– with rising May temperatures a loop around north east Illinois was on the cards. A stop by Fox River for a well earned coffee; being the first time since the start of the pandemic on our weekend rides. Taking back roads along the Illinois Wisconsin state line we rode to the Lake and back down Sheridan Road with a quick stop at the Durand Art Institute in Lake Forest.
– I managed to take a shot of Dean zooming along Melvin Amstutz Highway near Waukegan.
– with November temperatures in the upper sixties a smashing couple of hundred mile loop was undertaken over in DuKalb and McHenry counties. Rolling farmland along old Midwestern routes such as “Plank Road” and “”Lincoln Highway”. Red barns is various degrees of decrepitude sprinkled the rural scene. Oh, and Trump lost reelection- all in all a pretty pretty pretty good day.
– standing proudly on the east bank of the Fox River near Geneva IL a mid Nineteenth Century Dutch mill offers an historic backdrop to my early morning ride along the Tri-City region between Elgin and Aurora. The all wood structure is fully functional driven from its fabric covered sails. This pre-industrial age technology was a stark contrast to the particle accelerator at nearby Fermilab with its circular Tevatron which runs its circular path around a prairie grassland.
Leadville | The prime destination last weekend was the old mining town of Galena. Historical seat of Joe Daviess Country and home of Ulysses S Grant. In the early C19th it rivaled Chicago in population and was the busiest steamboat hub north of St Louis.
It’s not IF it will happen, but WHEN | So this was the reason for shortening the weekend: I had an accident on the bike, the first serious one. At an intersection in deepest Illinois farmland as I was leading the group the route took a left turn at a Stop sign. As I rolled to a stop the bike behind me barreled into the rear of the Tiger. Next thing I knew it was a scattering of me and bikes. The Tiger is beat up superficially and I managed to ride it the 200 miles home last evening – I frankly don’t know how. Today I went to the ER. X-rays found 2 broken ribs, a fractured wrist and a crack at the tip of my ring finger. Splint, pain meds, then healing. Remember kids! All the gear all the time! I could have come off a lot worse! The ride to that point was marvelous!
Tiger Trail | the days riding around north east Illinois was enlightening. A good 150 miles of rural gravel roads crisscrossing Jo Daviess County. I learned to finally use the back brake on the loose surface; and to power through the looser gravel. The new tires performed exceptionally. The day (and weekend) were cut short… but we’ll get into that tomorrow…
