Southern Illinois Gravel Ride (video)

[Smudgy]

This was my only "long" bike ride in 2020, 3 days. I rode from Grand Tower, Illinois on the Mississippi River to Cave in Rock, Illinois on the Ohio River. I tried to stay socially distant from everyone by staying on mostly gravel roads.  I hope to get out and ride this summer, but for now this is all I've got.


https://youtu.be/WsEhcYNPcrU

[John Nettles]

Paul, nice video.  Make you want to do gravel, maybe  .  Sure is a lot prettier than I found southern Illinois to be.  Just shows gravel has some definitely pluses.

Tailwinds, John

[jwrushman]

Thank you for posting your video.  I very much enjoyed watching it.  As I was watching, I kept thinking, "How did he get that shot?"  "He must have spent a lot of time prepping the shots...".  I fear you're raising the bar too high!!

[Smudgy]

Paul, nice video.  Make you want to do gravel, maybe  .  Sure is a lot prettier than I found southern Illinois to be.  Just shows gravel has some definitely pluses.

Tailwinds, John

John, if you are ever riding through southern Illinois again, look me up. I will take you to some of the best places on the forest. I know the Shawnee forest pretty well and in my video I tried to showcase the coolest places along the way. True, I tried to shy away from the less interesting stuff.  It's not vast and spectacular like the Rockies or the Cascades (not even close) so sometimes the charm of the area is overlooked. But for Illinois, this is our Rocky mts. .  The ACA route across so. Ill. takes you past some cool places, but not through them, if you know what I mean. And there are some very boring routes, too. I read a journal on crazy guy about a guy than saved a lot of time riding across so. Ill. by taking Rt. 13, a straight, level modern highway across the entire state. I thought, "he missed everything cool about so. Ill.". My gravel route is slow, gritty, and hilly for no reason. Only someone looking to get way off the beaten path and punish themselves would take this route.  .
My wife and I have both done some research in the forest and she once worked for the Forest Service. It's a little known secret that there are a few "sacrificial" areas in the forest where everyone goes, and these places get trampled by the crowds. But then there are dozens of other out of the way places that most people don't even know about. That's where the locals go. And most of the time, you have the place to yourself. That's what I meant when I said in the video that the Shawnee forest is the best kept secret in Illinois.  Thanks for watching my video and taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.
Happy trails my friend, and tailwinds to you as well.

[Smudgy]

Thank you for posting your video.  I very much enjoyed watching it.  As I was watching, I kept thinking, "How did he get that shot?"  "He must have spent a lot of time prepping the shots...".  I fear you're raising the bar too high!!

Thanks for watching, I appreciate it! I've been touring since the early '80's and in my early tours, I didn't even bring a camera. Video is a relatively new hobby for me. During the pandemic, instead of touring, I spent most of my time (and money) on my new video hobby (semi-addiction). So I poured a whole  summers worth of pent up energy that would normally go toward long distance bike touring into a 3 day video.  Since the route is so close to home (due to the pandemic) I know the roads very well. I knew what to look for and I was able to pre-plan some things. And, yes, my wife did help out with some of the drone shots, probably many of the ones where you were thinking, "how did he get that shot?"  On a tour in an area that I have never been and pass by once quickly, it's easy to miss stuff. On this trip, I tried to showcase all of the coolest stuff that I knew of along the way.
Thanks again!!

[HikeBikeCook]

Paul -

Thanks for posting another great video. My wife and I have watched many of your YouTube videos of rides and those videos have helped get her onboard with a TransAm ride. Your calm, sensible approach to touring has given her confidence that you do not need to be a 30 something and turn out back-to-back centuries to ride across the US.

Thank you!

[Smudgy]

Paul -

Thanks for posting another great video. My wife and I have watched many of your YouTube videos of rides and those videos have helped get her onboard with a TransAm ride. Your calm, sensible approach to touring has given her confidence that you do not need to be a 30 something and turn out back-to-back centuries to ride across the US.

Thank you!

Thanks for watching! I love bike touring, but I think it's because there might be something wrong with me. Just kidding, but maybe not? Anyways, I find bike touring to be hard and uncomfortable at times, it's not all sunshine and tailwinds . But there are ways to make it less painful and there's no reason to make it more painful. Make sure both bike and rider are in good condition before setting out. I ride slow and take lots of breaks. I don't mind big hills, but I don't race up them, I take my time. But I was never built for speed anyways. These days, my biggest concern when out touring is probably the heat. I try to get started as early as possible, ride in the cool part of the day, drink lots of water, take my time and don't burn out my legs early in the day. When I was younger, I almost never took rest days. I couldn't stay in one spot for 2 days in a row. Now that I'm older and I don't recover as quickly as I used to, I usually take a day off after 4 or 5 days of riding. Sometimes more, sometimes less, no hard fast rule, just gotta read your own body. Sometimes instead of a day off, I'll take 2 short days in a row.  Even though bike touring is hard, it is very rewarding for me. After a tour, my body feels like superman... for about a week, and then it's back to plain old Clark Kent. Thanks again, enjoy! If you ride through Carbondale, look me up.

[Brucev]

Paul great video. I know all to well about the secret little spots in the Shawnee. I grew just a few miles from Grand Tower and loved living in So.Ill. I now live in Alaska but all of my family still lives there.  Hope to do a bike trip in the future back. Thanks for the great video.

[wildtoad]

Great video...both the production and, of course, the ride itself!  Really enjoyed watching it, thanks for posting the link.