Day 17 - July 8 - Bourbonnais IL to Carol Stream IL - a long and winding road.

Weather - typical Illinois July weather.  72F (23C and 86% humidity at 8:30am.  The temperature rose to the mid 80s (30C). The wind was steadily from the west all day but was not bothersome -or cooling.

Distance: 78.9miles (127kms)

Elevation gain: 1427 feet (435 meters)

Calories expended: 2587

Average moving speed: about 12.6mph (20kph) but quiye meaningless since I had to stop dozens of times to check the route.

Shvitz index: 5/10.  Much of the route was shaded by trees on the bike trails.

Estimate sweat loss: 6.5 liters (220 fl. oz)

I thought that the planned circuitous route would result in a long day but I underestimated that length.  Though I was moving for less than 7 hours, the frequent stops for navigation and fluids/food resulted in almost 11 hours on the road.  The route had 3 parts; a) about 25 miles in the cornfields and exurbia of Will County b) four different bike trails, that were quite diverse in their surface, their maintenance and their views (rural to industrial to post-industrial to suburban backyards and c) the very busy streets of Dupage county suburbs.

The route map hardly does justice to the twisty turny travel of the day.  It was mostly flat but there were numerous bridges over canals, the Des Plaines river, expressways and of course, the many railways lines that radiate from Chicago, including freight, commuter passenger and long-distance passenger (Amtrak).

Will county does not have the quality of rural roads like the counties that I have traversed over the past few days.  I found myself on a lot of gravel roads, and one road that was literally just stones which made it unrideable.  In that case, I took to the cornfield where the mud on the edge of the corn was dried enough to made it rideable.

But I did meet some very friendly and inquisitive natives out in the fields.

The first and longest trail was the Waubonsee Glacial Trail that connects Joliet to the Kankakee river trails.  It was mostly crushed gravel and eminently rideable

After passing through the grim center of Joliet and a brief stint on the famous US Highway 66, it was time for the second trail, the Illinois and Michigan Canal trail.

The plaques along the I&M canal trail were interesting 

but the trail is in terrible shape,with the paved parts filled with frost heave bumps and the gravel parts badly eroded with deep crevices in the trail. I don't know if these ruts are recent because of the heavy rain in the past few weeks, but I came a cropper when the wheels caught in a rut that I did not see in the shade.  A little road rash - or more properly trail rash - to add to the many other scars that I have acquired from riding over the years,

Much of the I&M canal passes through an industrial wasteland, ruined factories and a lot of refuse/garbage/compost processing.  That whole section of Chicagoland is just a place to avoid if one is looking for scenic views but interesting in a historical-industrial sense.

The last 25 miles was through the ritzier suburbs of Oak Brook, Hinsdale and neighbors.  The Google Maps route suggested all kinds of detours - one even had me going through a swim club.

The residents in Oak Brook are not happy about a planned Amazon superstore in their fair city.

Tomorrow should be a short day (famous last words) where I hope to meet a friend and do some bike maintenance.  The weather forecast for the afternoon is for thunderstorms so I hope that we are finished by then.