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6/28/02 - From "Wisconsin or Bust"... (page 1)

OK, I assume that you have read the "Unexpected Fourty" (miles) story by now... That was the first trip that Casey and I took. Once Casey found out that the trail went all the way to Wisconsin he really wanted to do it! Well, I kind of liked the idea too! So... our next trip was a little better planned out and the adventure begins...

The biggest problem that we had on this trip was that we got a late start and did not really have enough time to finish the trip (even though we did anyway, as you will see). I had mostly planned this one for Casey and me but Corinne and Dara really wanted to go too. I didn't think that there was any way in h--- that we could all do this kind of trip, so we figured that Corinne and Dara could go back when they started getting tired... They did turn back after 12 miles but Corinne really did not want to turn back and was very disappointed, which is what lead to the follow-up trip today.

At the start of our trip, in East Dundee, Casey made a sign "Wisconsin or Bust" and Corinnes sign was "Going to Wisconsin... or else..." with duct tape and markers, and stuck them on their shirts. Then they both yelled out their slogans to each person on the path that we passed! (in a fun way, when they felt comfortable (and brave) enough to do it).

The first part of this trail we had already been on. The Fox River trail is really beautiful (and fairly shady). It is pretty much along the river. In Algonquin, the trail connects to the Prairie Trail and has a lot of wooded areas followed by a section by some railroad tracks and gravel pits. In Crystal Lake you have to cross a few streets but there are some nice places for breaks. Corinne and Dara turned back a little after this.

Casey and I went on the what we call "hill hell". This is a really hilly, curvy and dangerously fun part of the trail! It really is a little dangerous, so we do take it a little easy, but still have some fun too...

After "hill hell" there are these long stretches along the railroad tracks, this is all still blacktop at this point, and a very hot part of the ride, but the background scenery is still really nice (country, farms, sod fields, etc.) A little after this the path turns into a gravel and dirt road. (We only saw a few other people on this whole 15 to 20 mile section). I kind of liked the dirt road path, but it got a little harder to pedal after a while...

On to Richmond Illinois and a few miles later Genoa City Wisconsin! I asked a lady where we were and she also told us about a nice restaurant in town which is where we ended up eating dinner... a real nice break!!! (but now we are only 1/2 way!!!!).

Ok, moving right along... It was about 7:00pm when we hit the trail back to Illinois... I figured a few hours of daylight if we were lucky. Well, I didn't know if we could handle the trail in the dark and figured that we may have to call for a ride, but neither one of us really wanted to give up and do that. So, as it got darker we checked it out and it seemed OK so we just kept going... As long as we went slow it seemed OK.

Well, it turned out that the very last stretch (that beautiful shady area by the river) was really really dark and scary! (we didn't really plan or bring our bike lights, of course) I can hardly explain it! I estimated that we were going about 4mph (and running into deer along the way also)... Then, the thunderstorms that they promised started up... We got back to the car about 5 or 10 minutes after the rain (about 11:00pm)... The dark and creepy trail really kept our minds off of how tired and sore we really were... Safe, and comfortable at last...

A new distance record for me (and for Casey, of course) and an adventure to be remembered!!! I really think that we shared a great adventure together (you know, ... "and for everything else, there's MasterCard" :-) )

OK, our Wisconsin and Back story took quite a while, so I will keep this next one brief (it's getting late too).

Today, Corinne, Dara and Casey made it from East Dundee to Wisconsin yet again!!! Corinnes (duct tape) sign today was "Escape to Wisconsin" (we told her that this used to be the old saying...). The kids drew names to see which licensed driver would have to turn back 1/2 way to get the car, and I lost :-(. (No more night river trail riding for us!!!).

This went pretty well, and since Casey had been on this before (and Dara was with them, and I knew it was safe) I turned back after "hill hell" (I wanted to do my safety stuff there).

We had another nice dinner at Kellers restaurant and a nice easy car ride home this time!!!

Click Here for the Map
(I had to keep the file size big enough to read so give it a little time if you want to see this...)