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| At the Genoa City Public Library after mile 218. |
Last week I biked 218 miles from Champaign to the Wisconsin border. It was the centerpiece of a pledge drive to raise funds for my youth orchestra and an organization in Crystal Lake called Turning Point that provides support to women and children who have been victims of domestic violence. I'm still waiting to hear the results of our pledge drive but I hope that we did well.
This is the longest distance I've ever biked in my life. It far eclipses the previous long distance of 60 miles and change from Eau Claire to Downsville and back. Kaia and I took that trip together to celebrate our second wedding anniversary back in 2007. This time it was me, my bike, and miles and miles of cornfields.
The first day was the longest - 90 miles. This was also the most boring part of the trip as I crossed the flat, windy farm fields of Central Illinois from Champaign to Kankakee. There were a few interesting sights along the way: small towns with cute town squares, hidden streams and rolling hills, an inn that was built in 1840 (now a private home), and county roads that amounted to little more than two ruts across a cornfield. Life off of the interstate, while not as scenic and picturesque as Northern Minnesota or Wisconsin, is splendidly bucolic.
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| This is a county road somewhere in the middle of Illinois. |
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| Taking a break for lunch in Onarga. |
On my second day, and the next 76 miles, I crossed into more interesting terrain along the Kankakee River and northward along the Wauponsee Glacial Trail. The day was cool and windy and I struggled to bike against the strong gusts blowing out of the north. I also stopped more frequently to take in the sights along the river and also to see the TNT storage bunkers along the trail south of Joliet. My ride became more harrowing as I crossed into the suburbs. Small county roads turned into four land state and federal highways. I road the narrow strip of asphalt between the lanes of traffic and the dangerous, gravel shoulder. Eventually I found may way to Aurora and the Fox River which led me to my hotel. Kaia joined me in the evening of the second day and we had dinner in Batavia and strolled around the town.
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| After finally finding the Kankakee River State Trail. I made several wrong turns and biked at least a mile out of the way before I arrived at this sign. |
The next morning I woke up and biked the remaining 31 miles to Crystal Lake, along the Fox River the entire way. I passed through Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, Elgin, and Algonquin. I took a wrong turn and biked up the enormous Huntington Hill in Algonquin before finding out that the trail actually avoids the hill and makes a much more gradual ascent to the top of the river bluff into Crystal Lake. At least going back down the hill was fun.
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| The view along the Fox River in Aurora. |
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| I found this sign after I had crossed the bridge. I did notice that part of the bridge was missing... |
After arriving in Crystal Lake and meeting up with students from the orchestra and board members, I decided since we are so close to the Wisconsin border that I should just continue on to Genoa City (right over the border). The next day I biked the final 20 miles and change into Wisconsin... just to say I did.
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| The arrival in Crystal Lake. |
