Join the 5th annual EBC multi-group Des Plaines River Trail Ride. Cyclists will meet at 9:00 am at the Potawatomi Woods Picnic Grove, Wheeling, IL on Dundee, just west of Portwine Road.
Gravel, mountain, or wide tire bikes suggested. Regardless of whether you pull a well used mountain bike out of storage or have a new-ish carbon fiber gravel bike, this should be a fun ride.
A lunch option is the Cafe in Independence Grove. However, while this is a lovely spot to eat lunch, the Cafe opens at 11:00 AM and is slow to produce hot items. So, riders may wish to bring their own food and purchase a beverage and/or ice cream to keep the line moving. Cafe menu link: https://www.lcfpd.org/assets/1/7/2025_Cafe_Menu_.pdf
The groups will leave at fairly tight intervals, starting from Fast Plus through Moderate. The idea is that if a rider is a bit overly ambitious about the group they decide to start with, they have the option of slow pedaling until the Moderate group catches up with them.
Ride leaders: Moderate - Peter Glaser, Fast - Tim Weaver, Fast Plus - Randy Pickard.
TheTravel.com named the Des Plaines River Trail the 9th most beautiful trail in the U.S.
https://www.thetravel.com/most-beautiful-rail-trails-in-the-us/#des-plaines-river-trail---illinois
Don't miss this ride on the spectacular trail in our backyard.
After last night's rain, the Des Plaines River is only a few feet below of flood stage, three of the underpasses are closed, and the trail is muddy. However, the weather forecast shows only a minimal chance of rain between now and our Saturday ride. So the DPRT should dry out. And we can detour around any underpasses that are still closed.
We will inspect the trail on Friday afternoon. While we're optimistic that it will have dried out by then, if it is too muddy for a comfortable ride, an email will be sent out by 5:30 pm on Friday updating the status of the ride.