Day 30 - ending near Big Rock, IL - Downstate Illinois

August 5, 2025

Day 30 - ending near Big Rock, IL

I woke up kind of slow this morning. Finally looked at my watch at 5:40am. From then on I worked at a steady pace to get packed up. Everything's pretty wet this morning due to condensation. The dew is causing large amounts of mowed grass to stick to my boots. Since I now know that a cafe breakfast is close by, I packed up the breakfast items I'd bought yesterday at Road Ranger for use on another morning. Heading out at 7:36am.

I'm back on my route schedule. Today's destination is Big Rock Campground, run by Kane County Forest Preserve. My plan sheet has it as 40 miles.

I arrived at Kirkland Family Restaurant at 8:15am. Before I went in I spent a minute wiping wet grass off my boots. I usually get eggs, bacon, and a pancake or two. Here they call that breakfast "Eager Eater." I went with ham instead of bacon this morning. I got my phone charged and my thermos filled with ice while I was there. Next I stopped at the Marathon gas station for two bottles of Gatorade. I passed Franklin Township Park on my way out of town. The shade by a bench looked inviting. I was still kind of full from breakfast, so I stopped to "Rest, Relax, and Renew." All I needed to be completely ready for my day was to fill my gallon water jug. It took some wandering around the park, but I found a faucet.

I worked my way south to Old State Road, getting there at 10:31am. The roads I took to get there, and this road were a little busier than I expected, but it wasn't too bad. There was an east wind keeping me cool. This morning I continued listening to classical music on WNIU. Music is such a gift!

At 11:16am, just before Old State Road merges into IL-64, I pulled over for a break on what used to be the highway. I put sunscreen on my hands; I think I forgot to do that this morning. Or, if I did, I now have a double layer. A mile riding on IL-64 got me to the trail that parallels Peace Road in Sycamore. I'd just got on the trail when I noticed a touring cyclist heading west on IL-64. He was in the middle of the busy intersection I'd just went through. We waved at each other, then he gave me a thumbs up. I returned that as the traffic light finally allowed him across Peace Road.

Noon arrived when I was next to the shade of a tree, so I stopped there for my noon break. I've been carrying a bag of Skittles I bought way back. I decided to munch on those. The noon mileage report is 17.0 miles. Not impressive, but it's short day; just 24 more miles to go.

At 12:40pm I left the trail and got onto Barber Greene Road. Then I turned toward Cortland. Their town sign claims they are the third largest town in Illinois. I'm going to have to check that out. I crossed over I-88 on Hinckley Road at 1:35pm. WNIU had faded away, so I switched to listening to mp3s. I turned several times east and south working my way to Big Rock. All these roads this afternoon were such a delight - smooth, flat, little traffic, puffy clouds above. This was fun.

I hadn't originally planned to go into Big Rock, but I wanted items for supper, and there's a Shell gas station there, so I modified my route. I arrived there at 3:23pm, and wandered around figuring out what looked good for supper.

Only a mile or two now to the campground, but I had to refer to Google Maps to get me there, partially due to newly constructed roads not shown on my older GPS maps. There is even a bike path now, that I was on, off, and then back on. Anyway, I did make it to the campground entrance at 3:53pm.

I pulled up to the check-in shack. Since I didn't have a reservation, I needed to go online and make one. That required me to sign up and create a password with Kane County Forest Preserve. The fellow at the shack said I could go sit in the shade of their garage across the road to do all this. It took a while. I went back to the shack and said, "Yes, I have a reservation." I was quickly on my way after that (at 4:20pm). I'd reserved primitive site #5 for tonight. The only thing is, I didn't get to see the primitive tent sites before I committed to site #5. Most of this site is dirt, so I decided to set the tent up near the entrance to the site, an area with grass. But before that, time to eat supper before my sandwich gets any colder, and my strawberry milk any warmer.

Oh, I should mention that this campground has wifi, but it only works up near the check-in shack. I'm going to see if I can get pictures ready to load, then either walk or bicycle up there and get some work done. Or maybe I'll go to bed and do that tomorrow.

Jeff

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,190 miles (1,915 km)

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