Right around my
birthday, I like to take as long a bike ride as I can stand. If it doesn’t kill me, I figure I’m good for
another year. On Wednesday, with the
temperature scraping 90 degrees, I figured 60 miles would do. Good news is, I’m still here, though not for
lack of effort on the part of the Elmhurst section of the Salt Creek Trail.
At the beginning
of the 20th century, some contemporaries of architect and urban
planner Daniel “Make No Small Plans” Burnham pushed for the creation of a
forest belt to circle Chicago. Their
efforts led to the creation of a system now totaling some 69,000 acres. This cyclist thanks them for their service.
Parts of the
trail I rode Wednesday make you feel like you’re in the middle of the forest
primeval; I don’t know whether to expect the Knights of the Round Table to come
charging out of the trees, or members of the Wehrmacht. This particular
trail leads to Busse Woods, which is a group of small interconnected lakes
surrounded by yet more knight-worthy woods.
Oh, and for reasons I don’t quite understand, a large fenced-in area for
a herd of elk.
Like I said,
this was a 60-mile undertaking. Around
mile 45, the trail cuts through Elmhurst, not far from where Clare went to
college or from where she and Chris now live.
For no good reason that I can see, the section is layered with wood
chips; not quite quicksand for a bicycle, but close. As I was pumping away and probably turning a
deep shade of red, a wood chip the size of Rhode Island got caught in my front
brakes. And down I went.
The nice thing about
wood chips is they make for a nice cushion when you fall. The bad thing about wood chips is they can
make you fall. I counted my blessings,
with all bones intact, and emailed the Elmhurst park district my thoughts on
their choice of trail materials. Come
next year, I may be looking for another trail to take.
No comments:
Post a Comment