So… I got lost

On Saturday, I decided that I was going to be a hero and try to find the bike trails in Rockford. Well, it turns out that one critical mistake led me to ride wayyy further than I had anticipated. The place I was trying to go to was called Rock Cut State park, which has some pretty cool bike trails from what I’ve heard. I haven’t had much action in the way of bikes recently so I figured I’d try it out, despite the fact that it was 24 degrees outside.

The trails are about 6 miles up forest hills road, which takes about 4 miles to get to itself. I had planned on making a turn at Harlem road, which unknown to me is also called Rock Cut road (Damn multiple names!). There was indeed a sign that said turn here for Rock Cut state park, but I thought that it was taking me to Interstate 90 so that I could take that north to the park entrance. I was on a bike, so I didn’t really want to do that. So in essence, I “turned right for Rock Cut state park,” but before the entrance ramp to I90, I turned north on Perryville road to attempt to enter the park from the north entrance (Keep in mind, I’m approaching from the south west). So I road up Perryville road, but found a dead end because of construction, so then I turned and went down some other random road, hoping that my sense of direction would carry me through. But the road kept taking me further and further from the direction that I wanted to go. Eventually I found myself in a neighborhood that was under construction and not all of the roads connected yet. So I did some off roading in some serious mud, then found myself again on a route that was about 2 miles north of where I was originally. For some reason, I thought that I was still seriously far south from the park, so I kept going north. In fact, I kept going north for about 10 miles, so far totaling 20 miles and starting to feel really worn out and cold. Not to mention that I was now in a different county, fricken country land. I’ll have to say though, it was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a while, despite the fact that I was essentially riding in a freezer.

I’m flogging myself that I didn’t bring my camera, seeing the sun shine through broken clouds in a wide open field was very beautiful. I’ll have to take that route again some day when it gets warmer. But anyways, yeah… right around when I hit the 20 mile mark of my trip, I had decided to stop looking for the park and go back, because at this point, I was sure that I had overshot it. But little did I know how much I actually did.

So I turn on a road that appears to head south called Free church road. Heh… didn’t see any churches, but it was a decent road for riding, extremely low traffic. The ride down free church was mostly downhill, but I was cold and tired, so I had to stop on every uphill so that I could warm up my feet and give my legs a break. I took that for about 3 miles, then found an east/west fork, so for some reason, I chose east, despite the fact that I was probably 10 miles east of home (Not including the formidable northern component). I turned down the next southern road I could find, which was Caledonia road, another winner for good looks and riding quality. That was the longest 10 miles I’ve ever ridden. I pissed and moaned the whole time because of how cold and sore I was. Also, this road had an eastern component and I could feel it so that pushed me even further from where I wanted to go. I was starting to become very worried that I wouldn’t be able to make it the whole way back and would have to call Xin, my housemate, for help. But I told myself that there’s still time, I should try to figure this out for myself. There has to be a gas station somewhere where I can buy some food and keep going.

Somewhere nearing my 10th mile on Caledonia, I realized that I’m still not in Wannebago County, which is where Rockford is. So I determined that I must be very far east of rockford. So I took the first road that appeared to travel west, which was orth road. Orth road was a little more unforgiving… I had dropped in altitude a lot since riding on Caledonia and now I had to go back up. I very near cried. I couldn’t make it more than half a mile without stopping and I was no longer able to warm up my toes. My hands, too were beginning to freeze. But I kept going because I had to. I passed a sign that said rough road ahead, and I was in no mood to deal with that, so I decided to turn south again. I rode about a mile before seeing a road that I ACTUALLY RECOGNIZED!!! Holy shit! I literally exclaimed RIVERSIDE BLVD!!! I knew that this was the road we crossed to get to Valli Produce, and it was about 4 miles north of where we live. But little did I know that I was still a good 10 miles east of town. But the chances of me finding a gas station on this road were way higher. And eventually after 3 miles of more riding, I found one and got myself a big drink of water and a power bar. And trust me, I took some time to sit down and enjoy my much sought after meal.

After this, riding became much easier. I continuously rode for another 5 miles until I got to I90 which was 5 miles east of home. I was pretty fricken excited to finally know where I was and about how far I was from home. Still had about 7-9 miles to go, but I didn’t care. I knew how long that was and I had it in me. So from then on, I kept riding until I made it and that my friend, was the best feeling in the world. After getting a bite to eat and taking a shower, I looked up my route on mapmyrun.com and figured out that I had rode 50 miles unintentionally. All I said was holy shit. You know… roadies do that all the time, but I wasn’t on a road bike and I’ve never ridden this far before.

~ by daveinthewest on March 10, 2008.