20 miles of bad road......

Had a couple of hours to kill this afternoon due to a power outage at the Marion abode....took out my new 21 speed bike for a 3+ hour tour on the Tunnel Hill Bike trail between Tunnel Hill and Vienna, Illinois.
Obviously the founding fathers of Tunnel Hill, IL weren't that creative when it came to naming the town....this whole trail is an abandoned train route from the early 1900's. The tunnel above was constructed in the 1920's and is about a football field long. Half way through it is literally like riding your bike with your eyes closed because it is so dark....
all you can see is the light at the exit.

Pretty amazing feat....
cutting a tunnel through the middle of this giant rock hill.....especially in the 1920's.....
considering that there were no Menards back then.
The trail I took ran through bottoms of valleys to the tops of several hills. This bridge was built on the same trusses from the original train line.
Picture doesn't do this justice....but it is a dry creek bed with a small pool at the bottom.
End of route.....back through the tunnel .....on foot this time

Observations................

• Next time I will wait until the retirees finish their morning run....not only do they clean up all of the overnight spider webs in my way.....but after my first four miles...it was difficult to come up with the breath to continue to say hello to all of them as they passed me up.
• HELMETS.....I was outnumbered 200 to 1....I know...I know...but I will not succumb to peer pressure.
• Squirrels are stupid......if you can't figure out that I am coming right at you at 7.4 miles an hour.....then you deserve to have your tail run over.
• My last bike that I bought back in 1984.....cost me the same as the one I just bought at Wal*Mart last month....and you wonder why we are having problem$.
• 21-speeds on a bike.....come on America....you need only 3.
• I need to leave my Blackberry in my car more often.....the first 6 miles were tough....but the shaking stopped soon after.
• What may appear to be wet brown leaves....may be something else....damn equestrians.
• What appeared to be a flat 10 mile course....was all up hill on the return trip.
• My ass bone (not sure of the scientific term) said "enough is enough" after mile 17.....the last 3 miles were a lot of walking....riding...walking...riding...walking...walking...walking.
• There is a huge difference between taking a bike ride when you weigh 260 vs. taking a bike ride when you weighed 190......um like....70 pounds.
• This part of Illinois was beautiful....quiet and untouched....and there were parts of the trip where no one was around for miles....but at times....

I swore I could hear "Dueling Banjos" playing.

Marty