TLDR: Trip recap of my first bikepacking trip, taking me from the Quad Cities to the outskirts of Chicago on a 200+ mile journey.
THE ROUTE
https://www.strava.com/activities/14957374787
I am sure this will be way too long for 99.9% of you, but I had an awesome trip and like writing, so I'm going for it. I also got a ton of good information on bikepacking and my route from Reddit (shoutout to u/Wrigs112 for multiple informative posts and responses about Midwest bikepacking) so hoping to pay it forward a bit and perhaps provide a tiny bit of helpful information for anyone planning a similar trip.
I had spent a long time thinking about making a trip and finally had a weekend where my family was missing to go for it. I am a relatively risk averse person who also likes to have everything planned, so going on a bikepacking adventure definitely forced me out of comfort zone a bit. Because I'm a big chicken I had a few requirements as I planned out my route…
- Close enough to home that I could beg someone to come get me in case of disaster
- Close enough to civilization that I could hobble my way to help in case of disaster
- Majority of trip on trails away from cars in case of disaster
- Flat enough that my Midwest legs wouldn't die from going up too many big hills (in case of disaster)
- A one way trip that was close enough to take a car or train to the start and bike my way home
The route I planned out was certainly not the most exciting but I settled on riding on the Hennepin Canal Trail and the I&M which ticked all the boxes. Some other routes like the Yellow River Loop in Iowa looked incredible, but seemed a bit too remote (and hilly) for my first trip…perhaps if I could have found a friend to go with me but no one in my life is really into this kind of thing.
My initial plan was to take the Amtrak from Naperville to Kewanee, bike north to the Hennepin, and follow that east back home. At the list minute I decided that I really wanted to ride the entire Hennepin, so I audibled and found a reasonably priced one way rental car from Naperville to the Quad Cities.
This link has my route along with some of the waypoints and gas station/campgrounds marked out. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/372378195
THE RIG & GEAR
I was on a Specialized Diverge STR with Pathfinder TLR Fast Gravel 40s. As far as gear went, I wasn't sure if I would be doing this again so kitted myself out with mostly cheap stuff from Amazon brands. Honestly everything worked great…a few links below if anyone is looking for some cheap gear that seems to work (at least for a weekend long bike trip). I was also lucky to have a buddy that has done a lot of backpacking who let me borrow his tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag. This probably spoiled me a bit for future journeys as everything packed so small.
I packed my tent and cooking gear in one fork bag, my sleeping bag in the other, and the sleeping pad + tent poles on my aero bars. Seat pack was a miscellaneous hodgepodge of extra bike stuff, clothing, charging stuff, and some food. The seat pack was kind of a pain in the ass as it felt like any time I needed something from in there I had to unpack the whole thing. Maybe need some internal packing within the seat pack for next time to make life a bit easier.
Bike lean on bridge, first of many bike leans
Packing List: https://lighterpack.com/r/7rbm1z
Fork Mount + Bags: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7VYTFBM
Seat Pack: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DYKM143
THE TRIP
I rolled into the Quad Cities late on a Thursday, returned my rental car (lucked out with a big 'ole jeep and didn't have to take anything off the bike to put it in the back), and rode to a seedy hotel to kick things off. Initially I wanted to camp but didn't think it would be a great idea to start off my trip riding through the night and setting up camp for the first time in the dark.
DAY 1: MOLINE–>TISKILWA 73 MILES + 10 BONUS MILES
I started out early on Friday riding from the Quad Cities Airport through Moline to the beginning of the Hennepin Canal Trail. This required about 10 miles of roads but they were pretty light on traffic in the early morning and felt very safe riding. Had to do a bit of backtracking to get to the beginning of the Hennepin so I could say I did all of it. The day was hot and pushing 90 but luckily plenty of cloud cover…the trail also has a lot of tree coverage so while riding it never really felt all that bad.
While the Hennepin Canal trail is never too far from civilization, you aren't exactly riding through neighborhoods and cities most of the time. The water situation on the Hennepin is not great either…only available free water is at the visitor center. There are decently sized towns (large enough to at least have a gas station) every 10-15 miles along the trail, but some require a bit more time off piste to get to the from the trail.
My first stop was at a Shell gas station in Annawan around mile 40 of the trip. I loaded up on Gatorade, water, and some deep fried nachos (which fit conveniently in my top tube bento box alongside my phone). At mile 54 I stopped in at the visitor center for a bit of AC and free water refill, then another stop at Wyanet around mile 62 for lunch and loading up on food/water for the evening. My plan was to go into town for dinner, but wanted to have a back up just in case things were closed. These stops were all very close to the trail and required heading off the route for less than a mile. Also working towards fulfilling my goal of leaning my bike against as many Casey's as possible.
Bento box perfect spot for deep fried gas station nachos
There are a bunch of campsites along the Hennepin where you just set up shop and someone may or may not come to collect the campsite fee from you (they never came). My goal was to make it as far along the trail as possible so I had targeted the Lock 6 campground. There is also camping at Lock 11, 17, 21, 22, 23, and 26. I can't confirm all of these but definitely saw a few of them.
I rolled into the Lock 6 campground around 3p and set up camp for the first time. The location was awesome with plenty of trees for shade, a firepit, pit toilets, and really relaxing sound of the lock waterfall going. At this point I was loaded with energy so biked the 4 miles into the bustling town of Tiskilwa for a drink and dinner at the Indian Valley Inn. I had a few beers with the locals (place was packed by the time i left at 5), waited for the kitchen to open at 4:30, housed some of the best fried chicken of my life, then hit the road…but not before stopping at the loan gas station in town to get some firewood and soda for the evening.
Definitely stop at the Indian Valley Inn for some fried chicken…cash only, no tabs
All of my previous camping had been at campgrounds surrounded by other people, so the experience of solo camping in a seemingly random field in the middle of nowhere was definitely a new experience, but this night was pretty awesome. I chilled, sat by the lock, did some fishing, drinking, eating, and all in all just relaxing. Totally whiffed on making a fire as I was unable/too lazy to forage enough kindling and it kept going out on me…decided to keep drinking sodas and look at the stars by the lock. Eventually I was tired enough to go to sleep in the heat…did not sleep great but I think that was mostly due to a bad pillow situation, something to rectify for my next journey.
DAY 2: TISKILWA–>MARSEILLES 55 MILES
I had planned a bit of a shorter route for day 2 as I was not sure how the body was going to handle back to back days of 50+ miles. My training for this had been pretty much 1 40-50 mile ride/week along with a bit of jogging in preparation for a 70.3 triathlon the week before (not the best idea but I signed up before I decided I didn't want to actually train for it). But doing 80 miles over an 8 hour period is a lot different training load than trying to do 50 miles as fast as you can, so my body was actually feeling way better than anticipated on day 2. To be honest this trip was probably the first time in my life where I was on a bike not trying to just get my ride over with…when I ride I very rarely get off my bike, but this trip I was stopping at every damn thing that looked cool enough to take a crappy picture of my bike leaning against it (and trust me there are a lot of crappy bike lean pictures on my phone).
There was only a few miles to the end of the Hennepin before getting to the longest road section of the trip, around 20 miles from the end of the Hennepin in Bureau Junction to the start of the I&M in Peru. Part of this route took me on to 29 (Hiawatha Pioneer Trail) which was a pretty major road with cars zipping by, but there was a reasonably sized shoulder and not too much traffic in the morning.
Once you get to the top of the hill on 29 you have the option of staying on 29 for another 7 miles or heading down into Depue and taking 1250. I had heard that 1250 was some pretty chunky gravel, but figured I would give it a go on my bike to avoid the fast moving cars on 29. I actually enjoyed this section as there were no cars and some reasonably flattened out sections if you followed the tire tracks. I could see this section being pretty miserable with some skinnier tires but it was totally fine on my 40s. If you were in a race I would just keep it simple and stick to 29 (avoids the gravel and an extra hill climb), but then you would miss the Casey's in Depue!!!
After getting through the gravel in Depue I ended up Spring Valley for a planned breakfast/lunch stop at the Double Country Diner. If you are in Spring Valley go here! I had an incredible chicken fried steak and then a iced coffee for the road at the Bean Box across the street.
Chicken Fried Steak at the Double Country
This started what was probably the most unpleasant part of the trip, a 4 mile section of Route 6 that had a pretty good amount of traffic on it. There was a shoulder for the most part but still a lot of cars zipping by in the late morning on a Saturday. Nothing disastrous but definitely a road I would try to avoid in my normal biking life. After that I was in Peru and made my way to beginning of the I&M.
I had heard some horror stories about this portion of the I&M but honestly it was not bad at all. There is the occasional pothole that you really need to keep your eyes out for, but for the most part it is pretty solid double track from here on out. I was running ahead of schedule when I saw sign for Buffalo Rock State Park and decided to ride on in for a quick detour. At this point the weather was getting pretty damn hot but the small loop as Buffalo Rock was pleasant enough and now I can check that one off the list.
Pretty typical trail conditions for the I&M
From there I had planned to just power through to my campsite at Illini State Park but was absolutely spent when I saw The Cheese Shop in Ottawa just off the trail. Figured I had to stop for a drink and a sandwich and it did not disappoint. Cheese selection also looked excellent but didn't think it would hold up too well in the heat.
Rolled into Illini State Park around 4p. To get to Illini you have to hop off the trail and cross the river…on the way across I was on the road which was not a ton of fun (2 lane bridge with traffic), but realized there is a protected walking/bike path on the other side. Used that on the way back.
This portion of the trip was a bit of cheating as I met a friend here, so he was loaded up with a cooler, ice, food, chairs, and everything else needed for some proper camping. I still had to set up camp but this wasn't quite the peaceful zen experience of the Lock 6 campground in Tiskilwa.
Nice to have the tools for a proper fire this time
DAY 3: MARSEILLES–>WILLOW SPRINGS 85 MILES
This mileage isn't quite accurate from what is on my route, but I had to get from Willow Springs back to my house. Ended up heading all the way to Willow Springs so I could say I did the entire I&M (at least according to the I&M website, though the mileage markers were confusing and never found a 0 marker).
I was pretty familiar with this section of the I&M as I have rode it a few times from home in Naperville. Made my first stop around 20 miles into the ride at The Morris Bakery. They have some pretty excellent pastries including their cinnamon, but somehow did not have any beverages available…had to go over to the gas station across the road for that.
From there it was just cruising along the rest of the I&M…spotted a bunch of cut outs where you can camp, some looking a lot more pleasant than the rest. Channahon SP looked like a great spot. Unfortunately you have to jump off the trail in Rockdale to make the rather unpleasant ride through Joliet…just not much bike routing there and always broken glass to keep an eye out for. Really wish they could find a way to connect the trail here.
This bike lean is the only pleasant think about Joliet
Finally made it to the end of the trail in Willow Springs and had one final gas station meal along the river in Columbia Woods. The journey to the end of the trail took me a bit past my house so I made the terrible decision to take roads the rest of the way back to save a few miles…this was my worst decision of the trip as the combination of fatigue, the mid afternoon heat, no cloud cover, a head wind, and the radiating heat from the asphalt made these last 10 miles the hardest of the trip.
My final justifiable incredibly unhealthy meal of the trip
IN CLOSING
This trip was awesome and I am trying to persuade my wife that she needs to go visit her family with our daughter ASAP so I can plan another one (guess how that's going for me). I think this was absolutely the perfect beginner bikepacking trip…maybe a bit heavy on the mileage for a true beginner but it was a pleasure just cruising along, enjoying the sites, sounds, and the Casey's along the way. Apologies for the incredibly long post but it was a good chance to relive the journey and hopefully provide a few tips for anyone else considering this trip.
by Snappy987
1 Comment
Love the Hennepin!