nearby made the ride even more fun than last time. As seems to be the case with every CCM, there were some interesting things that happened. After stopping to change the battery in my camera, I had fallen behind somewhat in the parade of bikes. As I and the throngs of bikes around me reached a large intersection, a lady could be seen running up and down the line of bikes with her arms open in a "stop the madness" fashion while yelling how she had been waiting for five light changes and it wasn't fair. At another point a female cyclist had stopped and was pole dancing on the median of the road. Later, I heard from some of the same cyclists that had been on the train TO Union and were now on the same train back home that there had been some person wearing only tights running around in the street cradling a large fish! Haha! As the light gave way to night, the air cooled a bit and the flashes of all the bike lights was interesting. The ride ended at Buckingham Fountain with all the cyclists making laps around the fountain. That was a great ending to a great CCM ride! I followed the recumbent bike with the disc jockey booth-trailer out of the park and headed for home soon thereafter.
Today I saw the bike forums for the Chicago area busy with complaints about CCM and arguments about many things purportedly wrong with the ride and/or the riders. It's a shame we can't make the ride a bit more agreeable for the people waiting for us to pass.

Epic Fail biking weekend

2011-08-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I woke up at 5:00 AM to get an early start on the ride to Navy Pier and back. I figured it would be around 102 to 104 miles round trip. It took me a bit to get everything together and get rolling. I left at 6:45 AM. I rode South on the FRT from Carpentersville and reached the split in the trail where the IPP diverts East and the FRT continues West in about 40 minutes. I took the IPP path East and settled in for a long ride to Maywood on the trail. I made it a whole five and a half miles before I had a blowout in the back tire. I fortunately was prepared with a patch kit(Scabs) and some tire tools. But I could not find my pump! I forgot it. Crap! Not to worry. I brought a CO2 cartridge for inflating a tire. Having never used one of these CO2 cartridges before, I simply assumed there was an abundance of air to go round. NOT. I used it to try and locate the leak in the tube and next thing you know I have no air left. Ok, so now I just pull the tube completely to inspect for the leak and find it. Yeay! I send a rider on who had volunteered the use of another CO2 tube. I wasnt about to make anyone wait for me while they were chomping at the bit to ride. I was confident someone else would come along that had a pump. So I got the tire patched and put back on the bike. And someone else stopped and let me use their pump. Very kewl. These pics aren't very clear because I accidentally had HDR turned on:

I discussed my intended ride and we both agreed that at this point I should hobble home with this patched and partially inflated tire rather than push on. At this point I am about 15 miles from home. I went as slow as necessary to miss the nasty stuff on the trail. I made it about 6 miles back before I was caught in a major deluge of rain. I decided to stop into the bike shop immediately upon getting home. They changed the inner tube and I bought an extra one for next time this happens. And that ended my day of riding in fail.
Today I decided not to try the attempt at my first century ride again due to obligations coming up. So instead I went for a ride North on the FRT in an attempt to maybe get in 10-20 miles for the day. NOT. I made it a whopping half mile down the trail when I heard that now familiar sound of a tire, the SAME TIRE, losing all its composure. I walked the bike home and decided I will take it back to the bike shop again tomorrow. The weekend of epic fail riding is over. Dang!

Bicycle Canoe Trailer

2011-08-18T01:11:00.000-05:00

Sometime in the last month while cruising the FRT in the St.Charles area of the trail, I ran into this dude that was portaging his canoe from his home to the river by bike and trailer! Kewl idea! I made some really short videos of his contraption. Not sure why I made them so short other than maybe I had meant to take pictures instead of video. Here they are:

I regret that they are of such poor quality and content. As a result I did a search of the internet and found this interesting page! Bicycle Canoe Trailer
I have a canoe in the back yard just beggin to hit the water! I will have to make one of these trailers!

Critical Mass: Chicago July 2011

2011-08-01T23:40:00.010-05:00

I found that the more bike blog and bike websites I have been reading, the more I heard about an interesting subject called critical mass bike rides. I saw some videos like this and this. This one also. So I decided I would give it a try this July. All I have to do is go catch the Metra to Chicago right after work. The Chicago Critical Mass Ride gathers on the third Friday of every month at Daley Plaza at the intersection of Washington and Dearborn streets. It was lass than a mile ride to there from Union Station. I took a few videos while I was at Daley Plaza waiting for the ride to kick off.

The above video shows the plaza was fairly empty when I first arrived. The below video shows only a short time later.

Someone came around and was handing out the July copy of The Derailleur. Also someone was handing out some free reflectors with an LED in the center for increased visibility while on the ride. What an excellent idea! I first got the idea to do this ride in July when I was perusing the chainlink website after registering there. They had a link there to the homepage of the Chicago Critical Mass.The CCM website has alot of info for newbies to get the feel of what they should as a new participant in the ride and what is expected of them. Great site.
Here is a few still pictures I took while waiting on the ride to start:

The riders are leaving Daley Plaza

Here is a 15+ minute video of the beginning of the ride:

First attempt at video from bike

2011-07-25T21:23:00.016-05:00

So today I bought a Minoura SGS-300 Light and Computer Holder as well as a Electra Custom Parts camera mount. I got that all onto the bike and attached my Canon PowerShot SD870 IS digital camera. So I decided to ride North on the Fox River Trail to Crystal Lake and back. And here is my first attempt at a video from my bike:

This video is on the Fox River Trail from Maple Avenue in Carpentersville, Illinois to the intersection of Skyline Rd. and Williams Rd. I didn't figure out that I needed to tighten the socket head screws on the camera mount until I was already riding. So the camera flopped around quite a bit in this first clip.

A few things learned for the first time out with the video camera on the bike.

Easy day on the FRT

2011-07-24T23:02:00.000-05:00

I am finally back after a six day vacation from biking due to my very first endo of the year. I managed to beat up my shoulder pretty good from that. So I decided to take it easy for a bit. So I went for a 32.8 mile ride up the FRT today. The recent storms have left much debris and standing water on the trail, as well as running water!

Debris on the trail behind my bike where a creek normally passes UNDER the trail.

Gravel from the pit that got washed into the creek and then over the trail.

Water standing on the trail by the gravel pit.

Building in gravel pit.

Sand washed onto trail from gravel pit

Debris and standing water in foreground. Running water over trail in background.

At the Gail Borden Library in Elgin. I helped this guy put his giant kayak on his SUV.

In all it was a good ride today.

Trail Mapping Websites

2011-07-16T17:13:00.000-05:00

Today trailsnet.com posted this blog. It lists a host of sites useable for mapping and monitoring routes for biking, etc. Very nice! I was going to look around for some of that when I got a chance. Thanks for the leg work, trailsnet.com! :D

C'ville to Rte. 14 in Crystal Lake and back

2011-07-13T23:28:00.003-05:00

Decided to get some miles in today before work. Went from Carpentersville to Crystal Lake in a pretty good time, I thought.
1hr 24 min and 26 sec riding time.
Distance of 20.15 miles.
Average speed of 14.3 MPH(did same route four days ago with an avg of 13.8 MPH).
Max speed of 23.7 MPH.
ODO: 1282.5 miles.

Was surfing some biking blogs and saw this persons touring setup on her bike. Looks pretty good. Maybe I need to get paniers for the front wheel too! Just not sure if I can do so on a bike with front shocks? Will have to find out.
Also, I found this video to be kinda kewl:

I found that video at this biking blog that I follow.

Oh, and dis onez kewl too!

Fixtape #3 from Ronnie on Vimeo.

I like the Flava Flave n Chuck D music from Public Enemy. Got the video from Fixed Gear blog.

HAHAHA!

2011-07-12T19:59:00.002-05:00

Hahaha! Poor kid!

WEST END OF THE PECATONICA PRAIRIE PATH

2011-07-11T23:49:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went for a little reconnoiter of the West end of the Pecatonica Prairie Path. On the way I spotted a few would be cyclists traveling about.

I think the bike was a Bianchi racing bike.

The following pictures are from various locations along the trail from Freeport,IL to Pecatonica,IL.

Looking South at the very West end of the PPP.

Looking East at the very West end of the PPP.

Looking West at the very West end of the PPP.

Looking North at the very West end of the PPP.

Looking South at the very West end of the PPP.

Only a quarter mile East on the PPP.

Looking back West from the clearing in the below picture.

First clearing encountered on the PPP.

A slight bit more rough.

Wtf? This is a bike trail?

Here I was eventually forced to abandon the trail for the adjacent IL Rte 75. Glad I did too. The trail goes up an incline to part of a bridge and then drops off into a swamp very near where it should cross over Rte 20. Apparently when Rte 20 was increased from two lanes to four lanes, they removed the bridge while doing so and was never replaced. So I was able to go over the adjacent roads bridge and on the other side I encountered an access road for utility vehicles that led to what is supposed to be the PPP. Unimpressed with the trail at this point, I decided to drive on down the road a bit and crisscross over the path at various locations between here and Pecatonica. I found more of the same including this location:

crazyguyonabike blog

So I went a bit East of Pecatonica to where Hoisington Rd. intersected the path and got the bike out for another little jaunt.

Looking West from Hoisington Rd. on the PPP

Back near the first pole is a new bridge.

All the bridges and/or new patches of 'developed trail' that I met with had gravel that was so loosely packed that the bike would skid left or right so much, threatening to throw me from the bike. This kind of thing will sap a riders strength fairly fast. This combined with the 90 degree plus temperatures helped make up my mind about this trail.

Trail under development according to that sign.

Looking East from Hoisington Rd.

I took a ride down this way to verify the paved trail I saw on the way by on Rte 20. The pavement only lasted as long as the other side of Rte 20 after Sherman tunnel. Shortly thereafter the trail became all grass and encroaching bushes and shrubs.

Trail under development

After yesterdays recon work, I have decided that this trail will have to be a separate trip altogether. Also this will have to happen with my mountain bike instead of the hybrid due to the rough trail. This will also take place in the fall months when it is a bit cooler. This is because a machete might be necessary, as well as long pants for protection from the flora. I will have to stick to the alternate cue sheet directions from the Recycle blog while finishing my GIT tour.
Pictures starting from the East end of PPP

On the way home from the PPP I saw the remnants of this nasty accident outside the Chrysler plant.

BIKE FACTORIES AND WAREHOUSES IN THE USA

2011-07-11T11:13:00.001-05:00

Here is a kewl map of bike factories and warehouses in the USA:

Bike factories and warehouses

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/downloads/US%20factory%20chart%2010-08LoRes.pdf

GIT DAY 2: NAVY PIER IN CHICAGO TO THE I&M CANAL TRAIL IN JOLIET

2011-07-02T02:03:00.003-05:00

Saturday June 25th, 2011 was the second day of my Grand Illinois Trail ride. It started with a train ride from Elgin on the Metra rail system to Union Station in Chicago.

Sign inside train car.

I assembled my Montague/Swissbike TX right there on the train platform.

All my equipment including bike, panniers, helmet and cue sheets.

Same equipment assembled.

Less foggy view with Metra train in background.

I then exited the station and made trax for Navy Pier.

bikes on the north side of the train station

looking west from the north side of the train station

bike

canal st.

train crossing on canal st.

closing in on Navy Pier

This is funny. Look at what the satellite did to my straight line ride!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/38764340"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iMapMyRIDE: Jun 25, 2011 8:47 AM union to Navy Pier&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/?location=Chicago, IL"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Chicago, IL&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Hahah! Too funny. It looks like someone needed to take a DUI test. Oh well, I can't expect technology to work right every time.
So I got to Navy Pier at about 8:45 AM and left immediately down the Lakefront Trail. The trail was completely clogged with pedestrians! There apparently was some kind of walk for hunger being sponsored. There were THOUSANDS of people on the trail! So I quickly glommed onto a passing bike tour at the end of the line. I knew there would be no easy way through. So I let the other bikers generally clear the way before me. I only made 7 miles in the first hour. The first 4 were hell trying to get through all those people. I even heard many of them say that it sure isn't a good day to be a biker!

The bike tour stopped here at The Queens Landing.

Looking North at The Queens Landing.

Buckingham Fountain

same.

In front of the Shedd Aquarium.

Shedd Aquarium

People everywhere!

Watch that drop off!

Look at all the people on the trail up there in the trees!

people people people

people


Finally outa that! Look at these two guys turn around! heh.

Chicago skyline

Sears Tower(Circle of Willis)

me and the Chicago skyline

A bridge over Lake Shore Drive

That was four miles of people, people and more people!

A tour path around the whole of Lake Michigan!

All fishes point to here!

This post will be finished when i get back from the two day bike trip.

Summary Ride Of Trail

2011-06-27T22:17:00.002-05:00

Okay so I promised a review of the trail the day after the big storm came through and caught me on the trail. Here is what I first encountered on the trail shortly after starting the ride for the day.

I had to backtrack to this location on the night of the storm in order to circumvent one of the downed trees that are shown cut up in the pictures.

The trail was littered with refuse and stick and leaves. Of course, the occasional biker/jogger was out. I was really surprised how fast the work crews finished off all those trees that were downed the night before. Some of them were about two feet in diameter!

Saw this guy also:

Here are a few extra pics from the trail that day.

Dang it! Didn't get my camera out fast enough to capture what happened here!


This guy is trying to get back up after a spill

I was approaching this jogger when I was heading North on the bike trail near Lake In The Hills Airport when this rider startled me by waiting too long before he warned me he was passing 'on the left'. I kinda steered badly for a moment because of this. And the next thing that happened was one of those instances where everyone only makes a little mistake or error in judgement but they all do it at once and create a problem. The rider did the same thing as he approached the jogger in front of me. He wait ed too long to announce his presence to the jogger. Well, the jogger was already straddling the center line on the bike trail. So when the jogger was startled by the rider he didn't know which side to move to and kinda feinted in each direction. Hahaha! The rider was going so fast that when he tried braking he almost did an endo! He ended up tangled with the jogger and laid the bike down! I tried to get the camera out as fast as I could but i was incredulous to what had just happened for a moment too long. The above was the best shot I could get. Moral of the story must be that even little teeny mistakes can add up to some nasty stuff if we aren't careful!

Chopper with pontoons flies directly overhead.

Chopper headed to Lake In The Hills Airport.

Tough 20

2011-06-21T23:58:00.001-05:00

When I got out of work tonight, I saw some very dark ominous clouds rolling in from the West. I decided to check the weather radar when I got home on the Weather Underground website. What I saw was alot of clouds and rain coming. so I decided to eat dinner and check again for a break in the clouds. So when i checked again, I was able to start biking about 15 minutes later. But I knew I would get soaked on the return trip. No big deal, I was still pretty dirty from work today.
When I started down the Fox River Trail, I started seeing leaves and small branches and sticks all over the trail. A few miles down the trail I was stopped cold by a downed tree. It was pretty large, with a 2' to 2.5' diameter trunk. With no way thru, under or over it, I was forced to backtrack a quarter mile and get onto a road for a half mile until the trail was accessible again. I then encountered another two downed trees on the trail over the next two miles. Small debris was littering the trail for the next 3-4 miles. At about the five mile mark the downpour began and didn't let up for the rest of the ride. After I reached the halfway point and turned around to return home, I was forced to use the light due to early darkness because of the cloud cover. As I neared the area with the debris everywhere, I thought it best to go from the intermittent light setting to constant light. Even though I know that will drain the batteries much faster, it was necessary so that I wouldn't lose an eye on any branches, etc.
Even though it wasn't the wisest choice to ride in the rain, it sure was alot of fun! I guess I will take another ride down the FRT tomorrow to see what the damage looks like. Hopefully the crews will be out clearing the trail by then. I will try to get some pics then.

Carpentersville to St. Charles and back

2011-06-17T23:59:00.003-05:00

Looking Northwest towards the Fox River while standing on the FRT in front of Gail Borden Library.

So you wanted pics? Here you go! These pics are from a bike ride on the Fox River Trail(FRT) that started at about 5:00 PM today. The start point was at Washington St. in Carpentersville and went to downtown St. Charles and back again. Total distance was 40 miles. Max speed was 37.1 mph. Approximate time was 4 hours due to 20 minutes of breaks which turned into 40 minutes of breaks due to three chain derailments. Two of the derailments happened within ten feet of each other(Arrrrrr!!). I was ready tho. After my last run in with the chain about midweek, I decided my bike runs would only be complete with two, count em - TWO, screw drivers. This facilitates the grease staying on something other than my hands! The mess was minimal.

Looking West from FRT at Gail Borden Library at boat racing buoys.

A boat on it's way by

A blimp can be seen in the sky in the background of the IPP trail.

Old base for electric train equipment on the IPP

I have to go to the road here because the railroad crossing for the trail has not been developed yet on the Stearns Rd. Trail(barrier in background blocks trail).

Looking back at barrier after resuming ride on Stearns R.d Trail.

On pedestrian bridge under Stearns Rd. bridge. Note: that is not real brick or stone. That is just some kind of artistic facing to the cement pillar work!

Railroad bridge parallel to the Stearns Rd. bridge. The stones are real on that bridge.

Western shore of Fox River. Trail goes under the bridge there. See it?

Looking back East on the Stearns Rd. pedestrian bridge

Looking South on bridge over Fox River on FRT just at base of hill 4/10 mile long with a nice steep grade(No standing while pedaling!)!

Someone flying down the hill.

Looking West at railroad/pedestrian bridge in St. Charles

Same.

Waterside trail under bridge.

Kewl bike trail sign!

On the bridge.

Looking South from the pedestrian bridge. St.Charles main bridge in background(Rte 64).

Looking back East on bridge

Baker Community House. This is where I go to play chess on Thursdays sometimes at the St. Charles Chess Club on the third floor.

Is this turtle flying?

It is!!!

Trail goes under bridge just North of the flying turtle

Some kind of bike art in downtown St. Charles park

More bike art.

Some locked up bikes in downtown

Intersection of Rtes 31 and 64.

Back on the pedestrian bridge looking North toward Potawatamy Park

Still

Is that a fox?

Maybe

Yup! It's a fox made of old bike parts!

Plaque dedicating the fox.

I like the bike seat for a nose

And all the rims that make up the tail

Look at all those parts that make up the body! That musta been fun to make!

Looking South from the fox

Looking North under the pedestrian bridge

Looking South from the North side of the pedestrian bridge

Fox River Queen

Didn't the Almond Brothers have one of these?

Bike sign painted on the trail in South Elgin

Also in South Elgin.


Old brick road built in the 1930s no longer in use but still has working street lights.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/37924468"&amp;gt;Carpentersville to St. Charles and back&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/?location=Carpentersville, IL"&amp;gt;Find more Routes in Carpentersville, IL&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;

Elgins Bike Tour Through the Historic District.

2011-06-17T23:17:00.000-05:00

Old Main

We all met on Monday 6-13-2011 at the "Old Main" building which is a museum. This was a tour by bicycle of the historic district of Elgin.

The building across the street is the old home of Gail Borden.

Gail Borden was one of the dairy giants.

Now up the road to some of the other houses of historical note.

The cannons in the parking lot of "Old Main"

The tour guide gives his summary and says we biked 2.2 miles.

After the tour I headed back towards the river and ran into this.

Velocipede art

This is on the detour of the Fox River Trail in downtown Elgin.

Ride at dusk

2011-06-16T23:55:00.001-05:00

Finally got in a bike ride this week. Saw too much rain the last two days. Here is a pic or two from the phone camera from the trail.

I saw this GITAP sign in Crystal Lake. I think tomorrow is the last day of the GITAP 2011 ride.

This ride is similar to the GIT trail I intend to ride this year. All the official info can be found here.

And below are the pics I snapped on the way back from the 20 mile ride.

I managed to finish this 20 miles in 1 hour and 23 minutes with an average speed of 14.4 mph.

I will post more pics from the phone camera tomorrow. I had a few built up on there.

Ride For Life

2011-06-13T17:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I decided to take part in my first organized bike ride. The Ride For Life. It started at The Village Pedaler and ended there as well. There were three different distances offered 15 mile, 25 mile, and 60 mile. I chose the 25 mile since I had never ridden in an organized ride before. Here is the path that was taken:

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/view/23103136"&amp;gt;Ride For Life, 30 mile loop&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/?location=South Elgin/elgin, IL"&amp;gt;Find more Walks in South Elgin/elgin, IL&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;

I finished with a nice slow time of two hours and six minutes. An alright time, I guess. In the middle of the ride I figured out I had my seat too high and adjusted it. Boy, that made a huge difference! Here is where the ride started/finished:

When the ride was completed, there was pizza and water and gatorade available. Later I had felt that was not enough mileage for the day, so I got in another 20 mile ride to Crystal Lake and back to Carpentersville on the FRT. Fun day.

Of bike parts and bike rides.

2011-06-13T17:15:00.002-05:00

So two weekends ago I decided to put in some long miles and travel from Carpentersville to Hebron via the FRT/MPT and the Hebron Trail and then back again. The early morning ride was uneventful and peaceful. I was inspired by a fellow cyclist to start picking up the pace. By the time I got to the Hebron Trail portion of the trip there, I was on record pace for myself. As I turned onto the Hebron Trail, I noticed a bit of headwind and that the hills were starting to take a larger toll on my pedaling. I noticed that I was getting more and more tired as I approached Hebron. Once reaching Hebron, I sure was ready for a break. After a ten minute break, it sure seemed to be easier to pedal back to the MPT/FRT. When I got back to the intersection, I started pedaling South again when I noticed that something was 'pulling' at the bike and slowing it down. I started hearing some rattling coming from the back tire every time I coasted. Every now and again something would pull at the bike. I would look down at the back wheel occasionally. Finally I saw the the rear spoke guard that keeps the derailer out of the spokes was spinning with the tire/rim. When I would coast it would rattle around and jump about. On further inspection I found the little nubs that hold the disk to the spokes had broken off and sometimes the disk of plastic would bind between the hub and the frame of the bike. With all that perceived 'headwind' and tougher 'hills' I had managed to melt a hole in the disk. Hahaha! So by the end of the day I found that if the disk was causing a problem I could just coast to solve the problem. I had gotten in 80+ miles and was going to ride similar the next day. I didn't want to take apart the bike at the time to replace the guard. So I decided to try a Rube Goldberg fix until I had a bit of free time during the next week. I would hot glue the disk to the spokes.

Hahaha! What a great idea! FAIL!!! It lasted a whole 20 miles the next day. A few days later, I just replaced it the correct way and removed all hint of redneck innovation.

Elgin Bike To Work Week

2011-06-11T12:58:00.002-05:00

This next week is Elgin Bike To Work Week. This link has alot of info on the event of the whole week.

Looks like I will be able to attend a few of the events. Should be fun. Will be a good way to get some miles in on the bike to stay warmed up. Should be more comfortable than last weekends back to back 80 mile days.
Here is a bikemonth pdf with some info too.

Many cities cracking down on bikers?

2011-06-09T18:21:00.000-05:00

I noticed thru many other bike bloggers websites and other biking news sources that cities like New York and Chicago are stepping up enforcement efforts of biking laws. Here is an interesting video someone has made after they had a frustrating incident.

Hebron to Carpentersville

2011-06-03T17:48:00.008-05:00

Hebron Trail Western trail head at Church Rd. in Hebron, Ill.

A few days ago I rode the Hebron Trail near the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

I recorded somewhere between six to six and a half miles of trail until it hits the Fox River Trail/Mchenry Prairie Trail just three tenths of a mile from the border and end of the FRT/MPT.

Ill-Wis border is 0.3 miles ahead. Or head West on the Hebron.

Here is info provided by Chicago Bike Trails about the Hebron Trail. And here is someones blog and pictures of the Hebron Trail in 2007. I find this next link to info about the Hebron Trail somewhat interesting because of some of the reader comments. They mention a few subjects I would like to comment about. The information at TrailLink.com is pretty good. But one of the readers commented about there being some difficulty with loose gravel at the area intersecting the Hebron and the FRT/MPT trails. I not only have rode this area this year but in 2009 and 2010 as well. I don't recall seeing any hard to navigate gravel in that area. In any case, I see no problem moving thru the area anymore.

I hope these pics do the area some justice. I have seen other posts and info on the internet that have mentioned this difficulty with the area, but have never encountered that problem even once.

The other subject that the commenters brought up was a question of how to get to Lake Geneva after riding the trails. I agree that there is no easy way to get there. But that brings the idea to mind again that Wisconsin should develope the old railroad right of ways that exist already. There is already an Illinois side to the trail and I only see residential yard refuse on the Wisconsin side. The railroad has been gone since the mid 80s and the FRT has been there at least 20+ years already! Whats the hold up? Doesn't Wisconsin want the tourism dollars? Oh well. Enough about that.

After I connected to the FRT, I headed South to Richmond.

And now on to Glacial Park.

Here is a link to some info about Glacial Park. After Glacial Park, I headed South for McHenry and Crystal Lake.

At one of my many stops, I ran into someone who is a much more avid cyclist than myself.

He says he has probably put over 30,000 miles on this bike over the years. And I don't doubt that because he is none other than RecumbentKen! He is number 9 of 117 in the state at the League of Illinois Bikers with over 3000 miles logged this year! I was wondering how long I would ride the Illinois trails until I would meet someone from the LIB mileage list. This recumbent bike stuff looks fairly comfortable. One day I might contemplate getting something like that!
Here is the MapMyRide copy of the route I took:

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/36096566"&amp;gt;iMapMyRIDE: Jun 1, 2011 1:53 PM&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/?location=Hebron, IL"&amp;gt;Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Hebron, IL&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;

It reads 36.15 miles. But my CatEye odometer was reading out 38.91 miles.
Here is the Gmaps pedometer map of this route.

Falling Waters Trail

2011-05-31T23:41:00.001-05:00

One of my friends from online intends to do this trail tomorrow. Here is the map. And here is the link to the webpage for the trail. I am interested in seeing other trails like this. Very kewl.

GIT: DAY 1. CARPENTERSVILLE TO NAVY PIER IN CHICAGO

2011-05-22T23:56:00.002-05:00

May 21, 2011. The first day of the GIT. The trail started for me at the intersection of Main St. and the Fox River Trail in Carpentersville, Illinois.

Planned GIT Route For Day One

2011-05-21T01:25:00.005-05:00

The day looks like I will have to pick a start time when the clouds clear for a minute. The plan is to take the FRT to the IPP and then 13 miles of Chicago streets to get to Navy Pier on the lakefront. Here is the Google mapped route of the streets from the end of the IPP to Navy Pier.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/34901826"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;GIT DAY 1&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/?location=Elgin, IL"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Routes in Elgin, IL&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

If you click on the full view button and then when the new view of the map comes up click on the full screen button again to get a good view of this map.

FRT To MCPT And Back Again

2011-05-20T22:47:00.000-05:00

Took a ride on the Fox River Trail from Carpentersville to the McHenry County Prairie Trail at the intersection of Virginia Rd and Pyott Rd. and then back again. Here is the stats for that ride:

18.02 miles
13.0 MPH avg speed
24.7 MPH max speed
1H 22M 59S riding time
MapMyRide said it was 16.4 miles which as usual isn't that accurate.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/34912144"&amp;gt;iMapMyRIDE: May 20, 2011 9:12 PM&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/?location=Carpentersville, IL"&amp;gt;Find more Routes in Carpentersville, IL&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;

Stearns Road Loop Workout

2011-05-19T23:52:00.005-05:00

Rode from Carpentersville to Stearns Road in South Elgin today. Here is a map of the route.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/34825478"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iMapMyRIDE: May 19, 2011 9:04 PM&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/?location=Carpentersville, IL"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Routes in Carpentersville, IL&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

The distance is somewhat incorrect on this route. I started and ended with .8 of mile extra on my odometer due to when I started this program on my phone. But it seems that a good 1.4 miles of corners were cut by the program. The problem is that when you don't have internet connection while riding, the program will take readings at larger intervals thereby only recording the chord distance of curves that were actually ridden. I wonder.. maybe i can calculate the average error per mile based on a bunch of collected results. Then without the help of my Cateye Speedometer/Odometer I could find the real distance ridden Plus minus some percent error.

Concerns about bicyclers and pedestrians and automobiles

2011-05-18T13:54:00.000-05:00

An article in a Michigan online media website was brought to my attention and I have a few things to say about that. The article "A reminder to cyclists to share the road, trails" discussed concerns about etiquette and sense of bicyclists and their use of trails and roads. While I share the concern of the author that cyclists should be following the rules of the road and good etiquette, I also agree that pedestrians can participate in making the biking/walking experience safe. Walking on a public trail also has requirements. I know first hand that it can be difficult to get the attention of pedestrians if they are aloof to their surroundings. Wearing Mp3 players and headphones on trails can be inherently dangerous. How can pedestrians share the trails with others if they have their surrounding conditions drowned out by headphones? I like to listen to music when I ride the bike, but I make sure I have it at a level that allows me to hear the birds chirping and the sound of the aggregate under my tires. That way I know I will hear people and vehicles around my area. I read the comments that were made after the article. Try to keep in mind the issue is not between you and others but between you and god. Try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt regardless of what you have experienced in the past. Don't give up good etiquette just because a few ftards have totally violated your trust on the trails or the roads. I will try to do the same!

1st ride after week off

2011-05-17T22:24:00.002-05:00

Today is the first day I have ridden since I got back from a short vacation in Georgia. Did my usual "short course" since I haven't done any serious riding in the last week except for a short ride in a Wildlife Preserve in South Carolina. I just started using the application for my phone called Imapmyride. So this was also my first use of that program. Here is the stats of my ride:

Total Distance 10.8 miles.
Average speed 13.8 mph.
Max speed 23.8 mph.
Time that wheels turned 46 min 33 seconds.
Overall time 50 minutes.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/34633474"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iMapMyRIDE: May 17, 2011 8:16 PM&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/?location=Carpentersville, IL"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Carpentersville, IL&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Heh. Interesting. The program actually recorded my deviation from the trail to avoid traffic at the crossing of Rte 31. Neato! It even shows the elevations during the ride if you click on it!

Pecatonica Prairie Path and Meadowdale Raceway Woods

2011-05-09T23:59:00.006-05:00

Today was the day I would go check out the Pecatonica Prairie Path. Here is a cute little rendition of what someone WANTS you to believe about the PPP. And here is what I really ran into!

So I made it about 1.6 miles before I decided that I had grossly underestimated the difficulty of this trail. Different planning will be needed for this part of the GIT. I will have to set aside one weekend just for this 22 miles of trail due to its divots, ponds, swamps and creeks that they like to call a path. I will have to strip the bike of panniers and bags and I will strap a waterproof bag I used for white water rafting to the pannier rack. I figger i will have to use an old blanket on the drivers seat in my car so when I finish the path the mud wont get all over the car. I will have to triple bag my camera if I am going to plan to take it. I am assuming that as fun as this ride will be, I am sure I will be exhausted when I complete this. Normally I would finish 22 miles in something like two hours or so. But I bet this will take me more like 6-8 hours. Also, I think that since I will be doing the other legs of the GIT trail with my Hybrid Folding bike, I should use it for this ride also. The semislick tires on this bike should probably make it more difficult than if I had used my regular mountain bike with the big knobby tires.
Overall I was fairly disappointed with this outing. So I decided to stop at a trail that was local. I stopped off at the Meadowdale Raceway Woods Trail. It has a nice long history of use, disuse and misuse. Once the Meadowdale International Raceway, is now Raceway Woods. And the Google image search.

Sunday: Last day of practice run

2011-05-09T22:34:00.003-05:00

Okay, just a quick post about my Sunday mileage on my weekend practice run. Decided to ride south on the FRT to the IPP Elgin branch. Took that to the new Stearns Rd. path and to the Bartlett Nature Preserve. I then went back West on the Stearns road trail right past the IPP that I had just been on and down to the Fox River. There I crossed the river on the new Stearns rd. pedestrian and bike bridge and back onto the FRT heading North. Stats were as follows:

Distance traveled 27.28 miles.
Average speed 11.1 MPH.
Maximum speed 26.3 MPH.
Total time wheels were turning 2 hours 27 minutes 15 seconds.
Actual time used for trip 2 hours 40 minutes.

Gmaps link to map of path taken

Here is a link to a Kane county bike trail map that shows all of the trails I took except the new Stearns Road trail. It seems that no maps have been updated with this new trail yet(as well as the new Strearns Road bridge)!

Saturday: The 2nd day of practice run

2011-05-05T23:31:00.001-05:00

Woke up feeling pretty good and thought about what I would do for some mileage Saturday. So I took the folding bike and headed North on the Fox River Trail. Cycled 41.5 miles in about three and a half hours. Went North up into the town of McHenry. Didn't realize I had a significant wind behind me propelling me forward. It was the easiest 20 miles I have ever done. Once I had turned around for the return trip, the head wind started taking its toll immediately. Lesson learned. Check those wind directions and plan accordingly. Here is the Gmaps link to the map of the path I took. While the Gmaps pedometer program shows just over 37 miles, I had taken a bunch of different side paths to make up that other distance. I will add some pics of that trail a bit later.

Weekend Practice Run For GIT

2011-05-04T23:17:00.004-05:00

GWT in March slop.

I better get splainin the weekend of riding before the next weekend gets here! Heh. As I was mentioning about those intended weekends of riding for the GIT, I decided it would be a good idea to first prove locally that I can withstand a weekend of riding similar to what I am planning.So this last Friday I decided to ride the Western half of the Great Western Trail. It starts in Sycamore and ends in St.Charles Illinois. That part of the trail is advertised as 18 miles long. Earlier in spring, way back in March, I had biked the Eastern seven miles of the trail and had found the trail kinda miserable at that time. People had been riding motorized vehicles on there in the fall and spring wet months, leaving ruts and divots in the trail. And parts of the trail really grabbed at the tires and sapped my energy quickly.
When I got to the trail head in Sycamore, the trail looked fairly quiet. So I hopped on my Montague/Swiss Bike TX Folding bike and began pedaling. There were some very interesting cement obelisk type mile markers in the Dekalb County part of the trail. The one shown in the pic has "C55" on it. Since it is only 18 miles to the end of the Western half of the GWT, I am assuming this refers to the distance to either Chicago or the Eastern end of the East half of the GWT. The interesting mile markers stopped once I entered Kane county. So the first nine miles of the trail were a loose almost sand sized gravel. The next two miles were paved. That was the area that includes the old railroad bridge over Rte. 47. It was weird that during that two miles of paved trail is when I got a chance to try out my newly installed Mister Tuffy strips in my tires. Something attempted to jam itself under my rear tire as I was cruising at about 17 mph. It gave the bike a jolt and I heard a loud pop. So I looked left to see something shoot out from under the tire and fly about 50 yards away. I thought I had a flat coming for sure. Shortly after that scare the trail returned to a sand mixed with clay for the rest of the trail. Here are the stats for the ride:

Distance traveled 18.36 miles in total.
Average speed 12.2 mph.
Max speed 20.0 mph.
Total ride time 1 hour 30 minutes 8 seconds.
Actual time 1 hour 55 minutes.
Trace path map of trail ridden

Here is a few links for the Great Western Trail:

GWT and other trails on Google maps

Friends Of The Great Western Trails

I decided that 18.36 miles wasn't very representative of a typical day on the GIT that I am planning. And I still felt pretty energetic.So I decided to head across the street from the GWT trail end to Leroy Oaks Park.

Silver Glenn Rd. bike bridge.

A trail runs through it and connects with the Randall and Silver Glenn Trails which in turn will connect with the Fox River Trail via John Duerr Park. So once I got to Silver Glen Rd. I took their fantastic new Biking/jogging/etc bridge over the busy Randall Rd and continued to John Duerr Park. Once in the JD Park I used the FRT to take me a very short distance to the new Stearns Rd Bridge complete with its own pedestrian bridge. The Stearns Rd. trail leads to the Illinois Prairie Path. I took that as far as the Dupage County line and turned back to complete the round trip. Here is the stats for that ride:

Total distance round trip 22.09 miles.
Average speed 10.9 mph.
Max speed 27.9 mph.
Total ride time 2 hours 56 seconds.
Actual ride time 2 hours 20 minutes.
Trace path map of trail ridden.

The Google map has not been updated with the new Stearns Rd. Trail. So my path taken seems to show me in some areas without an apparent trail.

Total distance traveled for the day was 40.45 miles.

Riding Plans For the Summer

2011-05-03T23:34:00.004-05:00

Grand Illinois Trail.

What is GIT? That would be the Grand Illinois Trail . I will be planning two to four day weekends of riding all summer until I finish the 550-650 miles of trail. The blue marks on the map are checkpoints from the Trailblazer program sponsored by the DNR. As I had mentioned in an earlier post , some of the indicated paths and directions in these GIT maps and cue sheets, instructions, etc, should not be blindly trusted. Much research will be needed in order to have my ducks in a row for each weekend that I plan.

Pecatonica Prairie Path

The next sketchy area that I need to check out will be the Pecatonica Prairie Path. It is 18 miles of what I am calling "Rails to Utility Company to Trails". Apparently after a railroad had handed off the rights to some utility company, the new owners have allowed a trail to be placed alongside of their power lines. But while all this transpired the trail has become purportedly overgrown and unfeasible to many riders in the past as part of their GIT experience. Over this last winter I had run into some kind of postings on the net of progress being made to renovate that trail, possibly with state funding. The trail runs from Freeport to Rockford Illinois. My Illinois Bicycle Trails book lists the trail condition as ballast, grass and dirt. Gonna have to drive up there soon and make a small round trip of it. Am thinking I will recon this area with the mountain bike instead of the hybrid folding bike. Google Maps approximates the trail to be like 22+ miles.

Long Prairie Trail

2011-05-02T10:50:00.002-05:00

Looking East on trail in Capron.

As far West as I biked.

So this is a continuation of my ride on the same day as all the Stone Mill Trail hoopla. To speed things up, I rode my car on the discussed route of the GIT cue sheet for the area(Hebron to Capron). Once the road finally intersected bike trail again, I found that the trail didnt just go West but also East. But according to maps, I knew it concluded as a trail head on another side street just a few miles to the East. Here is a map of the trail that I rode that day. I started at the maps mile 2 marker and went West to Caledonia and then back to Capron. Then I went East to see the trail head.

Beverly the ITC lady was here.

Side By Side sign

Side By Side Cycle shop.

Sign at the trail head at East end.

Placard on trail.

When I had parked in Capron before I went down the trail, I decided to stop in to the bike shop I had heard about in someone elses GIT blog from some years ago. The shop was called Side By Side cycles. I met a nice lady named Beverly. She introduced me to a huge stack of freebies regarding trails and such in Illinois. She also told me of her affiliation with the Illinois Trails Conservancy and I promised I would become a member. I gotta get movin on that and sign up NOW! When I got done with the bike ride I took a few pics of the storefront for posterity.
One of the accompanying pictures is of a placard from the bike trail that describes the history and eventual demise of the railroad that used to be where the trail now stands.

Bridge on Trail East of Capron

Asinine

2011-05-02T09:30:00.001-05:00

Someone I know sent me this link of an incident in their home town. A bicyclist was shot while riding home at night. I just want to say that it might have been a mistake to ride that late. But like someone said in the comments, wouldn't you notice a bit earlier that you had been shot in the ass? I mean come on! Really? Something DOES sound fishy about that story! Well I hope the victim recovers fast and I think it is time for the cops to bust out the FLIR to help catch the perp. This article makes me think of Fred from Tridork, the ficticious character that Bike Snob is always talking about. Hahaha!

First Post

2011-05-01T13:56:00.008-05:00

Sign at the Chemung trailhead of the Stone Mill Trail

Okay. Finally have the new biking blog going. I will begin by posting about all the biking I have done this year so far. I have ridden the small trail between Harvard, Illinois and Chemung, Illinois. I think that trail was something like six miles to six and a half miles long. That is including some streets that i navigated as well as the trail . I was doing a bit of recon to see if any progress had been made on new construction between Capron and Chemung. Apparently not. There is a big creek running right down the center of the right of way and no funding yet, according to Beverly at the bike shop in Capron. More on that later. The reason for looking around in this area was that I was hoping to ride from Hebron thru Harvard and then onto Capron on this trail which is named Stone Mill Trail. A mention of this trail is made here. This trail is only 2 miles long.Here is the Google map of the Stone Mill Trail. I was hoping to be able to ride down Rte. 173 from Hebron to Harvard and then take the Stone Mill Trail to Chemung where I would then follow Rte. 173 again until I got to Capron. Both portions of Rte. 173 proved unsafe for biking and I was forced to abandon this idea. Also none of the side roads near 173 seemed adequate as well. I will have to follow the original idea that was proposed with the GIT cue sheets.

Here is a link to The Harvard Main Line with an article about the Stone Mill Trail. Beyond this I have not spotted any other news about linking the Hebron trail with the SMT other than the few things Beverly in Capron had told me. And that info was really only about connecting SMT and the LPT. If anyone has anymore information about that, I would be interested in hearing about it.