Three more days . . . three more rides

Three more days . . . three more rides, and when I add it all up, it comes to 67.2 additional miles, which reduces my Magic Number to only 74.5 miles.

On Friday, September 11th, I rode a tribute ride for the victims and families of the September 11th attacks, now eight years past. Even though media coverage of the anniversary was minimal, I reflected upon the many tragic events of that day as I rode. At times, 9/11 seems like a very long time ago; at other times, it seems like only yesterday. While I was pondering the events of that day, I rode my bike to the Roselle Metra station, then north and west along lightly traveled roads in Schaumburg. My ride totaled 17.6 miles.

On Saturday, September 12th, I rode down to the Great Western Trail, then followed the Elgin Spur of the Illinois Prairie Path to Bartlett Road. Along the way, I discovered the hard way that the Elgin Spur was closed at Dunham Road, forcing me to ride along Dunham Road and Route 25, neither of which are bicycle friendly. Fortunately, the detour was not too long. I next navigated south from Bartlett Road through a subdivision and along prairie paths leading to the Bartlett Nature Center on Stearns Road. I continued eastward on Stearns and worked my way down to the south portion of the Hawk Hollow Preserve before heading home. The ride totaled 32.9 miles.

Today -- my 50th ride of the year -- I rode an additional 16.7 miles through Bartlett, Hanover Park, Schaumburg and Roselle, bringing me to my current seasonal total of 1,151.7 miles. Last year, I didn't reach this figure until my ride of October 12th. I am well positioned to exceed last year's total sometime during the next 4 or 5 rides.