With the help of Del, who drove the truck and managed to locate me at my end point in Normal on the campus of Illinois State University, I ticked off an easy seven miler yesterday. The weather was divine: 72 degrees, clear, with a tail wind of some 6-10 mph. With the wind at my back on the asphalt, I hit a peak mph of 17.4 or so. Had a bit of trouble with the Magene bike computer… operator trouble, so my calculation of exact stats went awry. Took a few pics as follows, but mostly I just rode.

Note that the old Route 66 road bed remains, covered by newer asphalt at the time the trail was created. Hats off to the folks in Bloomington/Normal and around the country, as part of the Rails to Trails Conservancy, that got this to happen.

Note: Del and i had radio gear. I packed a Baofeng handheld, and Del had the Anytone in the truck. This worked out great once I got lost in the twists and turns of Normal. I ended up on campus, having continued riding, egged on by the signage that said ‘Route 66 Bike Path.’ On campus, the riding was difficult as students swarmed the path in groups, and, as usual, they were lost in their phones, oblivious. Then , Del raised me on the radio, and I held tight. Some back and forth on FM simplex (146.400), and she located me just fine.