Ride Report - Chicago to Iowa to Wisconsin (Pic heavy)

[Britt]

With summer winding down, I found myself with a totally free Saturday so I figured I would make a 400 mile trip out of it. I really didn't have a specific route in mind, but I knew I wanted to blast west so that I would have some time to ride along the Mississippi river on the Iowa side.

Here is the route that I ended up taking:
from:Westmont, IL 60559 to:S 1st Ave/IL-40/IL-88 @41.765553, -89.689426 to:US-67 @41.840409, -90.188230 to:42.047253,-90.195007 to:US-151 N/US-61 N @42.515668, -90.645702 to:CR-W @42.535595, -90.333681 to:IL-78 N/W Main St @42.495980, -89.987950 to:N

I started out at 6am, with the temperature at 54 degrees.


I got on I-88 and headed west, where I encountered some very interesting fog and/or low lying clouds.




I got off I-88 at Rt 30 exit for Rock Falls, IL.



I took 30 west towards Clinton, IA.



Traffic was almost non-existant to I was riding over the Mississippi before I knew it.




In Clinton, I got on 67 and headed North. The road was great - rolling hills and sweeping curves, and not much traffic to speak of.




I ended up on 52 going North and it continued to be just as nice of a road. Approaching Bellevue, I started noticing more rock formations.





Closer to downtown Bellevue, there is a dam on the river.



Riding north from Bellevue, there are some good views of the river.


I continued north into Dubuque so that I could cross east over the river
.



This is 61/151 going east over the river.



I was now in Wisconsin and had done 200 miles. I filled the tank and got on 11 heading east. I ran into a group of dinosaurs that must have gone unnoticed by the rest of us.



I then got on W heading east (Wisconsin has these funny roads named with single letters). W is a very fun road where I let my bike stretch its legs.




I rode through New Diggings and stopped for a minute to stretch in front of this "saloon".


I went further west on W and got on 78 and crossed back into my home state.



Heading south I rode through Warren, IL.


I took a small detour to ride through Apple Canyon State Park. I didn't get to see the canyon (or any apples) but the road through the park is fun.


I took 78 south to 20 and headed east back towards home. I ended up following a motorcycle cop for a while before he turned off.


I pulled into my driveway with 403 miles showing on my odometer (slightly more than the above route shows due to a couple of detours). I felt surprisingly good when I got off my bike. I wore Bike brand bicycle shorts under my jeans, and used my beaded seat cover that I've had for years. The combination did wonders!


I also used my Throttle Rocker, however it kept slowly slipping for some reason. I may try to rough up the inside of it to give it some more traction against my grip.


This was my favorite ride of the summer. Lots of great riding, minimal traffic, and temps cool enough that I was 100% comfortable in all my gear. Of course my VFR ran like a dream for all of the 400 miles that I covered!

[powderrecon]

What a great trip. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[zilla]

I wish I would have seen this sooner. You rode a lot of the roads I have this summer. Warren isn't too far from where I live. And W is a fun road to ride.