Early Season 300K

A nice early season route courtesy of Doug McLerran. Enough climbing to make progress on your early season fitness but not so much that you won’t enjoy the ride!

Starting in Ottawa IL, you’ll share the first 31 miles of this route with the 151k riders. After that, you’ll head south to the towns of Dwight and Odell, where you’ll see both the original (1926-46) and the “modern” (1946-1978) alignments of Route 66. The open Control in Odell has both a convenience store and a good café if you’d like a sit-down meal (café is closed from 2-4pm). The wind turbines will provide a reminder that although this area is relatively flat, wind can be a factor, so riding with others in a paceline will save you a considerable amount of energy. You’ll then begin to notice more hills and trees as you head northwest to Granville, then as you head back east thru Tonica, there is a Caseys that is not a Control, but is a recommended stop since it’s the last convenient place for food/water before arriving back in Ottawa 40 miles later. After Tonica, you’ll ride toward Leonore then on County 5 for 3 miles to cross the Vermillion river, since the preferred crossing into Farm Ridge is being rebuilt. Then north to rejoin the route taken by the 150k riders – an iconic Illinois cycling road, the winding/climby road through Starved Rock State Park made famous by the Starved Rock Classic road race and countless bike tours. The hills are short but a few are 11-12%. The Starved Rock Lodge/restaurant at mile 170 is a Control but closes 9pm (after that take a photo) Then you’ll cross the river on the bike path on the newly reconstructed Hwy 178 bridge, then back east to Ottawa to visit the site of the Lincoln-Douglas debates just before the finish. This ride is an ACP 300k Brevet and counts toward ACP awards such as the ACP Super Randonneur.

Here are the details:

ACP sanctioned, 303K, 4,000 feet of climbing, ridewithgps route here
Brevet card here

Registration closed.

Note that there will be no day of ride registration – advance registration is mandatory!

Your registration is not complete until your completed waiver and PayPal payment is received.