We are blessed with an abundance of paved scenic cycling roads in the Upper Left Hand Corner of Illinois. Many stretch south and west from the village of Stockton through Massbach, Mount Carroll, Savanna, and Hanover. They also extend west northwest through Woodbine, Schapville, Elizabeth, and Galena.
Stockton has been home base for my favorite playground this season as we continue to explore challenging roads in the company of fabulous scenery.
I had been riding my Salsa Las Cruces cyclocross bicycle on road tires, although this versatile bike’s standard kit calls for narrow knobby off road tires. In autumn color with the 2008 season drawing to a close, I felt it was time to strap on the knobbies and explore the roads less traveled.
On a mild November Saturday, we started in Stockton from Northwest Eyecare’s Clinic and rolled west to Golf Road and south to Center Road. Center goes gravel just past the north junction of Massbach Road. It wasn’t long before we’re in “driftless” country untouched by ice age glaciers and graced in bucolic splendor.
Before Woodbine, we turned southeast on Eden Road for a climb up Baugh Road. This road is a gem you won’t visit on road tires. Still with knobbies, the Salsa was challenged up steep gravel.
A cyclocross bicycle combines the lightness of a sporty road bike and approaches the terrain versatility of a mountain bike. The drop handlebars provide more comfortable hand positions, and the drivetrain is geared to gobble hills. My Salsa was built up by Ron Mattson at Freeport Bicycle Company who finished it off with beautiful set of tough DT Swiss wheels.
Riding in the forest along Baugh Road, you are treated to long views through the trees on either side. At the intersection of Baugh and Brown Roads, a grand panorama spreads out ahead. When riding over these ridgelines, The Cream’s Jack Bruce sings in my head, “She’s gone, but I don’t worry, cause I’m sittin on top of the world.”
We turned south on Brown Road then slid off the high ridge to Bethel Road and west into the valley. This is a long glide followed by a steady peddle up to Terrapin Ridge. My large chain ring has 48 teeth and mates well to long easy grades like this. But there’s feisty finale on the approach to Route 20 compelling Las Cruces’ lowest gear.
Once across busy Route 20, and over Terrapin Ridge, you’ll scream down Becker Road into the Apple River valley. Like the run up, the steep descent soon moderates and you'll cruise easily into the woods before arriving at Apple River Road. Here, we'll turn west up to Elizabeth over a crescendo of rollers.
The most direct way through Elizabeth is to turn right on Route 20, and follow that around the corner. Route 20 forks to the left, ride straight ahead on Main Street down Georgetown Road.
Georgetown Road shortcuts across Elizabeth Scales Mound Road and intersects with Longhollow Road. Along the way, you’ll traverse the Apple River on a rickety old “Pony Truss” steel bridge. This is one of the few remaining steel spans over the Apple River. It was built around 1890 to a length of 200 feet and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Sadly, this span is endangered, and its condition is ranked by Bridgehunter.com as follows: “Inspection (as of 03/2008) -- Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)--Superstructure condition rating: Critical (2 out of 9) -- Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9) --Appraisal: Structurally deficient -- Sufficiency rating: 14.6 (out of 100)”
We were cautious not to catch a tire in the split planks and avoid being pitched into the Apple River. Once across, we exhaled a sigh and headed out of the valley over Elizabeth Scales Mound Road and down Longhollow.
Just before the Equestrian Center, we turned right on Clark lane which climbs in spurts to a high ridge at the eastern edge of the Galena Territories. Clark Road continues over to Rawlins Road, but we turned right on Wachter Road and left on Morley Road to bypass the huge climb up Rawlins to Elizabeth Scales Mound.
Often, we have returned to Stockton across the ridge through Schapville. But today, our knobbies pointed Las Cruces down Menzemer Road in search of more gravel.
On our decent beneath Schapville, we followed Menzemer to Hoffman Road. Continuing south and east to Grebner Road we rolled south across a wide concrete deck which until recently was an old steel trussed bridge spanning the Apple River. Surely, as funding permits, these old bridges will disappear forever.
Back in the Vallee de la Pomme Riviere, we turned left on Apple River Road east into the gravel towards our second old bridge crossing. This 143 footer was also built in 1890 and is classified as a “Through Truss” design. Bridgehunter.com says the May 2006 inspection yielded similar dismal results. “Deck condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)-- Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)-- Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)-- Appraisal: Structurally deficient-- Sufficiency rating: 18.4 (out of 100).”
Before these old steel bridges head to the scrap yard, we’ll cross ourselves, light a candle to the Blessed Virgin, and ride happily over these delightful old spans.
Once over Old Steel, you may turn left and continue up Apple River Road to Scout Camp Road. But in search of new gravel, we went right on Welsh Road following that over to Scout Camp. From here, we jogged north on Scout Camp and continued east into a pretty valley on Welsh Road. Eventually, you emerge to a Tee at Logemann. Avoiding Route 20, turn left on Logemann and right on Townline back to Canyon Park Road. From there, it’s south to Binkley and over the Big Binkley Bonk back to Stockton.
Bridges, a Bonk, and a whole lot of gravel along the way. A cyclocross bike is a huge kick to ride as you explore the really rural roads in the Upper Left Hand Corner of Illinois. We increased our repertoire of routes and improved our riding skills. The Salsa Las Cruces has been a Really Outstanding Investment.
