Spent the weekend camping and riding on the Hennepin Canal Trail over in Sheffield, IL. The flat 104.5 mile trail parallels the Hennepin Canal through north central Illinois. We had a clear sky and nice temps in the upper 20s. Snow and ice covered most of the trail, but it was easy to maneuver barring a couple unexpected slick spots.
Didn't arrive at the campsite on the first night until about 1:30am. Hit the trail at about 8am on Saturday and got an easy-paced 70 miles in. One spare tube and two flats left me walking the last 20 miles though. With a loaded bike I only managed to keep going at ~3 mph. It made for a long, lonely 6.5 hour push. I figured it was good training - though mind-numbingly boring. I did however manage to memorize my ABCs backwards among other things. Eventually arrived at camp about 1am... and slept like a rock.
