perspiration

Hey guys, this weekend a buddy and I accomplished one of my summer goals: we biked to Dekalb, IL from our town taking mostly the Illinois Prarie Path and the Great Western Trail.

The map looks like this:


It ended up being about 62 miles there and 63 back. I knew I was going to like long distance cycling, but it's so much more fun than I thought! I love adventure, and this definitely was an adventure.

It involved two flats before we left our town, me kissing the pavement shortly after (i have some sexy road rash on my leg), taking the wrong bike path and having to rush along a 4 lane highway for a few miles, riding in a seemingly endless void of pitch black MUP, imbibing far too much once we arrived, and that was just the way there!

The way back involved no cloud cover, 90 degrees, constant sun shining on you...I felt pretty bad on the way back, actually. We took a lot of shade breaks and I chugged a lot of water, but I was still sort of worried about sunstroke or something like that. We were in direct sunlight for well over 6 hours...at least the path was flooded up to my waist at one point and we picked up our bikes and forded the river! That was somewhat refreshing...

tl;dr I had an amazing time and feel really proud of myself. This was easily the longest trip I've ever been on and I made it! My legs are pretty tired, but my butt was hurting me the most. I can't wait until my Brooks comes in...

This was also the first time I ever used a rack, and wow they're great! I got the Tortec expedition and it is a wonderful thing. I'm riding a 2011 Crosscheck and while I noticed some of the front wheel wobble I've heard people mention, it carried the load very well. I really think I'm going to enjoy touring with it.

Anyways, I'm just feeling really good so I thought I'd let you all know!

Brutal.Roadrnr

Hey I grew up (okay I spent a few years there) in Lombard! Good to see someone from the area and grats on your achievement!

TrekDen

Nice going on the back to back 60's, and sounds like you had fun doing it. Most of us know all about those long days in the sun, very exhausting for sure.

GeoBigJon

Sounds like a good time, thanks for sharing your ride report.

scfishr

Absolutely outstanding, Looking forward to hearing about your next ride, thanks

jethro56 

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CJ C

AWESOME!!!

so you did 125miles in one day? dude that is great!

i cant wait to hear about your next trip to hear your comparisons to the first. what was your average speed? how many shirts did you sweat through?

CraigB

I'm guessing it was one day out, and the next day back. Is that right? Otherwise you should have titled the thread "My First 120+ Mile Ride!"

volosong

Double metric century! Well done. You have stories to tell and memories to cherish now.

perspiration

It was one day out, a day break, and the next day back.

I bought and wore one new C9 shirt from Target which was great, but I was definitely sweating too much for it on the ride back. My Strada says we averaged about 12.9mph on the way there and 13.1 on the way back.


I feel like I could definitely do a regular century if the weather wasn't so hot (and maybe once my Brooks gets in, my butt was probably the most sore part)

MrsNetNut404

WAY TO GO!!

I know what you mean about adventure. I have recently rediscovered my sense of adventure thanks to cycling. I LOVE to travel but thanks to the cost of gas, its nearly impossible on our budget. When I realized I didn't need a car, plane, or train to get me where I wanted to go as long as I had a bike, my sense of adventure was instantly rekindled. For our anniversary in a couple of weeks we are riding about 30 miles to a town nearby. I know its not 60 or more miles but we are both not used to riding that far. So we plan to take it slow and build up our endurance.

Anyway...Congratulations on your long ride!

MrsN

bautieri

great work !!!

CraigB

You should post that ride on MapMyRide. I'd love to see the detailed info. My brother lives in Oak Park and it would be a great ride for us to work toward. If we knew anyone in Dekalb, that is.