This past weekend, I rode my bike from Chicago to Starved Rock State Park. The trip totaled just over 200 miles over three days, and the ride from Chicago to the park on Friday was 116 miles — the longest I've ever ridden in a day! The weekend was one of my favorite bike trips I've ridden so far.
For this ride, I joined a group called Out Our Front Door, a non-profit that organizes bike camping trips in the south Lake Michigan region, mostly starting in Chicago. I've found them to be a wonderful, inclusive community that prioritizes fun over the hyper-competitiveness that sometimes sneaks into cycling groups. I'd highly recommend them to anyone in the Chicago area interested in bike camping.
Most of the route to Starved Rock was on the I&M Canal Trail, a former towpath for barges on the eponymous canal. The surface varied from smooth pavement, to crushed limestone and gravel, to simple dirt and grass. The variety in terrain was welcome to keep things interesting after a long day on the bike.
The second day was spent relaxing at camp and hiking. I got some truly delicious blueberry pancakes at the park lodge for breakfast, and then joined the group for a hike through the canyon in Matthiessen State Park. Living in Chicago, one can come to associate Illinois with flat and boring terrain, so Saturday's hike was a great reminder of all the beautiful places within a day trip of the city. After the hike, we enjoyed lunch and drinks at the lodge before heading back to camp to relax and eat dinner by the fire.
On Sunday, we got up early and rode fast about 60 miles to catch the 2:15 Rock Island Metra commuter rail train from the suburb of Joliet back to the city. Keeping up on this day was almost a bigger challenge than the long mileage of day one! Overall, I'm quite happy with my strength as a rider after this weekend — I can tell I've gotten more capable over the past couple years.