RideTheLightning

Illinois and the First Homecoming

Adian's got new ride!

Well, we did it (of sorts)!  We touched-down here in beautiful Glen Ellyn, IL late-ish Wednessday Evening, after a heafty 100 and some odd mile push (exteneded at the end by a bit of detouring and route finding errors) from the town of Lena, IL.   After leaving leaving the library and the previous blog post, we managed to get sucked into the park in Galena.  We spent the entire day longing around and convincing ourselves that we didnt need to ride anywhere.  Hey, we were way ahead of schedule.  We picked out a fantastic route for the next few days, agreeing that we would follow various sections of the Grand Illinois Trail that circumnavigated the state, in an effort to extend our ride and not overstay our welcome in Glen Ellyn.  Welp, that lasted for about half of the first day, and then BJ and I quickly decided that we should just go straight east instead of northerly.  That decision also quickly suaded us to aim for 2 big days of riding, rather than the 3 that we had planned on ( and 160 miles of riding).  The sustained 15mph due westerly wind that first day was heckish, and allowed us to ride only 55 miles, getting us to Lena, IL.  Being only 1 day out, we felt like we had made it, so we treated ourselves to some delicious pizza and beer in town.  We then crusied over to the park, watched the end of a 10-12 year old softball game (in an effort to keep ourselves awake and wait for the folks to clear out of the park so we could go to bed). 

We awoke to a calm day, and pinned it - 65 miles to Dekalb before lunch.  The lack of wind was amazing, and we were happy.  From Dekalb we were set to hop on some established bike paths, hoping to stay off the roads.  In true form, that plan failed quickly as we decided we’d just ride due east instead of spending the extra 5 minutes to find the bike path.  And a bad idea it was.  We ended up on an extremely busy, shoulderless Route 38.  We managed to duck off this and found some good old country roads that lead us into St. Charles.  From there, we hit the Praire Path into Glen Ellyn, getting in a causal 3 hours after BJ had told the family we’d be there.  No matter, they were excited, and we were excited.

And now it’s been an insanely causal hang out, enjoying the perks of good coffee, soft couches, fluffy pillows, and the best of the best of hospitality.  We’ve also gotten back into the swing of culture, enjoying museums and music downtown.  The bikes got a full cleaning and are a shiny chrome again, and we’ve been loving the rounds of tennis ball golf and hangin at the pool.  And we did some hair cutting / shaving…..

 Tomorrow we start work.  Many many thanks go out to Flock Kinsey for the unbelievably hospitality, from delicious food to the surrendering of beds for us, all around, its been fantastic. We couldnt have asked for  anything more.  More action to come from the shores of lake Michigan and the Dew Tour.