About Rob

Bike trail and long distance cyclist and publisher of about-bicycles.com

New GPS Bike Trail Maps for Palatine Trail and Deer Grove Trail (partial)

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Rob

This is just a quick update to let you know that I just posted some new, interactive GPS bike trail maps for the Palatine Trail and the connecting Deer Grove Trail (black trail and red trail sections).

I have ridden these trails many times in the past and have had the bike trail pages (and old photos) for both of these trails out on this website for years now (actually they need an upgrade too) but I never really had good maps for either of these trails posted with the articles. I’ve linked to a nice PDF map of the Deer Grove Trails but I also like the interactive GPS maps because you can zoom in, zoom out, move around or even switch to the satellite view to see the actual terrain.

So now, I have the GPS maps available. You can find the GPS maps (and info on the trails) at The Palatine Trail and the connecting Deer Grove Bike Path. The photos on these pages are very old so I apologize for their low quality. One thing that is interesting though, since these photos are very old, is that you can see how some parts of the trail have changed quite a bit over the years.

I recently noticed how they really thinned out the woods on the east part of Deer Grove now. This is a little disappointing if you remember how beautiful the thick woods along this part of the trail used to be. The signs in that area suggest that they are doing this maintenance to help the eco system in the long run. I hope they know what they are doing.

One final note, I usually post the condition of the various trails that I ride so I can let you know that the Palatine Trail and the Black and Red sections of the Deer Grove Trail are in very good condition and there is no construction or detours.

Des Plaines River Trail ~ Park Ridge to Wheeling

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Rob

This might look like a repeat of one of my earlier bike trail ride reports but it is actually something completely different. I have ridden on the Des Plaines River Trail (DPRT) many times now and have documented the trail and uploaded the photos (and more recently the GPS map data) before. My last ride on the DPRT was actually only a month ago.

Well, the Des Plaines River Trail is actually a really long trail (approximately 60 miles) and although I have ridden on many different parts of the trail I have never ridden the entire trail or the section that we just rode last week which includes Wheeling, south of Dundee Road, to Park Ridge (and back).

This part of the DPRT is mostly wooded, shady with some open areas and has some very nice scenery but there are also some fairly rugged sections in this area. Most of the trail is crushed stone but there are parts that are packed dirt and even a few single-track sections.

The only thing that I didn’t really like much on this part of the trail is that there are a few busy roads that you need to cross where there are no bridges, underpasses or even traffic signals in some cases. Milwaukee and Oakton (I think) were the worst to cross. This would not cause me to not ride this part of the trail but it does make it a little more difficult especially if you ride this part in rush hours (yes hours is plural and there is more than one 🙂 ). Most of the major roads do have bridges, underpasses or at least traffic signals where you need to cross.

One of the nice things about this part of the trail, aside from the shade and nice scenery in some parts, is that if you are coming from the north (the DPRT goes almost to the Wisconsin border) you can extend your ride quite a bit. I have never ridden the DPRT from Park Ridge south to Maywood but I understand that it does go that far. So if this is correct, and the entire length of the trail is 60 miles (which I have read) then you could actually do a 120 mile round-trip ride on this trail!

I know from experience riding the Lake County part of the Des Plaines River Trail that the underpasses can flood and even parts of the trail can flood when the river is high (like in early spring or after a lot of rain (not like now, of course)) so I think it is probably best to ride this part of the trail when conditions are dry. This past week was perfect for the part of the trail since the shade kept us cooler and everything was very dry.

Of course, I brought my camera and Bike GPS so I could take photos and document this part of the DPRT. Actually, with all the original photos that I have posted of this trail and the new ones that I just took I am starting to wonder if I have too many photos of this trail! Well, even if that is the case, I think it’s nice to be able to see what the different parts of the trail are like, especially if you are considering riding the trail and you can just skip the sections that you are not interested in.

As I was posting the latest trail photos I was looking at some of the original photos of the trail that I took back in 2004. Man, it’s nice that digital camera technology has come such a long way. Sorry the older photos are not very good quality. I guess I’ll have to re-do the photos of those sections when I get a chance.

Anyway, the new section of the trail that we just rode last week starts with the Des Plaines River Trail Photos 12 (which starts in Park Ridge) and includes Photos 13, Photos 14, Photos 15 and Photos 16 as we headed north back to Wheeling (like I said I have a lot out there now).

Most of my photos are related to the bike trail itself but my friend Dale, who rode this part of the trail with me, likes and is very good at nature photos and more artistic shots and I have included some of his photos in the collection too.

So I hope you enjoy the new photo pages and get a chance to get out to the DPRT or any of the other nice bike trails in this area or that are convenient for you.

Mobile Friendly Websites

On a different subject (but slightly related), I have been working on converting all of the pages on this website to a more mobile-friendly format for those who access this site with mobile devices (smart phones, tablet computers, etc.).

This has been quite a project so far and I still have a long way to go (but getting closer). The website will look almost exactly the same for anyone accessing the site with a desktop or laptop but will be much more streamlined for smaller devices like smart phones. This should include most of the bike trail pages and eventually this blog too so stay tuned (especially if you are on a smart phone!).

le 2012 Tour de France Reflection and Summary

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Rob

Well, the 2012 edition of le Tour de France is over now and will soon fade into history. Personally, I am going to miss checking out the latest action, the incredible scenery, the crazy spectators (as they try to run alongside the cyclists on the steep mountain climbs), the wild 60 to 70mph rides down from the mountain peaks and even the sportscasters. It is becoming a summer tradition for me to record the TDF each night, whenever possible (throughout most of July), and watch my recordings later in the day or evening. It’s like the kickoff to summer.

as le 2012 Tour de France fades...

As for the results of le Tour, I’m sure those of you who have been into it this year, already know the results (since the final stage in Paris was on Sunday) but for those who may have had some interest in the TDF but were not totally into it (that’s hard to imagine) and/or may have missed the ending here is a brief summary of the Results of le Tour de France 2012:

It was a great year for Great Britain and for the Sky Procycling team. The overall winner of le Tour de France ~ the winner of the Yellow Jersey ~ was Bradley Wiggins of GBR and the Sky Procycling team. This was not much of a surprise for anyone who watched the final stages of the TDF since Wiggins wore the yellow jersey for most of the final stages and had a good lead on everyone else. This was, however, the first time (in 99 TDFs) that a cyclist from GBR won le Tour de France!

Second place in the overall standings (second best overall time) was Christopher Froome also of GBR and Sky Procycling. A number of people thought that Froome might have had a chance to win the TDF himself but stuck to his team role and was a great help for Wiggins.

We (the good ol USA) had Tejay Van Garderen of the BMC Racing Team come in 5th place overall. Tejay also won the White Jersey for the best young rider.

Thomas Voeckler of France and Team Europcar won the Polka-dot Jersey for the King of the Mountain, or best climber. Voeckler wore the Yellow Jersey for quite a few stages in last year’s TDF. Voeckler also seems like a very likeable person and this was nice to see.

Peter Sagan of SVK and the Liquigas-Cannondale team won the Green Jersey (for the most points) along with 3 stage wins. Sagan was the cyclist with the Funky-Chicken, Forrest Gump and Hulk victory moves at the finish line of the stages that he won. He was also close to winning a few other stages and I was kind of hoping that he would so I could see what he had in mind for his next victory celebration.

Even the final stage, in Paris, was pretty exciting this year. The overall standings were pretty much decided by then but Team Sky had one more challenge (which they succeeded at) which was to help Mark Cavendish also of GBR, to win the final stage, for which he has been undefeated in the last 4 years. Cavendish had 3 stage wins, altogether, in this year’s TDF.

Here’s the TDF Summary in an easier to read list (without my additional comments):

Yellow Jersey ~ General classification ~ Best Time Overall
Bradley Wiggins Country: GBR – Team: SKY PROCYCLING
Top 10 Best Overall Times:
1. WIGGINS, Bradley Country, Team: GBR, SKY PROCYCLING
2. FROOME, Christopher Country, Team: GBR, SKY PROCYCLING
3. NIBALI, Vincenzo Country, Team: ITA, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE
4. VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen Country, Team: BEL, LOTTO-BELISOL
5. VAN GARDEREN, Tejay Country, Team: USA, BMC RACING
6. ZUBELDIA, Haimar Country, Team: ESP, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN
7. EVANS, Cadel Country, AUS, Team: BMC RACING
8. ROLLAND, Pierre Country, Team: FRA, TEAM EUROPCAR
9. BRAJKOVIC, Janez Country, Team: SLO, ASTANA PRO
10. PINOT, Thibaut Country, Team: FRA , FDJ-BIGMAT
Green Jersey ~ Most Points
Peter Sagan Country: SVK LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE
Polka-Dot Jersey ~ King of the Mountains
Thomas Voeckler Country: FRA TEAM EUROPCAR
White Jersey ~ Best Young Rider (under 26 years old)
Tejay Van Garderen Country: USA BMC RACING TEAM
Team Classification Winner
RADIOSHACK-NISSAN
Super-Combative Winner
Chris Anker Sorensen Country:DEN Team: SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK

This information is, of course, available in more detail on plenty of other websites but I found it hard to find a basic text-style summary of the key Tour de France results all in one place so hopefully this will be helpful in some way.

On to the Olympics

So after racing for a little over 2,100 miles in about 3 weeks, many of the TDF riders get to go to the Summer Olympics to compete! I have heard that Wiggins is expected to come away with some kind of metal to add to his collection this year.

This article got quite a bit longer and more detailed than I expected when I sat down to write it but I am glad that I spent some time on the TDF wrap-up. As for myself, I’ll be out riding more bike trails in our area to help with my Tour de France Withdrawal. I am actually working on adding some additional pages to the Des Plaines River Trail article (again) since I just rode and photographed another 15 miles of this trail last week.

And for one final, slightly related note, a short time ago I had heard that Proform is supposed to be coming out with a brand new version of the popular, high tech, Proform TDF Indoor Cycle very soon. I will, of course, stay up to date on this and post an update as soon as I have any additional information. See our Proform TDF Indoor Cycle page for the latest update on this.

North Branch Trail ~ Ride and Photos from Glencoe to Chicago and Back

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Rob

I finally got a chance to ride the entire North Branch Trail (15.5 miles one way) from Dundee Road (in Glencoe) to Devon Ave. in Chicago. Although I had ridden the northern part of the trail before I had never ridden the entire trail.

A deer in Miami Woods along the North Branch Trail

Actually, I really started on Lake-Cook Road north of the Chicago Botanic Gardens and rode through the Botanic Gardens to get to the northern end of the North Branch Trail (NBT). Although the NBT article is about the North Branch Trail, and not the Botanic Gardens, I also included a few Botanic photos too since this is a additional benefit to riding this trail.

On the North Branch Trail I was actually surprised at how you feel like you are totally out in the deep woods when, in reality, you are actually never far from all this “civilization” around us. Although this trail has bridges over some of the main roads in this area there are some busy roads that you still have to cross and that reminds you about where you are until you ride off into the woods again.

The North Branch Trail winds through the northern suburbs of Chicago (including Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview, Northfield and Glencoe) and into the far north end of Chicago (into the Edgebrook neighborhood) following the North Branch of the Chicago River on the southern part of the trail and the Skokie River on the northern part of the trail.

This bike trail is all paved and in good condition, which is very nice, and the woods and scenery are also really nice. I rode the trail on a weekday so it was not too crowded but I know, from the last time that I rode the trail (and from what other people have told me), that this trail can get very crowded at peak times (which is not so nice). The only other thing that I did not like about this trail is that there are a number of busy roads that you need to cross. Although there are lights and crossing signals at the busy roads, you still have to wait and deal with traffic.

Even with the trail traffic and road crossings, this is still a very nice trail and I would recommend it for a good 30 mile bike ride (both ways) plus, as I mentioned you also have the option to ride into the Botanic Gardens, at the north end, which is great and can be a good photo-op (if you have a camera with you). You can see the full North Branch Trail Article and Photos here.

In the southern part of the trail, in the Miami Woods section, I stopped for a photo and happened to see a couple of deer near by (the photo above). They seemed very unconcerned about my presence. Posed for me a little then casually crossed the path right in front of me. Later I read (in Wikipedia) how the deer in these woods have been protected for many generations and have little fear of humans.

On one of my usual rides through the Paul Douglas forest preserve, a few days later, I also saw at least 6 deer but in this area the deer acted as I expected. Once you got too close to them they took off.

When I finished riding the trial I crossed Dundee Road and rode through the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I was really enjoying taking photos at the Botanic Gardens in the early evening (just before sunset) but unfortunately for me, I parked in a forest preserve parking lot (on Green Bay Road) that closes and locks up at sunset and I was really nervous about my car getting locked in the forest preserve (actually, I think that is an on-going phobia of mine even though it’s never happened to me. I wonder how you would get you car out if they chained up the entrance… ?)

Anyway, if you are looking for a nice wooded and scenic trail in this area, see the North Branch Trail Article for the full trail article, ride report, photos and interactive GPS map of this trail and my ride.

Tour de France ~ Mountains, Inclines and GPS…

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Rob

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I really enjoy le Tour de France and I have been watching it this year since it started on 6/30. I am always a little behind because, first of all I am in the U.S. so they are usually playing the previous days race when I get to seeing it and sometimes I am not able to see it until late in the day.

Although I am currently working on another local bike trail article (the North Branch Trail), there are some things that I have seen on le TDF recently that I just had to make some comments on.

You can get all of the latest news, stats and current standings on the TDF on the major news websites or the TDF website so I for this blog post I’d just like to comment on some things that I’ve noticed and that seem interesting to me.

First of all, we have just been getting into some major mountain stages of the TDF and it blows me away how the TDF riders can race up these incredible inclines (I’ve heard them refer to 17% to 20% inclines recently) for fairly long distances and at speeds that would be pushing my limits on the flat lands! 🙂

If you haven’t been watching the Tour de France, this is a great time to tune in. They were in the mountains of France yesterday (which is actually 2 days ago since I am watching this after the fact) and will be in the Swiss Alps today (OK, yesterday). Regardless of the delay the scenery is beautiful and the mountain rides are exciting and fun to watch. The crowds swarm around the riders cheering them on on the steep inclines and these guys fly down the mountains at 50 to 60mph or so! BTW, they are broadcasting the TDF on the NBS Sports channel here in the U.S.

A few days ago I heard one of the announcers talking about how the riders were getting a nice little break on a 4% incline. Nice break on a 4% incline?! That doesn’t seem like a break to me! I have been much more aware of the exact percentage of inclines since my new bike GPS computer has a barometric altimeter.

OK, I live in the flatlands of the Chicagoland area and I’ve noticed that most of the steep inclines on the rides that I have been on around here have been around 4% to 6% and usually for a fairly short distance (especially compared to the TDF mountain stages). I don’t know what kind of shape you are in but a 4% incline is pretty difficult for me and it gets my heart beating pretty fast. Once again, this just shows what kind of athletes the TDF riders are.

Another thing that I have noticed (speaking of bike computers) is that it looks like most of the TDF cyclists have some kind of bike computers. I don’t really know what kinds they use and it looks like some riders choose not to have one but I see many riders reaching down to their handlebars at the end of each stage to (presumably) turn off their bike computer ride recording.

I know what it is like now to have all of this incredible ride data available (from a GPS bike computer) after your ride is over review and analyze and it does not surprise me at all that the pros would be totally into this technology. They also showed one of the riders changing his jersey during one of the stages (still riding, of course) and I noticed the familiar heart-rate monitor chest strap. So it seems like this would be common among the pros too.

I have also noticed a lot of references to the Tour of California (along with references to the other grand tours in Europe) this year and I’m glad to see that we have a major event like this here in the U.S. (although I have never followed the TOC. Maybe next year). I have also seen a couple of commercials (local, I’m sure) for the Tour of Elk Grove, which is a professional, international race right here in the Chicagoland area. This takes place August 3rd through August 5th of this year. I wanted to mention this now since I heard about it last year right after it was over.

I was also glad to see Thomas Voeckler win a stage last night. It reminded me a little bit of last year when he wore the Yellow Jersey for so many stages and really got the French people into it (he’s French, of course).

Well, there is probably a lot more to write about and there is a lot more Tour de France action to come but I need to get some more work done (on that trail article) so I can sit down and watch tonight’s recording of le Tour de France!

Moraine Hills Bike Trail ~ Photos and Ride Report

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Rob

I have been wanting to check out the trails in the Moraine Hills State Park (just south-east of McHenry) for a while now and finally had a chance to ride the trails last Tuesday (7/3). This was during our heat wave and our drought but the ride was still scenic and it is a really nice area for a fairly short ride and photos.

Wetlands and stream into Moraine Hills Park

Wetlands and Stream in Moraine Hills State Park

I had my camera and GPS Bike Computer with me so I could post photos and document the ride of course and I have posted quite a few photos, along with the bike trail article on this trail here at the Moraine Hills Bike Trail Photos and Ride Report.

As I was updating my photos and the article on this bike trail I searched for other photos of this park and trail and found that it looks quite different at different times of the year. My photos are from a drought in the middle of summer but the scenery looks quite different in the spring, fall and winter. I hope to make a few more trips out there in the different seasons to check out the contrast. When I do, I’ll try to add some updates to the new Moraine Hills Trail pages.

Where I parked, at Pike Marsh (on the south-eastern part of the park), you can get on the main Moraine Hills Trail and the River Road Trail which runs mostly parallel to the MHT at that point . I accidentally got on the River Road Trail and took a 3 mile detour when I first started. This was still the same are and it was also a pretty nice ride but it was not on the actual Moraine Hills Trails.

When I got back on the main trail again I headed south-west first to the Fox River and the McHenry Dam and then around the Black Tern Marsh. This area looked nice but I stopped at one point, close to the marsh and got attacked by some kind of flies. I had to get

Lake Defiance in the Distance

moving again to ditch them. Later I stopped by the Black Tern Viewing Platform, which was very nice (and no flies) and took some photos.

After that, I headed north again (to the other side of River Road) and rode both loops on the northern part of the park. The loop on the west side goes into what they call the Northern Woods and goes around the Leatherleaf Bog Nature Preserve and the loop on the east side goes around Lake Defiance.

I picked up a map of the park and trails at the park entrance which I have scanned and posted on the Moraine Hills Trail article (the link above) along with the GPS map of my ride (including the River Road detour).

As for the trail itself, it is a combination of crushed stone and paved surfaces (mostly crushed stone) and was in very good condition. There is also a combination of hills and flat lands. Most of it is fairly flat with a few steep hills mostly in the northern section (you can actually see the hills and elevations on the GPS map of my ride that I posted with the article linked to above (using the “Player”option on the Garmin page).

Well, that’s about it for this ride (until I check it out in another season). If you are looking for a fairly short, leisurely ride in a nice park with some nice scenery to enjoy or photograph then you may want to check out the Moraine Hills State Park Trails.

le Tour de France 2012 continues… TDF updates and perspective

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Rob

le Tour de France is well underway now and they just completed Stage 3 today. I have really been getting into watching le Tour (I usually record it and watch it when I get a chance) although I have not yet seen Stage 3, which will air later tonight. I would definitely recommend watching this event to anyone that is into cycling (even if you are not into racing).

le Tour de France is on now!

Personally, I am just amazed at the condition of the riders in le Tour de France and how they can average around 25 mph for over 100 miles and do that for 3 weeks straight! And don’t forget racing up the mountains! Even if you do not get caught up in the race itself, there is still some beautiful scenery and the fanatical spectators can be an interesting show also.

The TDF is being broadcast on the NBS Sports channel and has been aired throughout the day until today. They are now playing some of the Olympics events throughout the day also although they still have the TDF on in the morning and early evening so there are still plenty of times to catch a stage or two.

I have only ridden over 100 miles in a day one time myself. That took most of the day and I was too tired to ride the next day so I just can’t imagine doing a ride like that in around 3 hours and then doing it again almost everyday for 3 weeks. I also stopped for breaks and to have snacks and a meal at my turnaround point. Last night I noticed that the TDF riders grab a “feed bag” from people on the sidelines as they continue riding.

Since I put so much time and effort into this cycling website, I am also very in-tune to the cycling related stories and commercials. Aside from the car and beer commercials I noticed that Cannondale, Trek and Proform had a pretty major presence.

The Cannondale commercial, that I’ve seen, advertises the Cannondale Supersix Evo as “The worlds best bike”. Well, I do like Cannondale and I think they make excellent bikes but this really should be qualified since the “best bike” for anyone is going to be the bike that fits your own particular riding style the best. I am sure that the Supersix Evo is one of the best road/racing bikes (in the world) but it would not be much use to a mountain biker.

Anyway, the Supersix bikes are Cannondale’s top of the line bikes in their Elite Road Bike category. Which is just above the Cannondale CAAD10 bikes, which I have reviewed and rated (highly) on this site. Another nice thing about Cannondale Bikes, aside from their high quality, is that you can actually order them online. They are still only sold through authorized Cannondale dealers but you can find a good selection online, order online and then pick your bike up at a local store (see the link above for more on this).

Trek also makes some very high quality bikes (along with mid-range models) although I don’t know of anyplace (at least not any national merchant) where you can order Trek bikes online.

And finally, I noticed that they are now referring to the Proform TDF Gen2 model (exercise bike) as the “2012” Proform TDF Indoor Cycle and they have a new commercial this year. Actually I think that I liked last year’s commercial better.

OK, back the the actual TDF, I just read that Peter Sagan of Slovakia won the “crash-marred” third stage of the Tour de France although Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland is still the overall leader (who will continue to wear the yellow jersey). I don’t normally like to look ahead at the TDF news until after I have watched the day’s race but I had to look-up a few things today and saw that story.

The “crash-marred” third stage does not sound good. I saw a few crashes on the first few stages this year but it did not look like there were any serious injuries. Of course, any crash is serious for these riders who have obviously trained hard for years to get to the TDF. I just hope that there are no serious or permanent injuries.

The TDF can be exciting to watch but it can also be very dangerous. I still remember the crash from last year when the TV car clipped a rider (Juan Antonio Flecha) and knocked him down into the pavement and consequently knocked another rider (Johnny Hoogerland) down and threw him into a barbed wire fence. That looked nasty. It also looked like the car did it on purpose to me. 😐

Well I hope that you will get a chance to catch at least some of this year’s Tour de France. I’m sure there will be a lot more exciting stuff and interesting scenes and information for all cyclists.

Evanston Lakefront Bike Paths ~ Wilmette to Chicago

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Rob

I was finally able to get out to the Evanston Lakefront Bikeways earlier this week for a ride, photos and ride report. It was a little windy but still a beautiful day on Monday when I rode the Evanston Bike Paths.

Lake Michigan as seen from the Evanston Lakefront Bike Path.

I often refer to this route as “bikeways” since this is not really a specific bike path but a series of bike paths, a bike lane on Sheridan Road, roads through Northwestern University and even sidewalks that you need to ride on to get through all of Evanston along Lake Michigan.

I started my ride in Wilmette ~ around Gillson Park ~ rode down Sheridan Road to Northwestern University ~ where you can get on a bike path right next to Lake Michigan ~ through Evanston and even into Chicago where I turned around at Rogers Avenue Beach.

Most of this ride is very nice although it is not a bike path the entire way and you need to hop on to roads and sidewalks to get through Evanston. I think that the best part of this bike route is the bike path that starts at Northwestern University and goes south to Lee street. This part is almost all paved and right next to Lake Michigan although is is only a 2 mile stretch.

The Baha'i temple in Wilmette

Another nice thing about this bike route is that you can connect to the Green Bay Trail at the north end or to the Chicago Lakefront Bike Path on the south (although you need to ride about a mile and a half in the city to get to it).

I brought my camera and GPS bike computer to document the ride and post it here, of course so you can read all about this bike path ~ and see the photos ~ at the new Evanston Lakefront Bikeways page.

I really enjoyed this ride and I always love being out by Lake Michigan (especially on really hot days) but one of my favorite parts of this ride was my side trip to the Baha’i temple in Wilmette for photos and my ride to the beach at Gillson Park (also in Wilmette). The Baha’i temple is a beautiful building and I actually spent a lot of time at the beach at Gillson Park when I was younger and I still like it there.

Since I had my camera with me for the bike ride photos, I took advantage of the photo op at the Bahai temple and I also posted quite a few photos of this landmark building on the last photo page for this ride. This is probably one of my favorite bike trail photo pages now even though most of it is not actually on a bike trail. You can see these photos here at the Evanston Lakefront Bike Path Photo Page 4.

I have been aware of the Bahai temple and knew where it was for many years but I never actually went over to it for a closer visit. I was glad that I did on this trip. The building, architecture, and exterior decorations are beautiful and made for some good photos.

Although I had heard of the Bahai faith ~ mostly because of some songs on a Seals and Crofts album (they wrote and recorded the song “Summer Breeze” and were Bahai followers) ~ I ended up looking up a bunch of information on the religion and on the temple in Wilmette on the internet when I got back and was posting the photos and bike ride article.

I thought that it was really interesting that some of the columns on the temple were decorated with swastikas along with the star of David and the Christian cross. After looking this up on the internet I found that the swastika has been around for centuries and has been used as a symbol good things for various religions and civilizations long before it was used as a symbol for hatred and racism by the Nazis.

Well that’s it for the Evanston Lakefront bike ride. This is prime-time bike riding season so I’ll be selecting, riding and reporting on another trail soon and hope that you cyclists out there are also able to get out and enjoy some good riding!

Des Plaines River Trail ~ Lincolnshire to Dundee Ave in Wheeling

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Rob

I have wanted to check out the gap in the Des Plaines River Trail (DPRT) just south of Lincolnshire for quite some time now and made it a priority since some visitors to this site had organized a 61 mile ride in the surrounding area and were planning on using this part of the trail for the ride and I offered to see if you could get through or not.

I discovered that, although there is a 1/4 mile gap in the trail it is shorter than it used to be and much easier to get around than it was a few years back when I had ridden on this part of the trail.

Des Plaines River Trail around Lincolnshire

It was also a beautiful day for a ride on Friday and I did a nice, scenic 12 mile ride on this part of the trail which included sections that I had never been on before.

I brought my camera and bike GPS (of course) since I needed to document the gap in the trail and I had planned to ride another trail in Evanston later in the day.

After I discovered that I could get through the 1/4 mile gap I just decided to ride further south on the DPRT and photograph and document this part of the trail for this website since I had previously only ridden and written about the northern parts of this trail ~ from Lincolnshire north to the Wisconsin border.

Dirt Bike Path next to Milwaukee Ave.

The Gap in the Des Plaines River Trail

As for the gap in the trail, it is around Lincolnshire just south of the 28 Mile marker on the trail (as you head south) and the signs direct you out to Milwaukee Avenue. Milwaukee Ave. is a busy and major road but there is a sidewalk on one side and a dirt path, next to the road, on the other side (see the photo).

This is only a very short distance (right around the Par-King miniature golf course and north of the Cubby Bear restaurant) so it is not a big deal if you need to connect from the northern part of the DPRT to the southern part.

You get back on to the Des Plains River Trail at the back of the Cubby Bear parking lot.

The Photos and Ride Report

As I mentioned, I had already ridden, photographed and posted an article and photos of the Des Plaines River Trail from Lincolnshire north all the way to just before the Wisconsin border here. Unfortunately, these rides were from 2004 and 2005 and the quality of the photos are not nearly as good as the newer photos (I am just going to have to ride that part of the trail again and upgrade the photos I guess!)

The photos and ride report that I just did on Friday include The Des Plaines River Trail Photo Page 8, Photo Page 9, Photo Page 10, and Photo Page 11. My bike trail photo pages use kind of an old style photo display format but it is consistent and fairly easy to navigate with the links at the bottom and at the top of the pages. There is also a link to the GPS map at the bottom of these pages if you want to see exactly where this ride was.

DPRT Trail Conditions

As for the conditions of the trail in this section there were no problems at all (other than having to go along Milwaukee Ave for the 1/4 mile to get around the gap in the trail). Keep in mind that most of the DPRT is a crushed stone trail so if you prefer a paved path you’ll need to find another. The surfaces in this section were in pretty good shape.

The underpasses in the DPRT have signs well ahead of time letting you know if they are open or not. Since the underpasses go along the river and under the roads, I have seen them flood occasionally when the river is high. That is no problem at all right now with it being as dry as it has been recently. The only underpass on this particular section of the trail was at Deerfield Road.

Next Trail Rides

I still plan on riding some of the trails that I just discovered in Evanston next but one of my missions after that is to ride further south on the Des Plains River Trail. I kind of wished that I went further south on Friday but Dundee Road seems to be a natural (or actually not so natural) barrier and it looked impossible to cross during rush hour (when I was there). There may be a way to get to the intersection and cross there but I did not check into that.

I understand that the DPRT goes quite a bit further south from here and that some sections are very nice and scenic. If you are really ambitious (and get up early enough) you could ride the entire Des Plains River Trail from the city of Des Plaines (or possibly even further south ~ like I said I have not been on that part of the trail) all the way north to just before the Wisconsin border (and back?) now that would be quite a ride!

2012 Tour de France ~ Stage Zero

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Rob

Here we are right in the middle of Stage Zero of the 2012 Tour de France. Yep, the 2012 Tour de France is less than 2 weeks away now.

2012 Tour de France (stage 0)

Actually, I have not seen the term Stage Zero used in any official capacity for the Tour de France bike race but I am using it here to indicate the final days of anticipation and preparation for the big event.

Personally, I am not a racer but I have come to really enjoy watching and following this event. This year the TDF runs from Saturday, June 30th through Sunday, July 22nd so check your local TV listings to find the station where the event will be broadcast (providing you are not able to make it to France this year 🙂 ).

Even if you are not a racer, I think any cyclist (or even casual rider) can relate to the incredible condition that these athletes are in, the beautiful scenery of the various stages of the race and even the excitement of the riders and the crowd.

I remember Cadel Evans of Australia winning last years race and had just read about how Andy Schleck was officially declared the winner of the 2010 TDF after the disqualification of Alberto Contador but I did not realize that there have only been 2 Americans that have ever won the TDF – Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong.

Aside from the race itself I was wondering about this years sponsors and commercials. Here in the US there is usually a lot of hype about the commercials that will be aired during the Super Bowl and I was wondering if there was any interest in that for the TDF.

I doubt that there is the hype of the Super Bowl commercials but I really can’t say since I live in the US and I don’t think that the TDF is nearly as popular here as it is in France and Europe.

What I remember from the commercials last year were the extremely popular commercial for the Proform TDF Indoor Cycle and various big name brand bike commercials along with the “Clean Water Bottle” guy who dressed up as a water bottle and ran alongside the riders at various parts of the race!

I have heard that Proform will be advertising the Proform TDF exercise bike again this year but I don’t know if they will be using the same commercial. I know that the Proform TDF has been very popular since last year but has also been controversial. See Proform Tour de France Indoor Cycle for more on the positive and negative reviews on this exercise bike.

I know that Garmin is also a big sponsor in the TDF although I don’t specifically remember their commercials during last years race. Maybe now that I have my Garmin Edge 800 I will be much more in-tune to their commercials.

OK, that’s it for the pre-TDF race reminder. I hope that many of you will tune in this year. I know I will!

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