October 2008

cycling north of Raleigh vs. cycling in NW Illinois

I have been in NW Illinois the last two weekends. Here are some observations comparing central NC riding (north of Raleigh) with NW Illinois.


North of Raleigh, the roads go down and up, down and up, down and up, crossing numerous creek and stream valleys.

In NW Illinois, between the Rock River and I-80 / the Hennepin Canal (aka, the Illinois - Mississippi Canal). the roads are F-L-A-T, with an occasional burp up which usually barely impacts one's speed (however, some of the burps can be steep and provide no ability to see what may lie only 50 yards ahead).


In central North Carolina, the corn crop always looks pathetic.

In NW Illinois, the corn is TALL and straight and looks great this year. Some fields are completely harvested, some partially, and some have yet to be introduced to the combine this year. The advantage of the harvested fields is that one can see x-country "forever" -- several miles, anyway. If the fields on both sides of the road are unharvested, then one rides through a "corn tunnel" similar to riding through a "tree tunnel" in Carolina. The advantage of the unharvested fields is that they provide a bit of a wind-break.


North of Raleigh, wildlife likely to be seen during a bike ride include deer, turkeys, hawks, an eagle, turtles, vultures, and once this year I saw a mallard as it took flight.

In NW Illinois, wildlife seen on the last two weekend rides include numerous red-brown with black on each end "wooly" caterpillars inching across the road near my front wheel, many grasshoppers sunning (?) themselves on the roadway, 1 beetle or cricket crawling across the road, 1 squirrel on each ride.


North of Raleigh, road kill likely to be seen each ride include several deer, many squirrels, a few rabbits, an occasional turkey, 'possums, raccoons, and too many turtles.

In NW Illinois road kill seen on the last two Saturday rides combined: 1 skunk. Luckily it was downwind.


North of Raleigh, all the paved roads are maintained by the State, and have a white fog line and a center yellow line.

In NW Illinois, the smoothest roads for cycling are "township" roads and have neither a center line nor any fog lines. Some of these get quite narrow becoming barely wider than a single lane -- which can become quite interesting if the "single-wide" section coincides with going over one the aforementioned "burps".


North of Raleigh, the road net on a map looks like a haphazard wandering "spaghetti" splatter.

In Illinois, the secondary and tertiary roads are a square mile grid going true north-south or east-west, with exceptions for certain roads that date back to the stage coach era, and Indian and / or deer or bison trails before that. The non-grid roads tend to follow ridge-lines, keeping above the surrounding ground, but some of those ridge-lines are virtually imperceptible, even to a cyclist. Also, the compass direction roads will sometimes disappear for a mile or two (or more), necessitating a "detour".


Central NC is the birthplace on one US President. Raleigh: Andrew Johnson. (Look for the historical marker near the state capitol area.)

NW Illinois is the birthplace of one US President. Tampico: Ronald Reagan. I saw no historical marker when I rode through Tampico last weekend; only a hand-written sign on a "museum" door directing one three doors down the street. If you are ever touring the Midwest, I think you will find the Lincoln, Grant, Hoover, and Eisenhower stuff more interesting.


Central North Carolina occasionally has wind.

This time of year, NW Illinois has WIND, the kind of wind one gets in New Bern when the hurricane is about three days from making landfall (think New Bern MS ride three years ago).

One more comment based on yesterday's ride: I stopped to take a good drink and stretch my right leg after I had ridden about 25 miles, and realized that I had crossed paths with only ONE vehicle. Gotta love those tertiary roads!