In mid-September of 2007 Steve and I rode the Illinois Great Rivers Ride, a 350-mile, week-long ride. We started in Chicago and rode a good share of the first morning through bike trails in Chicago which gave us great views of the Windy City (which, fortunately, wasn’t windy that day). The next several days we rode through farmland, seeing several round barns, woodlands, and past or alongside small rivers. It was the right time of year for a long ride—the days were warm but not hot, and the nights were cool but not cold.
And this ride had something we hadn’t seen on a ride before. In addition to the normal food tent the ride also had a drink tent where, at the end of the day, riders could buy a cocktail or beer. That was a nice touch as many of us like to relax after a long day of riding with an after-dinner drink.
There was also a comedian, “Tom Snyder, The Biking Comedian,” riding with the group and one night he put on a very funny performance for the whole group.
We passed through Joliet, Starved Rock State Park, Kewanee, New Salem, and Springfield. We must have gone through Peoria, too, as we visited the Spirit of Peoria Riverboat. At Springfield, the state capital, we toured the capital Executive Mansion (Steve and I got our picture standing at the Governor’s podium) and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.
I don’t recall anything really spectacular about this ride but it went through some nice countryside, was well organized, and was a very pleasant time.
