My son is training for a couple of runs in May. They're essentially half-marathons with obstacles thrown in, from huge mud puddles to throwing spears at hay bales. A couple of weekends ago, he said he wanted to run in Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve; I asked to tag along, since I'm in training to not be obese at some point in my life
Steven doesn't get up early, so I rode over to the Colonial Cafe for breakfast. Josie brought me my Diet Cokes and standard breakfast order. Juanita, who was my Colonial server for many years and had my standard order memorized -- she didn't even bother bringing me a menu -- retired Dec. 31. Josie's not quite there yet but coming along nicely.We arrived at Waterfall Glen at about 10:30 a.m. We figured that I'd probably do the 10-mile loop twice while he was doing it once. It worked out perfectly; I'd brought my camera to try a little nature photography, which added just enough stopping to even out the timing.
It was just about the perfect early spring day. The trees were still bare, but wildflowers were just beginning to poke up through the leaf litter of last year.
Sawmill Creek runs through the preserve on its way to the Des Plaines River.
Along the way it forms this little waterfall that the preserve is NOT named after. The forest preserve is named after Seymour "Bud" Waterfall, an early president of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. Really, no kidding.
It's a great trail, with lots of curves and some fairly intense hills. The scenery includes forest, prairie and wetlands, and you get a few glimpses of Argonne National Laboratory, where I work.
I used my Trek Crossrip for this ride. The limestone's in pretty good shape for the most part; there are some soft patches on the hills that made me glad for the wider 32mm tires on the Crossrip. The Gatorskin tires are holding up nicely so far.
After some post-run stretches, we headed out for lunch. A great day.
No comments:
Post a Comment