Deer Grove

             Yesterday the weather was pretty reasonable for a day in February, so i loaded up Tarkus,

(Um, no, not that Tarkus...)

(This Tarkus.)

                                                 and rolled out to the nearby forest preserve...

There's a pretty good trail system for riding.

        It had rained pretty steadily the night before, and it was a beautifully foggy, windless morning.

The trails were too muddy for my smooth road tyres, so i cruised the roadways and paved paths that cross the preserve. There is a mile or so of disused closed roads back in the oak woods...

A forgotten picnic bench...

and a hidden pump.

                                            A bit later, i passed some silent local inhabitants...

How many?

Wait, there's another... (i counted 4)

Deer Grove is one of the Cook County Forest Preserves. It is located just inside the north county line and is bisected by Quentin Road:

(Note the typical quality of Illinois roads)

                                              It's a busy two lane blacktop along this stretch:

45mph (actually, that's an Illinois 45, that means usually 55+)

There is a crossing sign, that almost every driver ignores:

State law says stop for people in a crosswalk. 

                                                            Yeah, good luck with that!

After making the Quentin Crossing a second time, i returned from whence i came, passing more local fauna:

(This bunch was slightly less wary that those in the west section...)

Sometimes there's quite a dramatic browse line in these woods.

So, as the wind picked up and the temperature dropped, i turned for home, passing the local high school
where it seems everybody drives:

No, they're not all teachers' cars...

(There's even an overflow lot.)

 And there you go.
(With apologies to NYC Bikesnob.)

With its fairly extensive and not over-technical trails, the preserve is an almost perfect place for me- never a strong off-road rider- to just ride and goof off for awhile. Best time to ride is an early morning weekday, when there aren't too many riders and dog walkers out there.

Maybe one day i'll actually fit knobbies on the ol' Tarkus again... maybe.