Illinois Driftless Area: May 30th, 2011

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Memorial Day turned out to be a very good day for a ride. It was in the upper 80s, lower 90s (depending where I was at), but a tad windy. I started out around 11am, with a goal to head towards Galena, but not actually make it there. My only intention was to ride and find some twisties. I succeeded!

The big pain living in the Chicagoland area is how flat it is. I had to ride up I90 all the way to Rockford, then take 20 towards Galena. The riding doesn't really start getting good until you make it past Freeport.

I rode into Woodbine, and found my way to Scout Camp Rd. This is a back country road with no markings on it. In certain places it's hard to imagine that 2 cars could pass each other going opposite directions. You have to be very careful on this road, as there are a few farms, and farm equipment on the roads is a normal sight. It's a fun road to ride, but you're just basically in the lower portion of the hills, and you pass over the Apple River, which is probably the most scenic part of this road.

I made it up to Stage Coach Trail, which is a great road to ride in to, or from, Galena. I took Stage Coach to County Road 4, or as it's also known, S Elizabeth Mounds Rd. This was a fully paved, completely marked road. This road has amazing views, since you are basically riding along the ridges the whole time. I was able to easily average 55-60MPH, and there weren't many cars on the road. However, I passed at least 25 bikes.


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I made it back to 20, and headed west towards 84. 84 can be a bit sketchy at first, as the road is beat up due to the farm equipment that uses it so often. About 10 minutes or so into it, things get a bit smoother. This is another road that you will pass about 100 bikes in the 20 miles from 20 to Savanna. As you make it down a little more, you start to notice the huge body of water to the west. That is the mighty Mississippi! Just north of Savanna is the Mississippi Palisades Park. I stopped in to get some pictures and check out the views. They were gorgeous!



I rode into Savanna, and was pretty sure a motorcycle rally was going on that day. There were hundreds of bikes parked on the road, and twice as many riding around. It's pointless to even wave at each other, as you're pretty much just going to ride one handed all the way through town. I stopped in at the Subway for lunch.

After lunch, I headed back towards Elizabeth on 84, but turned off on Clay St, which turns into Scenic Ridge Rd. This road is definitely properly named. As you make your way through small country neighborhoods, the road twists and turns the whole way. There's even one part where you can clearly see that the road is rising a hundred feet or so. As you come over the ridge the view just opens up, and I swear you can see for at least 25 miles into the valley of this driftless area. The only downfall of this road is that it is just too short! Just as it starts the get good, you're back on 20!


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All in all, this was a great ride. I was able to do the whole 300 miles in 7 hours or so, and stopped a few times for gas and to stretch. It's unfortunate that it takes me at least an hour and a half to get to some great riding. I think every flatland rider needs to get out to this area for at least a nice, day long trip.

Springfield, IL: May 19-20 2011

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I decided to make my first long ride of the 2011 one of the capitols. The plan was to hit Springfield, IL, then over to Jefferson City, MO for 2 days. Unfortunately, the weather did not permit it. I was able to make it to Springfield for an overnighter. The total trip was just over 500 miles.

I left Thursday morning, just around 11:30am and headed towards Dekalb. I didn't want to hit the expressways my first day, since I was in the mood for some country roads. The ride was fine until I got into Sycamore. I swear I hit every red light from here through Dekalb. By the time I got out of Dekalb, my left hand was seriously cramping from all the clutching! I continued on route 23 to 34, which I rode into Princeton. Princeton was a tiny town, but my intent was to jump on 26 all the way to Peoria. 26 is listed at a favorite website as a great road to ride, as it follows the Illnois river. I gotta say I saw the river maybe 3 times. The road was decent, and the tree cover was very peaceful.

I stopped in Peoria for lunch (more like early dinner), and made my way down 29 to Springfield. This portion of the ride was particularly brutal, as this is truly the "plains," and I was getting blown all over the road. Also, the smell of manure was prominent, and I've learned with that odor comes BUGS. Needless to say, it got pretty annoying get smacked in my sunburned face for 2 hours by these little pests.

I pulled into Springfield just about 6:30pm, and promptly got lost searching for my hotel. Luckily I had to pull in for some gas and checked Google maps. I was only about a mile away. I finished checking in, and sat in my room watching the Office finale. After that, I was bored, so I took a little night cruise to find something to eat. While I was searching, I found the capitol and took a few shots with my phone:



These low grade pictures really didn't do it justice.

I checked out the next morning around made my way to the capitol. It was a bit busy, as it was Friday morning. However, the road directly in front of the building was closed to thru traffic, so I was able to pull right up front and take a few shots! The first few were great, but for some reason my autofocus didn't work for me with my timer pics. I even remember after my 2nd picture thinking "maybe I should take a few more." After looking at the few I had taken on the small camera LCD, I figured they came out fine. Here's how they looked:






I took a short ride around the capitol, trying to find the OLD capitol, but that just never happened. After the very, very long ride the day before, I decided to take highways home.

I took 55 up to 39, since I was stopping at a friends in Peru, IL. Though my average speed was about 70mph the whole way, I learned that at least you have something to expect on the back roads. Normally, I'll cruise for about a half hour or so, then come upon a small town. The speed limit will drop, I usually make the green light at the only traffic light in town, then it's another half hour at 55-60mph until the next town. This actually seems like there's something to look forward to. When you're on the expressway, it's just the same view, over and over.

I've been to Peru a few times before, but always came from the north. This time I came off of 39 onto 251. Right off the bat, the road takes a slight descent. Since there is forest on either side, you really don't see what you're driving into. Then the view opens up, and there's Peru, up on to of a big hill. You make your way over the Illinois river, and right into town.


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After I left Peru, I made my way back to 39, and took that all the way to 72. After 4 hours of buzzing along on the highway, it was a very welcome change. Here I was again, traveling on a 2 lane back road, going from small town to small town. I'll have to admit this felt like the shortest hour and a half of riding that day. I got home around 6:30pm, and ordered a cheesy beef from Village Pizza! What a great way to end my first overnighter of the season.