Whew! Almost 36 miles

What the heck was I thinking? Took the Batavia Spur to the Fox River. North to .. well, I missed the Geneva Spur and almost ended up in Elgin.

<-- What is this structure in Warrenville? If somebody knows, please fill me in.

Backtracked to the not-very-well-marked turnoff and headed southeast. Have to acknowledge the wooden switchback that carried me up the Fox River palisade and into the woods beyond.

Looped back at the Wheaton split, where a very nice couple, stopping to help a guy consulting a worn map, confirmed that I was on the right track. The last five miles were seriously pushing my current stamina -- or were they? I arrived at the car majorly winded, laughing-out-loud proud of myself and only slightly concerned about dropping dead from congestive heart failure.

Turned on the air-conditioning in the car on the way home, and those of you who know Mr. Never-Warm-Enough realize what that means. That wheezy-itchy-phlegmy feeling in my chest told me I’ve worked the ol’ power plant a bit too hard. Apologies, cardiopulmonary system: I had your best interests in mind when I started.

Total for the day: 35.9 miles. I am tired, but jazzed.

<-- The Geneva Spur, heading east.

Folks, I’m nearly 50 years old, and I tackled almost thirty-six miles of mostly-unpaved trail today. My knees are complaining a bit, and I was a little coughy when I got home, but otherwise: eat my limestone dust!

Gonna fly airplanes with Flight Simulator 10 all night to relax and rest. Bleacher tix for the Cubs game tomorrow. Hope there aren’t a lot of stairs.

<-- Got my minimum daily requirement of iron with just a couple sips of the water provided by this pump along the Geneva Spur.


OK, I'm just a bit shagged out. Can you tell?

Third time's the charm

Took the Prairie Path Aurora Spur on Saturday, Aug. 7. Low overcast, humid, spitting drizzle.

<-- Discovery 7's dashboard, including ancient steam-powered GPS.

Dick didn't join me, for reasons that can only be described as "smart."

Path was mushy and slow from the previous night's rain. Not promising, but I set out anyway.

After about 5 miles of working way too hard to plow through the slimy limestone, I told myself I'd only go as far as the Fox River in Aurora, then turn around. I was panting hard.

Right at the Aurora city limits, though, the path turned from crushed limestone to baby-butt-smooth asphalt. OK, I said to myself, I'll keep going as long as the pavement holds out.

South along the Fox River, across the New York Street bridge at the casino, then north back along the river on the opposite side. Still paved, and lovely.

<-- Flowers along the Fox River near downtown Aurora.

Sun started peeking though the clouds as I passed through North Aurora.

By the time I hit Batavia, it was mainly sunny and extremely humid. Stopped at Bulldog's for a huge salad.

Rode the Batavia Spur back to the car. Total: 28.5 miles.


<-- The bike definitely needed a wash and a lube after the ride.