Month: June 2014

Day 0: We’ll figure it out

We have decided that this trip already has a theme.

Our original plan to begin the trip was to rent a cargo van to transport us, our bikes, and our gear from Chicago to Pittsburgh.

Here’s a timeline of today’s events:

9:07am

Budget Car Rental Lady: “Your cargo van was supposed to arrive yesterday but it’s not here. I don’t know what to tell you.”
Us: “We’ll figure it out.”

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We ended up getting a much smaller SUV, which we began to pack up.  Of course, upon doing so, we quickly realized the bikes would have to be somewhat disassembled.

10:15am

Ellen: “I can’t get my front wheel off.”
Us: “We’ll figure it out.”

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Ellen’s bike has a fancy anti-theft feature that was a little too fancy for us even, but with the help of internet, we figured it out.

10:25am

Us: “How are we going to fit all this stuff in the car?”
Us: “We’ll figure it out.”

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10:31am

Us: “Did anyone print directions to Pittsburgh?”
Us: “Well figure it out.”

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And, we did.  That’s what smartphones are for.  Here we are arriving in Pittsburgh:

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We were quite hungry upon arriving in Pittsburgh, but after losing an hour due to the time change, many places were already closed.  We did find a Buca di Beppo near our hotel.

Us: “Its 8:53 and they close at 9.”
Hostess: “Come on in! You need some carbs!”

We even had a post-dinner, mini-Bellagio show:

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After dinner, we also decided we didn’t know exactly where in Pittsburgh the trail begins.  I swear we are somewhat organized, generally, and we do have most of the logistics taken care of.   I guess I’m the type of person who’s okay with going on trip without having to know, or be in control of, every single detail.  I trust that we can figure out many things we encounter.

Des Plaines River Trail

Yesterday morning, Lauren and I loaded up our bikes and drove to check out the Des Plaines River Trail. This trail follows the Des Plaines River in Lake and Cook counties and is nestled within the forest preserves. I believe the Ride for AIDS Chicago uses the northern part of the trail as part of its course, but I can’t remember. Really, a lot of that ride last year is a blur.

This trail’s total length is reported to be 56 miles, although it seems the trail is not continuously connected. We headed south on the trail, after picking it up near Oakton and we had to cross some pretty busy street like Devon, without any sort of traffic lights, signals, bridges, or crosswalks as protection.

Don’t tell Lauren, but the initial plan was to ride about 40 miles or so. However, once we got to the trail, it became clear that certain parts of it were quite flooded:

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We ended up riding almost 2 hours anyway, bypassing the water when necessary. The surface of the trail was, due to the rain and flooding, mostly squishy dirt, which made riding faster than 10 mph challenging.

Of course, crucial to any bike trip is stopping along the way to take photos:

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We leave for GAPCO in 6 days!