So, I like to go on long cycling trips for my birthday...

Two years ago, I did 44 miles with friends to the Skokie Lagoons. Last year, I made it as far as Sycamore, but did not make it back, due to some bad routing choices, and multiple flats. This year, I was planning to finally break the 100 mile mark.

I was looking at two possible options-- south to Indiana, maybe as far as Crown Point, suggested by my mechanic at my LBS, but a friend from North Central Cyclery suggested the Fox River Trail to the Prairie Trail, and potentially to the Wisconsin border. As winds were from the northwest, and I really like to head into the wind for the trip out, I went with that suggestion. I was familiar with the trail to downtown Elgin, about 30 miles, but the rest was uncharted territory.

I left at 7:40, planning to spend around twelve hours out. That meant I would have to average eleven miles an hour, including stops, to make it to Wisconsin. The first 25 miles were familiar territory, and pretty smooth. But a few miles before Elgin, I misjudged a stop, and took a spill, picking up some lovely road rash on my knee, and providing a blood offering to the trail gods. That was not stopping me, so I rinsed it a bit, and carried on.

Elgin is fairly easy to bike through, and the Fox River Trail to Algonquin is a smooth trip. East Dundee is pretty, with a visitor center and trailside amenities. The connection between the Fox River Trail and the Prairie Trail in Algonquin was smooth and seamless.

Crystal Lake (50 miles out) had a few challenges, including construction, to navigate through, but nothing especially noteworthy. It helps to print the map of the Prairie Trail from the McHenry county website, which I had. North of Crystal Lake, there is a forest preserve with several sharp elevation changes, and signs asking cyclists to please dismount and walk. I'm glad I did. I'm bad at downhills.

North of Crystal Lake it gets pretty. First farmland, then open country. North of McHenry, the trail transitions to gravel, and is a little more challenging than the near suburban limestone screenings. I turned around five miles short of the border, realizing that if I went all the way, I would be home after nine. Making it all the way back, under my own power was more important. But a bottle of New Glarus in Genoa City would have been sweet.

The ride back was fairly smooth. Once you get past seventy miles on the road, your body has used most of its stored reserves, so it is important to eat regularly leading up to that. I did well with that, did not "bonk", and can recommend the hot dog stand in the train car near the trail in East Dundee. Approaching the closer suburbs, I went to the Illinois Prairie Path, instead of the slightly more direct Great Western Trail, just in case I needed a Metra bailout. A final stop in Elmhurst for Reeses peanut butter cups, and I made it in the door a few minutes before my wife. Then we ordered, and I ate lots of pizza, and drank New Glarus that we already had at home.

I'm proud of the fact that I did 100 miles, as well as 200 kilometers, and at least 40 miles (70 kilometers) was off pavement. I barely maintained (but did maintain) an average of greater than 10 miles/hour elapsed. I got two nice compliments on my dynamo light. I was also smoked by a little lady in her sixties north of Algonquin, who I could only pretend to hang with for about six miles. Is it wrong that I'm already thinking about next years ride?