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Completing the Grand Illinois Trail: Princeton to the Quad Cities to Galena and back through Rockford

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My last post was about my attempt to get to the Mississippi River in 2021. I was unable to complete the route because the temperature was colder than I expected. I was just able to finish the journey September 23 to September 25, 2022. What an adventure! This was the first bikepacking trip that I have done with my new pride and joy, my custom titanium Seven Evergreen S. What a huge difference in ride as compared to my old carbon Trek Domane (which I still dearly miss). Given that I had to abort the last time, I was much more well prepared, both in terms of gear and in terms of my own fitness. I was confident I could complete my route this time. I was prepared to do the journey over 4 days and 3 overnights, but circumstances would suggest that I complete the trip in 3 days...I would give it my best go.  The route would follow the Grand Illinois Trail  (GIT) fairly closely, starting from where I had left off last year, on the Hennepin Canal close to Princeton. It would take me to the ba
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Rolling Meditation...on Two Feet! Chicago Marathon 2021

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Walking around downtown Chicago this morning and seeing all the preparation for the  44th running of the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, Oct 9, 2022 , I was wistful at the fact that I wasn't going to be running it this year. Good luck to all the runners, and have a great Marathon! To ease my nostalgia, I decided to write a bit about my journey last year to my first ever marathon.  It all started at the beginning of 2021. I was going to turn 45, and had been running 3-5 miles along the lake here and there in 2020, and my cardiovascular fitness had improved after biking longer distances as well. I've always had running a marathon as a goal since I was a kid running track and cross country (wasn't any good at it though). I figured, what the heck, I'll apply for a Chicago Marathon lottery position. This is a non-guaranteed place in the race, randomly selected by the organizers. The guaranteed positions are for entrance running for charity, time qualifiers (3:20 in my age group)
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Bikepacking the Old Plank Road, the I&M and Hennepin Canals

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This is a post that is long overdue documenting my first bikepacking journey starting on March 28, 2021. I wanted to attempt to reach the Quad Cities and return over a 3 day journey, starting from home in Chicago. Packed my bike the night before with all the goodies. Will list out all my gear in another post.  Woke up early to take the Metra Electric from train out to Matteson from Millenium Station. For those of us adventurous cyclists who live in downtown Chicago, the Metra (and Amtrak) trains are a blessing as they whisk us away to less urbanized areas away from car traffic. I would recommend this mode of transit...it's the way to really fly :) (The old rig on the Metra Electric) (Mattheson Metra Station, bye bye train!) The Old Plank Road Trail  (OPRT) stretches from just east of Matteson in Chicago Heights, connecting to Thorn Creek Trail westward to Joliet. I got sprinkled on a bit, but it was a wonderful feeling being out on a long ride after the cold midwestern winter. The
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