Russel Road, Illinois

Russel Road is the first exit in Illinois heading south from Wisconsin, also affectionately know as Wolding South, as at any given there can be a number of Wolding trucks fueling up or parked there.

I stopped to do both....fuel and spend the night to be staged to head into downtown Chicago in the AM. The client advised me not to park on-site where I was to unload due to safety concerns.

I noticed a Wolding truck right in front of me in the first line as I was fueling. After fueling, I drove over to him and asked if he was "camping out" or taking a break. He replied he had 8 minutes to go on his required 30 minute break, so I whipped around the line and I was getting into position, he pulled out and I pulled in. There weren't any free spots I could see, so this was perfect timing.

I looked at my cell phone map and noticed a Park and bike trails less than a mile to the east so I get the bike together and changed clothes and headed over the over-pass to get a nice couple hour ride in.

Van Patten Woods.

Some local history.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Spent the night near the Mississippi River north of downtown after unloading.

Cruised around on some of the trails on the west side of the river then headed south to Theodore Wirth Park to get in some singletrack riding.

Mississippi River looking towards downtown.

Singletrack at Theo Wirth.

Lake Mills, Wisconsin

I accidentally deleted the pics of this ride.
Lake Mills has the Glacial Drumlin Trail passing through it.  Well worth the stop. I went to the East on the trail for a few miles and turned around at the Crawfish River. I then went west and circumnavigated Rock Lake which made a nice loop back to the truck.

Very nice ride.

Topeka, Kansas

Mars Candy factory....home of M&M's.
A little night riding and warm summer's night....with the smell of chocolate in the air.

Platteville, Wisconsin

Got a load that got me into Platteville at 6:30 but didn't get unloaded till 8-8:30.
By the time I got going it was almost dark. This area is on the fringe of the Wisconsin Driftless Area, which refers to the Southwest part of the State that the glaciers didn't cover, so it's much hillier than what most people think about when they think Wisconsin.

I was able to get out of town and went to the top of the largest hill. By the time I got there, it was pretty much dark, but it was a great night to ride.

This hill sports a huge M, in reference to the local University and the Mining school from back in the day of lead mining.

You can see the M top right of the photo below.

 Sunset.

Alden, New York

Was pretty excited to head to the Buffalo, NY area. The way the trip started was to deliver a load in West Seneca, a little east of Buffalo and grab a return load in Niagara Falls a few hrs. later. A perfect scenario to check out the Falls on the bike.
 Well, the West Seneca trip held, but I got switched to loading in Alden, NY. Alden is 50-60 miles from the Falls, so had to settle for a local ride.
I had 2 hrs to kill so took off to find a nice Park and found a grocery store as well and got some grapes and Coke.

Looking forward to this trip again but getting close to the Falls.

Cleveland, Ohio

On my way to the Buffalo, NY area. Was able to secure a night spot at the last parking available before Cleveland and before my driving time ran out. Like most large cities, it's basically a truck parking desert once one gets too far into the city limits.
McDonalds right there as well, where I actually parked. Free WiFi is always nice!

It worked out great as it was only 3-4 miles from Lake Erie. Small towns of Avalon and Sheffield Lake.
Had a nice park next to power plant that had a boat launch, swim area and fishing pier.

On the way to the Lake Erie I passed this bee swarm.....As I rode past it, I thought, was that a honey bee swarm?? yep, sure was.

Fishing pier.

Sunsets are tough as the camera wants to darken the shot.....I've since learned not to point the camera directly into the sun and it'll keep it lighter.