as journaled by Brittany Koch
Trial Run to Shabbona Woods Day 1 of 2 (27 Miles)
10:20 Departure
13:42
About 12 miles and 3 hrs, 22 mins. into our trip we’ve stopped for lunch on the lake front. Casualties so far: Lydia’s hydration pack, which started to leak around 10 minutes ago; and me, having been the victim of a dramatic wipeout a mile or so out.
Fear not – I’m still alive. I do, however, have myriad scrapes and a chipped tooth. It’s not really my fault: I blame the road at the time, a horrid combination of a downhill slope and potholed concrete, plus the trailer I’m towing, which is forcing me to correct the balance of my bike every few seconds. With both affecting me, I would’ve been more surprised if I hadn’t fallen.
Our circus train has attracted quite a bit of attention so far, including a photographer from the Hyde Park Herald who took a couple photos for his paper.
Hopefully the rest of the day goes more smoothly than this past sorta-half: I was rather shaky after my fall, and the numerous crowds and other traffic are pretty bad as we move out of the city. Probably due to us being in the lakefront area on memorial day weekend.
14:52
Stopped again. Daddy’s burley (trailer) lost a nut. The amount of miscellaneous equipment problems we’ve had so far today is reaching a scary amount.
15:41
Daddy’s burley broke. a screw this time. All of us except Joshua and Daddy have pulled over into Rainbow Beach Park while the other two go to bring the burley over. Then Daddy’s going to go to a hardware store to replace the part.
Elise, Cora and Lydia pass around a frisbee while I write — scratch that, they got it stuck in a tree.
Really, guys?
17:32
Mommy’s gears screwed up or something when/before we crossed a bridge over a canal, so we’ve been stopped yet again for yet a while. Mommy, Joshua and David went out for water (because we’re all out) while Daddy tries to fix the bike. We all (well except the ones who went for water resupply) got to see the bridge rise up to make passage for this huge barge, though, so at least there are a few benefits to this stop.
We’re about an hour away from camp if we could just manage to not stop anymore (UGH). I’m utterly exhausted.
19:40
Arrival at camp after 9hrs 20min travel
20:28
Now dinner is on the fire and the tent is set up and being put to order.
There is a family with us that elected to drive rather than bike with us, but they’re currently set up and have saved our butts with water and some food to tide us over. Honestly, I’m so glad they are here.
My siblings are now off playing around or helping set up camp. Some are biking around the parking lot for some reason. You’d think they would have had enough of that by now.
Hopefully tomorrow goes far smoother.
Bike Configurations:
Jeff – tandem w/ Cora or Elise, trailer bike with Caleb, Burley
Angela – bike, trailer bike w/ Lydia, Burley
Brittany – bike, unstable trailer
Joshua – bike, seat w/ David, Burley
Elise/Cora – switching off between a bike and the tandem