Sidney Illinois

     In this blog I will be describing my travels to Sidney. This is a bike ride I have done several times before. It is a comfortable route without a large amount of cars. Additionally, the weather was in my favor so I did not face strong winds. It was high 30s with a 10 mph wind from the southwest. Below is the route I took, as well as me in the garage as always right before leaving.

        Because my face and neck got cold last time, I decided to wear a ski mask on this trip. In addition, I wore a hoodie, a rain jacket, gloves, and some warmer shoes. In comparison to last trip, I was much warmer overall. 

    Once I had everything ready, I started my ride as usual and went south on race street. The beginning always feels really good. Unlike usual, I felt surprisingly good throughout the whole ride this time. The majority of the time I had the wind on my back which felt good. Additionally, about 1/3 of the way through, there is a big hill that is fun to ride down. Below is an image of the hill, as well as an image of a holy sign I saw. These are pretty common, but I thought this one in particular had a nice aesthetic. 

     The hill is steeper than it looks, and might actually be the best hill in Champaign county with a road on it. According to my GPS, I went 33.4 mph down the hill. The rest of the journey went smoothly and I arrived in pretty good time. Below is the trip data. On the left is the trip to Sidney, and on the right is the trip back.

    Once I arrived at Casey's I took a photo and turned around. I did not feel like buying anything and did not want to spend too much time on my trip because I still had things to do at home. I also checked to see if the dairy barn was open, as Dr. Moffitt recommended I visit, but unfortunately they were closed. Below is the photo of me at Casey's.

    Despite not visiting any of the local shops, I went on a walk through Witt Park. This park was equipped with a playground, 2 baseball fields, and a few walking/hiking trails. I took a ride on the merry go round and also took one of the trails down to the Salt Fork. Believe it or not, the Salt Fork is one of my favorite rivers. Below are images. I took a photo of myself on the merry go round with a timer and it turned out pretty bad. I did not feel like re-doing it though. 

    After my time at Witt, I decided to head home. The return journey was slightly more difficult. I had more uphill and slightly more wind than on the journey to Sidney. Once I made it home I sat down on the couch and drank a glass of water.