Outdoor Adventures with Mike & Anja Metz Sept. - Nov. Reports

[Mike Metz]

To All,    On October 4th, 8 of us including 3 Bloomington Ski Club members, rode bikes on Bloomington Normal's excellent Constitution trail. Starting west of Bloomington on the Rt. 9 trailhead, we headed east back into town to the main trail where we headed north to Normal,IL. After a short break we headed east and stopped for lunch at our favorite stop at Gill Street Pub. Often when we stop here there are volleyball players, just outside the outdoor eating area. They also have an axe throwing area that wasn't open. But don't worry folks, we planned a First Friday Happy Hour at our' Axe bar in Champaign yet this winter. After a great lunch we all headed south, but since the trail doesn't go south in this area, we have learned how to get ourselves south through the local neighborhoods on low traffic side streets. We get back on the Constitution Trail just northeast of the State Farm Ins. Campus. Here we go south then west around State Farm and head west. Then north across Veterans Parkway till we find the Rt.9 trail back to our vehicles and completing 25 miles for our ride .  Come join us on this excellent trail next year.              On Friday afternoon on Oct.17, 5 of us rode our bikes for an hour around east Urbana and Atkins' golf course, then had a nice dinner outside at Casa Del Mar.in Urbana.                      On Oct.25th  5 of us drove to north of Springfield,IL.  and rode bikes on the scenic Sangamon Valley Trail into west Springfield where we found the Wabash Trail. Then we went east a few miles and found the Interurban Trail, turned south and rode this scenic trail to Chatham,IL. Total ride was about 23 miles often in a cool mist of rain and at temps in the mid fifties. But we never really got wet. As usual we stopped in Chatham and enjoyed a good meal and some good brews at a nearby brewpub at the end of the trail.                 On Nov.9th I organized my first official hike of the season and what a day it was. Temps in the low to mid thirties, very windy with gusts into the 40MPH range, and intermittent snow showers. ,2.4 miles on the Old Farm trail and another 2,1 miles around the lake. Our dogs had a blast. John went home while Anja and I, went into Clinton for something warm to eat. No such luck!!  Everywhere we went, there was no power. After about a half hour we determined the whole town was dead. Apparently, all due to the high winds. On our way home we did have better luck as the" Power House Pub" in DeWitte,IL. was open. YAAY!!!               On a very nice day for November 15th, temps in the sixties, 9 of us including a member from Bloomington, rode our bikes on the two downhill bike trails in the Peoria area. First we rode from Alta,IL. just northwest of Peoria, 12 miles, down to the Peoria riverfront to the Blue Duck Restaurant.  One of our riders, an amphibian and reptile expert at the U of I had an off trail experience. I was bringing up the rear and she slowed  and pulled in behind me. I didn't think too much of it until  a minute later when I looked behind me and her bike was laying on the ground and she was sitting just ahead of it. Oh! No!  I thought, she crashed! I hurried back to find out that she hadn't crashed at all, but had spotted a garter snake and dismounted in a hurry and caught the very small creature. It was barely bigger than a large earthworm, but she spotted it somehow and just had to see it. It thankfully curled up in her warm hand as it was a bit cool out. She soon released it unharmed but no doubt missing her warm hands. We had a good laugh at lunch. On our second downhill ride, we were riding from Morton,IL back and across the river bridge to the Blue Duck parking lot about 10 miles. The trail is fairly fast downhill in places, but we were facing a 10-15 MPH wind. One place where I can usually take off and glide for over a mile, I was far from where I usually run out of momentum. It was a very fun day on a great bike trail system. Join us next year!               Just a few days ago on Dec.6th, 11 of us met at Buffalo Trace Park [ on RT. 47 ] north of Mahomet , for some cross country skiing. 4 of our people were newbies and I hoped we could give them a good time. Anja and I were worried at 9AM as it was already 32 degrees and we weren't meeting people until 2PM. We were afraid we would lose too much snow as the high was to be about 34. When we met at 2PM we were relieved to see we still had enough snow. We unloaded several bags of gear as we were loaning to nearly everyone. It took a while but we all got going before too long, I stayed back to help the newbies and was pleasantly surprised how fast they were learning the basics and moving along quite well. We only skied about 3 miles but the best thing was that these people learned fast, had a great time, and some of them want to join our club. We all got back with out any gear breakage or human breakage altho our dog Sydney had too good a time and was limping. She will be fine. Join us again this winter when we get snow. We have enough gear to equip at least 12 people. Don't sit on the fence " really " there's no good excuse.         Please join us,        Mike & Anja Metz