East Moline to Palatine

 

Heading Home

This trip is the third in this group. I rode out to Davenport two weeks ago and rode RAGBRAI 2023 last week. For my trip home, I wanted to try something different. I have done the Grand Illinois Trail, both north and south, across Illinois. I had not yet tried the western edge, which includes the Great River Trail up toward Savanna. Also, my previous trips were planned using Ride with GPS. This time, I let Google Maps pick the route. Google's plan was 60 miles shorter than Ride with GPS, and I was tired of riding and just wanted to get home quickly and safely.

East Moline to Dixon

Day 1: 67 miles, 2,000 feet of elevation gain. I started from Fisherman's Corner National Recreation Area in Hampton, Illinois, just north of East Moline. They had good campsites which could be reserved in advance.

The ride north on the Great River Trail is a mixture of bike path and side roads. Some of it is right along the Mississippi. Other parts are more inland. The river parts are very pretty. The inland parts are more just another Illinois country road.

There's very little in the way of services in this section. I stopped at a convenience store near Rapids City and that was the last stop I saw. I think there were other services not too far away, but I've found when you let either Ride with GPS or Google plan your route, by default they take you away from traffic, which also means away from services. You need to actively plan your own stops and go off-route to get food, water, or a rest stop.

There are a lot of rollers in the western part of the state. This section isn't nearly so bad as up toward Galena, but there are still a lot of ups and downs. In terms of traffic, there was effectively none. The route is quite remote and this was on a Sunday, so I really didn't see many cars at all. I stopped for lunch at the Double G Saloon in Morrison. That was very good and had a friendly crowd. They apparently don't get too many bikers there and everyone wanted to talk about riding across Illinois.

The ride was uneventful, but I was hot and a bit tired. I stopped along the way and asked a homeowner who was out mowing the grass if I could borrow the hose for water. As I approached Dixon, I decided I was done for the day and even willing to get a hotel room for the night. I stopped and picked up Subway for dinner, checked in, turned up the air conditioner, and sat in the tub for awhile. A good night of rest and recovery was needed.

Dixon to Palatine

Day 2: 100 miles, 2,500 feet of elevation gain. Today I had more incentive. It was 90+ miles to home, but I knew if I got to trails I was familiar with, it would be easier. I also knew that, with sleep, 90 miles was doable.

This part of Illinois is more long, flat, and cornfields. But keeping with the infrastructure theme from the ride across the I&M Canal, the Hennepin Canal, and the many bridges across the Mississippi near Davenport, I thought this view of the cornfields with nuclear reactor cooling towers in the background was a good representation of central Illinois. It's rural, but there are constant reminders of the impact other parts of the state have on this area.

My wife was kind enough to meet me in Dekalb and take my panniers and camping bag. 30 pounds lighter felt like flying for the remaining 50+ miles and I made good time. Just east of Sycamore, Google had me go north and then east to South Elgin rather than taking the Great Western Trail to St. Charles. It saved four or five miles of distance, but coming into South Elgin from the west is more road traffic than I would normally prefer. Fortunately, it was almost all downhill and I was able to avoid the cars with only a few pullovers to get them to pass safely.

Once I got to South Elgin, I followed the Fox River Trail up and then east through the forest preserves, one of my regular routes. It was nice to be home and know every curve. As I approached home, I realized I was only three miles short of a century ride, so I took a slight detour and added a three mile loop around Harper College at the end.

Epilogue

Two days and 167 miles. That's all it took to cross Illinois by the most direct route. If you're going on to Chicago or the lakefront, add another 35 miles or so to that. This was much faster than the four days I needed for either the north or south parts of the Grand Illinois Trail. In terms of sightseeing, I think the Grand Illinois Trail routes are better, certainly the southern route with the canals. But if you just want to get there, straight across the state is good.

This was a significant trip for several reasons. First, it ended my two week, 950 mile adventure riding out to Iowa, taking a bus to Sioux City, putting my feet down in South Dakota, and then riding home. I actually rode home from South Dakota. Pretty cool.

Second, I did two century rides in less than a week, with a third ride in between that everyone on it said was harder than almost any century ride they had done before. It took effort, but I did it.

And third, today is/was my last official day of "work". I am retired as of midnight tonight. It seemed only fitting that I would end my career by "riding off into the sunset", and so I did.