8-27-12 Ride the Hennepin Feeder canal

Today we drove down to Tampico to R&B Dutch Diner for breakfast and then drove to IL Route 92 and the canal and started our ride there, because the feeder Canal level is up and not only is it flooded under IL Route 40, it is also flooded under the east bound lane of Inter State 88, and there is no way around that flooding as there is at Rt 40. So we rode south all the way to Bridge #62 which was about 8.5 miles from Rt 92, making it a round trip of just about 17 miles. It was a beautiful day for a ride, It was slightly foggy when we started and the dew was heavy on the plants. On our way back I spotted a baby Alligator Snapping turtle on the path, he was about 1 3/4" across the back of his shell, I took a picture of him.

8-24-12

We have been riding every day for the last week, but nothing notable picture wise, didn't ride this morning as we had to be someplace early that didn't involve our bikes. But you can check out our rides and the figures at......

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/213313713

Be sure to click on the previous at the upper center and click on the "Satellite" button at the top of the map, it gives a birds eye view of where we have been riding, be sure to zoom in, I did some extra wide turns just to see if the satellite would notice them, it does.

8-13-12 Ride the Hennepin Canal

We didn't ride this A.M. because it was raining, so after dinner we rode 7.5 miles south on the canal and turned around and came home for a 15 mile ride, right after we turned around I saw this shot and had to stop and shoot it. The canal looks totally different in the late afternoon.

8-6-12 Ride the Hennepin Canal

This morning we drove down to Annawan, IL and had breakfast at "The Purple Onion" with that completed we drove to just north of I-80 on IL Rte 78 and parked at the canal. We rode east to the Basin and then turned around and rode west to Lock 23, which is a nice parking area with facilities, this will be our starting point for our next ride. Todays ride was just under 20 miles round trip, it was cool wnen we started out, but even though the temperature was only 68 when we were done we were warm from our ride. The path along this section goes from bitominous to FA-20, ( Ag Lime) which is well packed and nice to ride on, just west of Rte 78 was the roughest part of the trail, but not bad. Lock 22 is fairly complete as when it was in use commercially appearance wise. Until we were west of Annawan I had forgotten how close I-80 is to the canal, actually with in a few hundred yards and the rush of traffic going by can be easily heard. At Aqueduct 5 the bridge on I-80 is just to the south. Nice ride and the scenery was beautiful. Here are the pictures from east to west.

Bridge 18A looking east

Bridge 18A looking west to Lock 22 and lift bridge 19

The upstream lock gates at Lock 22, 

see the shelf that the up stream gates locked to

 Up Stream side of  Gates, there is a wall to the right of this picture

which was added to protect the gates, the water level on this side

of the lock is almost at ground level

 Lift bridge #19 part of Lock 22

 Looking east from Lock 22

 Looking west from Lock 22 at Bridge 19A

East end of Aqueduct 4

 Aqueduct 4 looking north

  Aqueduct 4 looking south

  Aqueduct 4 looking west

  Aqueduct 4 

 Bridge 20 looking east

 Bridge 20 looking west

  Bridge 21 looking east

   Bridge 21 looking west

 Bridge 22 looking east

Culvert at Bridge 22

 Culvert at Bridge 22 close up

 Bridge 23 looking east

  Bridge 23 looking west

Aqueduct 5 looking east

Aqueduct 5 looking north

 Aqueduct 5 looking south to I-80

 Aqueduct 5 looking west

Aqueduct 5 from the north east

Aqueduct 5 from the north west

Bridge 24 from the east

Bridge 24 from underneath, 

amazing what you can learn about people under bridges

Bridge 25 looking east

Bridge 25 looking west

Bridge 26 looking east

 Bridge 26 looking west

Lock 23 access where we turned around

and will start our next ride from here, our ride was just over 19.3 miles round trip.



Friday 8-3-12 Ride on the Hennepin Feeder Canal

This morning we rode south intending to ride our 20 mile round trip, at the Rte 40 underpass we found it to be under several inches of water and as a result we crossed over Rte 40 to get to the other side, the DNR Hennepin Canal told me they were "In an effort to hopefully prevent a fish kill in the Hennepin Canal, we have opened the feed gates to let more water through to increase water circulation to minimize fish kills due to low oxygenation.  The increase in water flow will also help to somewhat help flush vegetation through some of the culverts." I knew this would result in an increased water level at Star Road underpass and it was flooded too much to allow us to safely pass here, so we turned around and were satisfied with a 19.5 mile ride. On the return I stopped just north of Ridge Road to check out a couple of Soft Shell Turtles laying on their backs on the path. Someone had caught them and decided to torture them by placing them on their backs in the sun, one was about 12 " plus across his shell the other was about 16" across, I flipped them both over expecting them to both be dead, but the smaller one moved a little, I poked him and he used some reserve strength to propel itself into the canal, the other I am sure was dead, but I pushed it into the water just in case. What a waste, if they wanted to kill them they should have taken them for their meat.

Ride our Treks on the Hennepin Canal Feeder

This morning we rode down to just past Riverdale Road for about a 11 mile round trip, on the way down we found the underpass on Rte. 40 was flooded, they are releasing water at the Rock River to flush the silt out of the tubes under the roads where the canal passes under the roads. See the details at

                                        http://connect.garmin.com/activity/205948327

Where we turned around this morning

The end of our ride on the canal

8-1-12 Ride on Canal

I drove down to Star Road this morning by myself, Judy was getting ready for Quilt & Sewing Day, my plan was to shovel the mud and muck from the path under the bridge, where Judy had almost fallen last week, it took me a while but after I was done it was safe to ride through the underpass without fear of falling, about an 1 1/2 inches of mud and muck were in the lowest point, mixed with algae bloom, now there is only about 1/2 an inch of water on the path.
After I completed this I rode on to Tampico and R & B Cafe for breakfast and then drove back to Star Road where the car was parked. Below is the path after I shoveled it.