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I was hard-pressed to come up with a good bike ride on a trail I had never been on before.  There are plenty of trails in the Chicago area I haven’t been on, but it is becoming harder to find any that are within 30 minutes of home.  I settled on riding the Prairie Trail in McHenry County.  The last time I rode up there, I got my butt kicked.  I rode from downtown Elgin up to Rakow Road on the Fox River Trail and Prairie Trail.  The ride back was really tough for me, and I had to keep stopping for breaks.  I was on my old heavy bike at that time.  I decided I wanted to discover the rest of the Prairie Trail, so I began my ride at the Prairie Trail parking lot on Main Street in Crystal Lake.

I initially rode south on the Prairie Trail to check out the new realignment of Pyott Rd and the trail near Lake in the Hills Airport.  The road and the trail no longer pass within 200ft of the end of the runway, having been shifted farther east.  The ride south takes you past some quarries and sometimes a little man-made babbling brook runs alongside the trail.  I assume the water is storm runoff.  I rode south to IL Route 31.  This was mostly downhill.  I really screwed up here.  I rode out hard, keeping a speed over 15mph.  I didn’t realize I was going downhill at the time.  Thought it was flat terrain.  When I turned around to head back north, I was faced with a 2.6mi ascent.  According to my GPS track log, there was about 250ft of climbing in that 2.6mi zone accompanied by 100ft of descent.  When you figure out the average slope, it’s not bad, but it is no fun to have such a long climb.

Just east of where I parked is the Three Lakes Recreation Area.  It opened in October 2010 in a former quarry.  This is a great example of how a barren quarry can be reclaimed for recreational use.  There are trails, a marina, a beach, splash park, picnic areas, volleyball courts, and shelters.  It’s almost like a resort.

There are admission fees for non-residents, but you can get in on a bike without paying.  I understand the fees.  A lot of work went into redeveloping the area, and the costs need to be recovered.  It likely takes a lot of money to keep the park in good condition and staffed.  I saw a police officer on foot, and there was a fire department car in the parking lot, so the park is kept safe.  Fishing is catch-and-release, and I saw people on the water in kayaks and fishing boats.  A couple of guys were fishing from a boat that was rented from the park district.  There were also some sailboats at the marina.

I rode on some crushed gravel trails along the shore of the lake.  The trails led to fishing spots.  Because the area was busy and I wasn’t sure if bike traffic was intended for these trails, I kept my speed to 6mph and below.  The cop didn’t yell at me, so I figure bikes are allowed.  I saw one other cyclist and some tire tracks, so I guess bikes are welcome, just not at high speeds.  These trails and the rest of the facilities are at lake level.  The steepest terrain runs southeast from the gate house, descending to the parking lots.  The bike trail is asphalt from Main St east to the parking lot, and north from the gate house to Northwest Highway.

Back to the Prairie Trail.  I turned north.  There is a nice tunnel under Northwest Highway.  It was well-lit, clean, and had plenty of headroom.  No worries about the top of my helmet scraping the roof of the tunnel.  McHenry County does an excellent job with signage on this trail.  Good warnings, good directional signs.  Approaching Crystal Lake Ave, there was a sign saying the trail continued eastward on that street.  I chose to ride on the sidewalk, though the official route is on the street, given the bike route signage is on the street and not along the sidewalk.  The street is simply too busy to be safe, in my opinion.  After crossing some railroad tracks, a left turn (north) puts you on some residential streets.  Not busy at all.  The crossing with Terra Cotta Ave was busy.  One more block north is Sterne’s Woods.  The trail meanders through the woods.  Signs galore about steep terrain.  Pay attention to them.  I have geocached here, and it is a gorgeous area.

However, the hills are quite steep.  I never dismounted to go down one (the signs suggest it), but I was really riding my brakes.  If you succumb to temptation and speed down a hill, there is a good chance of crashing.  Here is my bike parked at the top of a hill.

I couldn’t photograph the steepest hills because it wasn’t safe to stand in the trail or stop.  I was worried about someone hurtling into me.  Some of the hills and curves are blind.  Also, when I was going uphill, I was in no mood to stop and take a picture.  When I did ride up the hills, I was huffing and puffing.  Most of the time I wussed out and walked my bike up the hill.  That was still physically demanding.  Maybe I’m just an out-of-shape fat ass.  But there were a lot of 8% grade climbs in this park.

A couple more pics of the terrain in this park:

North of Stearne’s Woods, the Prairie Trail follows some railroad tracks.  The terrain evens out, but there are still a few small hills.  Big enough to bother you if you are winded, though.  Between Edgewood Rd and Bull Valley Rd (south end of the city of McHenry), there is a 2.5mi stretch where it’s just you, the trail, the railroad tracks, and some fields.  There are a few benches along the way, but no homes, businesses, or road crossings.  The only other trail I have been on that had this kind of isolation was the Great Western Trail west of Lily Lake.  The kind of place where you hope you don’t have a bad injury or breakdown.

I didn’t want to turn around in the middle of nowhere on the Prairie Trail.  I wanted a landmark, like a street intersection.  At Edgewood Rd, I felt good and thought I’d have no problem making it the extra couple of miles to Bull Valley Rd before turning around.  Well, I really ran out of gas.  I was cussing out the little hills.  Once at Bull Valley Rd, I took advantage of a bench there.  I was glad the conservation district had the foresight to put a bench at a major intersection.  Some trails don’t have enough benches.  I took a break for several minutes.  Here is an insect I saw.

Here is what the trail looks like where I took a break on the outskirts of McHenry:

I felt better after resting, but I was definitely tired.  It was only about seven miles back to my car, but I knew it would be difficult and I needed to take my time.  Here is a neat railroad viaduct with murals on the abutments.

Not far from here, I saw a father picking blackberries with his daughter.  It was nice to see someone teaching their kid something practical.  The whole family was out.  Props to them.  Schools don’t teach kids practical stuff like identifying fruit in the wild, and a lot of families don’t do stuff outside anymore.

About five miles from the car, I ran out of water.  It was the first time I had ever exhausted my 70 ounce Camelbak during a ride.  So that meant I would have to go the final half hour or so without water.  That was doable.  I rode back through Sterne’s Woods.  The hills kicked my butt.  Once I got back to the part of the Prairie Trail that parallels Main St, I felt relief.  It was a straight shot back to the car on level terrain.

I forgot to do a screenshot of the ride statistics on my GPS receiver, but I had spent about four hours on my bike.  At 28.54mi, it was my longest ride since last August.  I was pretty worn out, but felt better by the time I got home a half-hour later.  I seem to recover a lot faster than I used to.  When I started riding again a couple years ago, I would be sore for the next day or two.  I’ll have to admit, though, this ride kicked my butt.  This morning I felt a little sore laying in bed, but I’m all better now.  I simply ran up against my physical limits yesterday.

One of my goals is to do a 40-mile ride someday.  I think the key will be to eat something before the ride (I never eat before a ride, surely a mistake), take a few breaks, and eat something during the ride.  Another goal of mine is to ride the Prairie Trail to its terminus at the Wisconsin border.  It is about 13mi from Bull Valley Rd, where I turned around.  There is a parking lot where the Prairie Trail crosses Harts Rd.  Looks like a good spot to start a ride, about halfway between Wisconsin and McHenry.  It’s a long drive to get there, but I’d be able to say I have been on every part of the Fox River Trail and Prairie Trail between Aurora and the Wisconsin border.