Day 1 - Finally, the start!

Date: Sunday, 10 July 2016

Time on Bike: 3:49:55

Total Travel Time: 6:00:32

Miles Covered Today: 41.9

Total Trip Miles: 41.9

Average Speed: 10.9 mph, Maximum Sped: 21.8 mph

From: 12th Street Beach near Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL

To: James “Pate” Philip Sate Park, Bartlett, IL

(Written from Madison, WI)

It took a while to get our act together in the morning. After all, we had been on the road for a few days traveling by car and it was the first day of cycling. It was going to be a learning curve…

We had talked many times about our “plan”. But as we say in Hebrew, all plans are the basis for changes!

Bunny & Woz are my support team. They are traveling in what we call a “sag wagon”. They would have all the stuff and I would cycle with a minimum of gear… and weight!

The plan was for them to head up the road ~10 to 12 miles, which is about what I was hoping to cover in an hour. I like to stop every hour or so and take a break and rest my legs. So Bunny & Woz would drive ahead and stake out a good rest stop.

I wanted (and needed!!) to stretch my legs as it had been several days since I had been on the bike. I also realized that biking out of Chicago on Monday, a workday, would be very challenging. So why not put in a few miles on Sunday morning when the City would be quiet??

I drove the hour or so from our friends' house in Grayslake, IL to my starting point on the lakefront in Chicago. We arrived at the 12th Street Beach at about 8 AM. By the time I unloaded the bike, attached the rear & front bags, checked the bike out, topped off the tires with air, and we took our pictures, I was on the road by 8:20 AM.

So… the tradition among long distance cyclists is to dip your rear tire in the body of water at your departure point and then put your front tire into the water when you arrive at your final destination.

I asked a guy on the beach with his wife to take my picture. I was bubbling with excitement and told him of my impending travels. He was also a cyclist so he could relate. Picture done!!

Note: wearing my UCI World Road Race jersey!

I wanted another picture of me with my support team whom without I could not do this trip. I biked the 500 yards to the other side of the Adler Planetarium that gave a nice view of Lake Michigan and the city. Bunny followed by car and we had our first reunion of the trip!! Woz was very interested in the loud seagulls and wasn't in a posing mood.

Then it was time to get to work.

Cycling thru the city was not particularly a treat. The roads were in crap condition. There were some sections of bike lanes, but they disappeared after a few blocks it seemed. It also seemed I caught every freeking red light. I took forever to do that first 10 miles to meet back up with Bunny & Woz.

Since I will not get to the Northern Tier Route (that I have detailed routing & maps for) until La Crosse, WI, I needed some help with navigation. I decided to use Google Maps as it has an option for cycling. Within 4 miles of my departure Google Maps took me through a park and the directions just made no sense. Navigation was going to be a challenge!

To start things off, I found parks, or schools, or athletic fields every 10 miles or so for those first two days and noted their addresses. Bunny understood these were just reference points and she would be on the look out for the “ultimate” rest stops!

Our first stop was at The Park District of Forest Park, IL. The last mile or so reminded me of The Fan in Richmond, VA or even Ghent in Norfolk, VA. Great, old, beautiful houses!!

Bunny & Woz found a great location under a tree by some tennis courts at this city park. Friendly faces!! Woz was able to score four used tennis balls!

I was soon on the Illinois Prairie Path. I would be on this pedestrian & bike path almost until I got to Wisconsin! It reminded me initially of the Cap2Cap trail from Richmond to Jamestown that I had trained so many miles on. But in rougher shape. The asphalt had a lot of cracks. Signage wasn’t that good. And there were Stop signs every block or so as it crossed residential streets. Going was slow. But it was safe…. No motorized vehicles allowed. I understand it was the first U.S. rail-to-trail conversion in the nation back in the 1960’s.

It was just a spectacular day for a ride! Sunny, warm in the mid-80's. Not too humid. Little wind. I really enjoyed it!

At a certain point, the trail turned to crushed, packed limestone. There were shady parts, but much of it was out in the open.

Second rest stop was in Lombard, IL. Lunch time!!! Later that evening, I was told by our host in Chicago that ya gotta eat a dog when you are in Chicago. They are different, but oh soooo good!! Johnny Dog did not disapoint!!

It was getting hotter as the day went on. Third stop was at Glasshagel Field in West Chicago, IL. We crashed a baseball tournament. We did not get any trophies!!

I had only planned to do 30 to 40 miles on Sunday. It took us out of the City and I had gotten a good ride in. We ended our day at the James "Pate" Philip State Park in Bartlett, IL. We think that Woz was done for the day!!

We loaded the bike on the car and headed back to Grayslake, IL where our friend K&S Allen live. They have a beautiful back yard with tons of plants and even two bee hives!!

Woz and their pup Lily got along just great! Note two bee hives top left!

S. made a wonderful dinner for us and we all went to bed early. It had been a perfect first day. Hope the rest of the trip goes this well!!!!!