Fall Colors River Run

October 17, 2004

When I got up I checked a weather website, which was telling me that currently it was 28 degrees. As I rode through Saint Charles a couple of signs displaying the time and temperature confirmed that it was indeed 32 degrees in town and a bit cooler as I rode away from it. I pulled up to Kobricks Coffee House in Wasco pretty much frozen. Some people were already there, some arrived shortly after. Brian was still fussing with his heated gear as I left the house so he also showed up a few minutes later.

We delayed our departure as we tried warming up with hot beverages. There was seven of us meeting for coffee, six would go on the ride. About 9:30 we took off towards the west, it was at least 5 degrees warmer now but a cold wind was blowing. We made a quick gas and bathroom stop in Sycamore. The colors along Rock River were in peak all in shades or red, orange and yellow. As I took the tightest sweeper at almost twice the speed limit, I saw a blur of colors rush past me. We turned in to the Lowden State Park entrance for a scenic stop and break. My fingers were just a bit numb from the cold by now even though I was wearing my insulated gloves. The sun was out but I couldn’t feel the heat.

After our break we took off along the Rock River, crossing it a few times before we continued heading further West. At around 1PM we pulled over for lunch near the Iowa border. Five of us would continue across the mighty Mississippi in to Iowa. The colors here were either at their brightest yellow or orange or already turning into different shades of brown. Unfortunately, there was a bit of traffic on the Iowa side. We took a break in Bellevue and turned around to go back and hit the curves along the Mississippi one more time. From there Brian suggested to take another road that would get us to 30 and back in to Illinois. Unfortunately, I made a wrong turn in Clinton, IA and the group got separated for a few minutes. I and another rider continued and made it to the road I should have turned on, but apparently Brian waited expecting us to turn around and come back. After a few minutes of him looking around for us, he continued ahead and found us down the street at the gas station. Altogether we finally made it to 30. This little delay plus deviating from the planned route would cost us about an hour and a half.

Brian and I parted ways with the group at the intersection of 26 and 30. Then we made one more stop and arrived home around 6:30PM. The day warmed up only by a little. The forecast was calling for a high of 51. The sun was shinning all day but the cold wind was also blowing. I never took any layers off and when I arrived home I was chilled to the bone. It wouldn’t be until the next morning that I felt warm again. Thinking it was going to be a warmer day, I didn’t even have on my heavy riding jacket. It was still great to get out and ride with some new people and check out some fall colors while they last. By the end of the day, we had managed to ride just over 300 miles and did not see very many bikes out.