I set off this morning from the homestead. It was 50 partly cloudy with the promise of sun and near 70 later in the day. As my bike warmed up and I got my gear on the liquid sun started lightly falling. I looked at the radar and decided to forgo the rain gear, but brought it with just in case.
I set off from Gurnee IL must after seven. As I rode along I quickly realized it was not only cold but damp as well. That kind of damp that just goes through your gear after awhile. After about an hour and a half I pulled off for breakfast at a little diner. A few cups of coffee along with eggs and bacon and I was defrosted. As I rode off I thought to myself yup still rocking cold out, but my fingers and toes weren't cool anymore.
As I headed west on 20 towards Rockford. About an hour later I finally got to Route 2 that runs along the Rock River to Dixon ( Birth place of Ronnie). It was a great ride almost no traffic and no johndarm. By now the sun was starting to peek out from the clouds.
Soon I was in Dixon. I continued on towards Sterling IL. Once I got there I stopped to see where I was headed next. My original plan was to head northwest to Davenport IA, then north to Dubuque IA along the great River road. But as I looked at my map I saw that LaClaire IA was only an hour away. Detour! And that's how my extra 200 miles started.
The ride to LaClaire was really nice and enjoyable. Of course I had to stop at Antique Archeology, cause why else would I go there! After looking a junk I saw on TV I grabbed a magnet and a few pics and headed north. The ride was spectacular both the road and the views. It was about now that I figured ok maybe 350 miles, I got this. If you haven't ridden the Iowa side of the Mississippi I highly recommend it.
By now I was a solid 6 hours into the ride and I was starting to squirm. Thank goodness for that scenic outlook. See attached pics. After a 15 min stretch and drink I finally decided to take off my sweatshirt and jacket vest. The sun was out and it seemed warm. Well it was warmish. About five mins after I started out I stopped and put the vest liner back in. Like godly locks it was now just right.
Soon I was on my way to DuBuque. The rest of that portion was like most of the rude, but pleasant. It wasn't until was in 11 in Wisconsin that things got unpleasant. I came up behind a club out riding. As they were about 40 bikes long passing on a two lane road was out of the question and when it was 4 lanes they made it quite clear passing was not an option. As r ode along looking for a road to detour on two more came along to join the group but felt the need to pull up on either side and pace me. After a minute the moved on and I found a detour. By now I was past that 350 mile ride.
Thankfully the rest of the ride was uneventful. I did notice that last half an hour my riding was getting a bit sloppy. All said and done 457 miles in 11 hours. Not the fastest, but I have only put that many hours in the saddle a few times. A normal long day ride would be 300 ish. I did move the Northern IL tag today. I also passed 90,000 miles today oN my ST, Although only 34 k are mine.
I set off from Gurnee IL must after seven. As I rode along I quickly realized it was not only cold but damp as well. That kind of damp that just goes through your gear after awhile. After about an hour and a half I pulled off for breakfast at a little diner. A few cups of coffee along with eggs and bacon and I was defrosted. As I rode off I thought to myself yup still rocking cold out, but my fingers and toes weren't cool anymore.
As I headed west on 20 towards Rockford. About an hour later I finally got to Route 2 that runs along the Rock River to Dixon ( Birth place of Ronnie). It was a great ride almost no traffic and no johndarm. By now the sun was starting to peek out from the clouds.
Soon I was in Dixon. I continued on towards Sterling IL. Once I got there I stopped to see where I was headed next. My original plan was to head northwest to Davenport IA, then north to Dubuque IA along the great River road. But as I looked at my map I saw that LaClaire IA was only an hour away. Detour! And that's how my extra 200 miles started.
The ride to LaClaire was really nice and enjoyable. Of course I had to stop at Antique Archeology, cause why else would I go there! After looking a junk I saw on TV I grabbed a magnet and a few pics and headed north. The ride was spectacular both the road and the views. It was about now that I figured ok maybe 350 miles, I got this. If you haven't ridden the Iowa side of the Mississippi I highly recommend it.
By now I was a solid 6 hours into the ride and I was starting to squirm. Thank goodness for that scenic outlook. See attached pics. After a 15 min stretch and drink I finally decided to take off my sweatshirt and jacket vest. The sun was out and it seemed warm. Well it was warmish. About five mins after I started out I stopped and put the vest liner back in. Like godly locks it was now just right.
Soon I was on my way to DuBuque. The rest of that portion was like most of the rude, but pleasant. It wasn't until was in 11 in Wisconsin that things got unpleasant. I came up behind a club out riding. As they were about 40 bikes long passing on a two lane road was out of the question and when it was 4 lanes they made it quite clear passing was not an option. As r ode along looking for a road to detour on two more came along to join the group but felt the need to pull up on either side and pace me. After a minute the moved on and I found a detour. By now I was past that 350 mile ride.
Thankfully the rest of the ride was uneventful. I did notice that last half an hour my riding was getting a bit sloppy. All said and done 457 miles in 11 hours. Not the fastest, but I have only put that many hours in the saddle a few times. A normal long day ride would be 300 ish. I did move the Northern IL tag today. I also passed 90,000 miles today oN my ST, Although only 34 k are mine.
