Segment #9 Spingfield, Ill: 12/32 sm 10/25/12

Seg #9 Sangamon & Interurban Trl 5/13 & 7/19 (12/32) 10_25_12

Start	Centennial Pk	N39.75356 W89.760532	N-S miles  5*
End	Stuart Pk	N 39.82716 W89.709334	Trl lgth 6mi Ride13mi

 

Start	Wabash Trl	N39.763422 W89.668221	N-S miles  6.6*
End	Chatham, IL	N 39.66805 W89.704455	Trail lgth8mi Ride19mi

 



Connie and Linda, Med Tech pals
44 years. Henrietta is a 4 year old
friend. Isn't she cute---all three girls

This ride was born out of another combo trip; which is to say, I hooked a ride with Connie who goes to Petersburg, Illinois every fall to visit her good friend Linda. Linda comes to Iowa for spring time visits. These trips include the transport of Henrietta, an antique cookie jar that both ladies wanted to buy at the same time. As a compromise, Connie and Linda decided to share the bird by hauling her back and forth between Iowa and Illinois. I think Henrietta likes the idea given she has not shed a feather ever since this four to five year exchange has been occurring. Petersburg is just north of Springfield so it took only an hour to drive on down and unload for a ride on the Sangamon Trail. It was 77 degrees but the wind was a blow’n. This was a paved super highway like trail with new concrete roadbed. With the wind at my back, I made good time going six miles. It took longer to get back to Centennial Park due to the wind. While this trail was likely fostered from an old rail bed, there wasn’t any information I could find on its heritage. The Sangamon Trail gave me a measly five miles of latitude.

It was nearly 3 p.m. by the time I got on to the Interurban Trail.   This trail is an example of a Rail with Trail layout. The bicycle trail is the consequence of rehabbing an old electric commuter train line that parallels an active rail line currently used by Amtrak. While I was riding, two Amtrak trains came whizzing by. Amtrak brags of its bicycle user friendliness but so far I have run into to a lack of interest in being able to haul my bike to one point and then ride back to the start. It would help so much to complete some of my cross country rides without Connie having to haul me some place. By the time I was on the Interurban Trail, it was blowing a gale out of the Northwest. Couple that with the wind and it was not a fun ride. In fact I split the eight mile ride into three sections so I could miss the heaviest of the rain and warm up. One interesting sight on the trail was riding across the bridge over Lake Springfield, the 4,200 acre lake that supplies the city of Springfield and surrounding communities. Hundreds, if not thousands of snow geese were taking a migration break on the water. This goose sighting reminded me of the incredible experience we had years ago at Desoto Bend, Nebraska. There were thousands of snow geese that year that happened to come in the day Connie and I were visiting the preserve. Other than the Sand Hill Crane migration in central Nebraska, the snow goose migration in the fall is a close second place for exciting, memorable ecological lifetime experiences. With all the wind fighting and “monkeying” around loading and unloading the bike, there wasn’t enough light to ride the Lincoln Prairie Trail. The next day when I drove passed this trail I decided I was glad I didn’t ride a trail that had few trees and paralleled a busy highway. My idea for taking rail trails is to avoid the danger and noise of vehicle traffic. With this trail so close to the road, I doubt if I could have heard my Ipod playing Tom Clancy’s audio book, Act of Valor.