Sauk Trail Ride-Update with some fall color.

[oliver1850]

Karin's posts reminded me that I haven't taken a camera on a ride since June. I switched some parts on the CII last night, today was a perfect day for riding, and I will be busy with harvest any day now, so probably won't get much riding in for the next 5-6 weeks. Also had a conversation with Dimsy that made me appreciate that even though I'm not in the Swiss Alps, I could be in a lot less bike friendly country. Net result was I took a gob of pics today. The fall color is just starting, maybe I'll get another ride in when it's better.

The ride is on and around what's known locally as the Sauk Trail. It cuts through land that my family farms. It's one of the few roads in the area that's not on the grid, or a designed road. The historical sign is not at the start of my ride, but I'll put it up first for some background.

Before I forget, I want to mention that for Chicago folks, you can be out here riding these roads within 15 minutes from the Amtrak station in Kewanee.

[oliver1850]

Here's a few from the start of my ride. My neighbor Bob has planted hundreds of walnuts, oaks and conifers on both sides of the road. The sign that says Brawby was where the original town was located. When the CB&Q railroad came through (1850s) all the businesses moved 2 miles south adjacent to it.

[oliver1850]

First stop was Johnson's Sauk Trail Park, to get some pics of the round barn. It's a pretty unique structure, which really can't be appreciated fully until you're inside it. It looks much bigger from inside than out for some reason. There's a silo in the middle with a circular feed bunk around it. As I remember that's the ground floor. I can't remember the 2nd floor. The barn is seldom open, only the 4th of July and Labor Day weekend I think.

The little cabin is on the lake at the park. It's for overnight rental, and has an air conditioner. It would make a great stop for someone touring the area to get a decent night's sleep in mid summer. The tent campsites are nice too, and the place has good showers.

I changed the bar, stem and ergo levers on the CII last night. The stem is a 3T Serotta that I got from thatguy, thanks to him for that. Bar is a 3T TDF 44, and the ergos are the seldom seen 1994 Stratos. I believe Stratos was only sold on complete bikes, so it doesn't turn up too often. The levers have the thumb button solidly attached to the downshift paddle. I'd had them lying around since May or so, when I got them from an Italian ebay seller. I wanted to give them a try to see how they worked, and to preserve my 1st gen. Records. They really work great, but may require a bit more effort on the downshifts. I think the upshifts are a bit less notchy feeling than other ergos. I still may end up with DT shifters on this bike, especially since I got some nice brake levers from ckamp. Thanks to liberace for the frame, dekindy for the calipers and crankset, akelman for the rear derailleur, and aarongirard for the rear wheel. Hope to get a matching front built this winter.

[oliver1850]

You won't be able to see them, but the first pic has hundreds of turkey vultures circling over the lake, more or less. Quite a sight, and plainly visible, but not to the camera, especially when reduced in size. They are common around here, often have groups of 3 or 4 perched on my barn roof in the morning, but I'd never seen a flock like this before. You just had to be there, or believe me, or not.

2nd pic shows a field that has been planted to hybrid walnuts, straight ahead on the hillside. There are hundreds of acres in the general area where they have been planted. Supposed to grow several feet per year. I imagine at some point down the road the whole area will be clear cut for replanting, but it will be interesting to see how the trees grow and change the look of the area in the meantime. There are some concerns about the effects on the native walnuts, it seems introduced plants often cause problems in the future.

And some pics of the roads and what passes as scenery in these parts.

[oliver1850]

Karin mentioned the road surface at one point in her post. I thought it looked pretty good compared to what I normally ride on. Here's a couple of pics from road level of what I come across. The big black rock stuck out pretty well, but there were plenty of others that you wouldn't want to hit. The 2nd pic fails to show how rough the surface really is, but I tried.

[oliver1850]

After riding around west of the park for an hour or so, I went back to the park to say hi to my friends in the local runners group, who run at the park on Wednesday nights. Tonight they were having a cookout after the run, and I hung around for an hour or so with them. I didn't get back on the road home until it was good and dark, but it was a fun ride home even at a reduced pace. I got off the road several times for approaching cars, but didn't have anyone pass me in the 10-12 mile trip home.

[Gothard]

Great pictures!
Goes to show that any place where one can ride without danger is worth a look-see.

[henrypretz]

I loved seeing your pictures (and your sweet CII)

That barn is like nothing else I've seen.

Henry

[brockd15]

Threads like these are my favorite. Great pictures!

[biker72]

What brand/size tires do you use on surfaces like that???

[thwart]

Threads like these are my favorite. Great pictures!
Agree. Thanks, Mark. Just makes you want to go out and ride.

And who said Illinois was flat as a pancake?

[Karin Kirk]

Wonderful Oliver! Those empty, rolling roads are totally beckoning - you are lucky to have such friendly terrain for riding. That round barn is very cool and the coloring and lighting in the photos is perfectly sharp. The one with your bike next to the building could be in BBDave's bike calendar.

Are the walnuts grown for nuts or for lumber?

You mentioned you'll be harvesting for the next several weeks. What are you harvesting?

Thanks for sharing! Oh, but I did not see any pictures of cake in your posts... :o

[oliver1850]

Thanks for the comments. I meant to mention that Brawby is a villiage north of York in England. Near where the sign is in my pic, William and Ann Chapman Studley built the first cabin in the township in 1834, and named the place for their former village in England. If you look at Brawby UK on GoogleEarth, you will see terrain that's very similar to what's shown on my ride. The village that stood where the sign is in my picture had a post office, a blacksmith shop, a brickyard, and 3 saloons in about 1850. The only visible remains today are part of the kiln from the brickyard.

I am cheap when it comes to tires, I run whatever I can come across that are reasonable. The ones on the CII are Vittoria ProTeam 20s that I got on closeout several years ago. They laid around until the CII for want of a bike that the light blue tread would look reasonable on. If I was picking a tire for the bike, it would probably be a 25c Conti.

Karin, thanks for getting me out on the bike yesterday. The walnuts are being planted for lumber. I have my doubts about the wood being of the same quality as the slower growing native black walnuts, which are one of the few local species that don't seem to have a disease or insect problem (yet). People do eat the walnuts, but there's no commercial interest that I know of. We have corn and soybeans, and they have been slow to dry this year. Some years we would have 3 weeks work in by now.

No cake at the picnic. I thought the menu was funny for the supposedly health concious runners: hotdogs, cheesdogs, cookies, beer, and dandelion wine.

[mudhead]

thanks for sharing, great pics!

[RFC]

Great photos, story and ride. It reminds me very much of where I grew up in Eastern Nebraska. I still think that the Indian Summer rides were among the most beautiful I have taken. Sort of like riding through a "Field & Stream" cover.

[Ralph]

Beautuful pics and a nice ride. Excellent.

[oliver1850]

Here's some random pics from today. We shut the combine down at 6 PM, I had the Concours waiting at the grain bin, with my shoes and shorts. I changed while unloading the last load of soybeans, and was on the bike a minute after I shut the tractor off. A couple of pics taken from the tractor, the rest on the bike. First ride on the Concours with the Protons that I got from akelman, he got from Glen, he got from Tom..... I think that's the history. The tall grass that you can see in the background behind the bike is Big Bluestem, which is the native grass to this area.

[weisan]

Oliver-pal, thanks for taking the time to post these beautiful pictures.

[thwart]

Boy, those Protons sure get around... ;)

Great pics, Mark.

[yarg]

Thank you - great post and pictures, posts like yours and Karin's are great entertainment.

[oliver1850]

Boy, those Protons sure get around... ;)

Great pics, Mark.


Wish I'd had better light, the colors were better in person.

I've got 2 sets of wheels that each have had 3 previous forum owners. I may be the forum's official wheel bottom feeder.