August 2, 2023
Revisiting my past
in 2021 I rode from home to Minnesota to join friends for RAGBRAI. I generally followed the Great American Rail Trail. I’m generally doing that route in reverse now.
Today I followed the Illinois and Michigan Canal Trail to the town of Morris then let google take me to Kankakee. That’s living dangerously as googles bike button sometimes takes you on roads that haven’t existed since the 1800s. But it did a great job today. I was very concerned about a busy route I needed to take to get to the Kankakee River State Park/Trail. Google actually cut that portion in half and took mr on some great (empty) back roads.
The IMCT remained the same as yesterday. It’s mixed double/single track and well packed dirt/crushed stone. Lots of shade and protection from headwinds. It’s not a trail I would go out of my way to ride as it is not at all scenic and the nearly 200 year old canal is mostly eroded away and filled with vegetation, but it is a nice utilitarian trail if you just needed to get somewhere.
It as a bit anxiety producing to get off a marked trail and follow a google route but it worked out really well. My butt (AGM) on the other hand is another story. I think I could increase my mileage by 20-30 miles per day if not for my butt pain.
The Kankakee Trail is very unique. It follows the Kankakee River, is either blacktop or crushed stone, and is shaded. It is not however flat as it winds up and down the river bank. There are parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, campgrounds, boat ramps, and shaded grasses expanses every miles or so as well as river views and access. Beautiful state park! Worth making a special trip for!!!
I decided on a motel tonight to see if I can fix my butt. And do laundry. I am again at the Quality Inn in Bourbonnais Illinois. This is a weird sort of place. It appears to have been built in the early 70s perhaps and has seen better days. But the rooms are absolutely huge, clean, and comfortable. The people working here are great and the owner and his associates are cyclists. This is my second stay here and I would recommend it to anyone passing through.
Tomorrow I have a WarmShowers host in Rensselaer. Well sort of. I have a WarmShowers home but the owners don’t live there. They are Methodist pastors and live at one of their church parsonages. So the home they own is used for WarmShowers cyclists. Looking forward to it.
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Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 2,708 miles (4,358 km)
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