Soldier Ride

Heath Calhoun, and Ryan Kelly are retired disabled vets. Chris Carney is not a vet, but believes it is his duty, to help raise funds and awareness to the plight of our vets in need.

Join them for their epic 4200 mile, cross country journey on Soldier Ride 2005. The ride begins at the Marina Del Ray "Mother's Beach" in Los Angeles, CA on May 21, 2005 and ends in Montauk, New York on July 18, 2005. These courageous men will lead the Soldier Ride National Tour Team across the heartland of America. Along the way they will be joined by fellow wounded warriors who will help them relay Soldier Ride's message of hope, courage and determination across America.

www.soldierride.com

New website - Tour De France

For anyone interested in the Tour De France, here is an excellent web site that just arrived. Full race coverage live....

http://www.letour.fr/index.html

Poision Ivy

Here is a close-up of a poison Ivy plant at the base of a tree on the OPRT trail. It is all along the trail, so don't stray too far off of the trail unless you know what it looks like. Here is an excellent website that has photos and Information on this bothersome plant.

http://www.poison-ivy.org/

The caretakers who cut the grass and trim the trees, do an excellent job on the trail. They are courteous, and friendly. I would like to thank them for the job they do. The trail is well groomed, and cut back far enough that you should not come int contact with the evil ivy plant. This is just a precautionary note. Pays to be prepared...

A Warm Day by the Lake

OPRT Prairie

A good look at the lake at the Hemlick Preserve on the OPRT trail. It is between Ridgeland Ave. and Central Ave. Nice sunny warm day, temperture is in the 90° range. The trail is in excellent condition. There is a new park, with access from the trail between Harlem Ave. and Pfieffer Road. They were rolling out the access trail as I passed it today.

Plenty of bikes on the trail today, even though it was heading towards the 90° range. I met up with another rider, whose name was Dave and was riding on a Gary Fisher MTB. We rode together from Harlem Ave to Joliet Road, and had a good conversation. Nothing better than meeting new people.

Vacations Over!

Well the weeks vacation is over and now its time to get back into the swing of things. Bike and I go to the trail tomorrow. Spring was a weird one with too many windy or rainy days.. 20 mph head winds are not what I call riding days.

I also have to finish working on the conversion of the Raleigh Technium 12 speed, from a bent over racer to a upright riding machine. Need levers, cables, and grips for the next phase. All in due time...

She's about a mover.....

Sunday I finally got a day off to relax, and enjoy bumming, with the better half. We worked in the garage and yard, and toyed with my Harley. So towards evening my wife tells me she has to go and feed her sister's fish, and water her sisters plants. Sissy and her newly retired husband has gone "walk about" in Missouri. (New to retirement, not a new husband...)

So I told her I would wait to cook the brats, until she got back. So I relaxed, and listened to some Island music, dreaming of our next Caribbean Vacation. Now a thought came to mind, and believe me, on a warm sunny Sunday, thoughts are hard to come by. I says to me, get out that old Raleigh Sprite, pump up the tires and check her out. This was a gift from a co worker of mine who graciously picked a pair of these bikes (1 man and 1 woman, matched set, brown original Sprite 5 speeds) that were wheeled to the street on garbage day! Discarded and left for a good crushing. I thanked him and stuck them in the garage for further scrutiny.

Well lets check out the Mans Model, I sez's to meself. Now these are some real flat tires. Out comes the pump, 50 lbs in each wheel. Now for the spin test. Hmmm not bad, a little side wobble, but minor. So I hops on it and take her out to the street, feeling it out, and frantically trying to lower the gear. Whew high gear is rough. Back to the garage for a seat adjustment, (Lower the nose) and raise the handle bars and headset. Now were cooking with gas...

Off I go the the street, and up to the corner. Hard right and a few pumps and, Man! does this thing glide! No peddling and it's like going downhill forever. So's I try it again, and again, and again. Neighbors think I'm nuts as I go around and around. Like a kid with a new toy.

So home comes the wife and I send her out with this toy, and shes comes back and sez's, man! does that thing freewheel!!!

Might be from the 70's, but they built them really good back then. Over 30 years old, and I'm impressed. It needs a little polish and shine, but it's my new around town cruiser. In fact, I'm thinking of taking this one to Branson with me next week, for Operation Homecoming. This is an excellent nostalgia piece, for the Vietnam Veterans Homecoming. What better than a bike right out of the early 70's...

Memorial Day Ride

What a beautiful day for a long leisurely ride with my soulmate. We loaded up the bikes for transport to Channahon State Park, where locks 9 & 10 are. When we arrived we could not locate a parking space anywhere. As we exited the park at the main entrance, a gentleman on the corner sitting on his porch called out to my mate, telling her we could park on their grass! I stopped and backed up onto the side of the road on the grass as he instructed. I thanked him for letting us use his property. He smiled an said anytime. Good people still abound in this world. As we were unloading our bikes, he and his wife were telling others being turned away for no parking availability, to back up onto their grass. What a nice couple!

As we started to enter the park this seemed like a holiday from a long time ago! Everyone was out enjoying the day, and they all seemed so happy. Picnics, fishing, playing, biking, and hiking. It doesn't get any better than this. It was in the lower 70's with a gentle breeze. The sun lazily sliding in and out of the white billowy clouds, that were marking the sky, like an oil painting of the mind...


So off we went. There were quite a few people out on the trail, but this is usually the case between Channahon and McKinley Woods. About three miles apart with plenty of activity at both areas. Once you go past the woods it thins out. We rode out to Aux Sable Access to the Locktenders house. We took a few rest periods along the way. One at the woods, and one at the dam, adjacent to the Mule Barn, then on to Lock 8, and Aux Sable Access. We claimed victory, and rested on a park bench, doing some people watching. I found out that I had left my memory card in my card reader back home. Drat no pics today! There is a water fountain right on the trail next to the bench. It is hard to fill water bottles from it, but you can get enough to keep you going to the next water stop. I suggest carrying a collapsible camp cup to use in these situations. It can help you fill your water bottles if need be. So much for the chatter, we saddled up to return. On the ride back, we stopped a few extra times to watch the barges and boats on the river. Also we were trying to obtain a better fit for the misses. It seemed to work out better for her, but time will tell.

The trail is in good condition, with very little derbis, and the wild flowers are blooming. What a nice ride. All in all we rode 19 miles, and it took us 3 hours of enjoying the scenery. This is such a nice section of the trail. I like it from Channahon to Seneca. I haven't had the pleasure to travel any father but will try and finish the trail trail this year, as time permits. The only hazard we saw, was a dip in the trail that has been plaguing it for a while. I think it gets washed out, but is well marked by signs on both approaches, east and west. Take heed to these signs. Sometimes the sun can blind this dip as I have had the experience to be suprized by it last year. It is on the river side of the trail, so when the sign approaches stay to the canal side of the trail and use caution.

The next time I ride this section of the trail, I will be sure to bring along my memory card and shoot some pictures of the features along this section. I hope everyone had a great day! I know we did...