With food in our bellies firing our motivation, we cross the state line and head to our next destination, North Aurora, IL. We enjoy the trails through a long string of three wood preserves before picking up the pace to Springs at Orchard Road. Along the way we had many Aurora natives compare us to George Hood. “Who is that?” you might ask. He was on a mission similar to ours and set the record for the longest time spent on a spin bike – a whopping 222 hours, 22 minutes and 22 seconds! We don’t plan on beating that record or sitting on a stationary bike for over nine days, but his dedication makes our first 145 miles sound like a breeze. We finally hit our endpoint of this leg and meet three veterans from Aurora that received the Presidential Medal of Honor, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, for their service in World War II and Vietnam. We are humbled to hear their stories and it solidifies we chose a great charity to partner with, the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight.
Our three-seater provides an easy 30 mile ride to Springs at Weber Road in Romeoville, IL, also known as “Romeo” in honor of the Shakespearean hero and planned as a romantic twin city for nearby Juliet. What a great idea! Juliet eventually changed its name to Joliet in honor of a famous explorer and Romeo accepted the busted romance and became “Romeoville.” All of this Shakespeare talk makes us hungry for a feast. We stop to see what all the hype is about at White Fence Farm for “The World’s Greatest Chicken” before we embark on our longest trek yet to our next destination, Cincinnati. We hop on our bike and leave satisfied knowing we just had the healthiest fried chicken you can eat!
Special thanks to guest bikers "Steel Quads" Meier and Kelly Koenig. Now off we go - next stop: Springs at Liberty Township!
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
