Day 6 Princeton to Naperville – Phil Graham of Team Canada
First of all, who knew Illinois had hills??? I came to this Tour expecting corn fields and soybeans, and miles and miles of flat. Instead I found hills, history, scenery, and lots of corn fields, soybeans and miles and miles of flat. It has been great, and I’ve been asked to summarize Day 6, Princeton to Naperville, on behalf of Team Canada. This year we were fewer in number, but strong in character with me, Warren Hoselton, Marian Makar, and in support, Joanna Nakeff.
After a challenge ride on Day 5 that lived up to its name with 110 miles of headwinds, and the “regular” ride that was almost as tough, it was a tired crowd that gathered in front of the AmericInn in Princeton under threatening skies to roll out on the fourth near-century ride in a row. Escorted by the local police, and the local trolley driver Coach Kizer who adopted the Tour as his own, we headed into the rain to City County Park for a tree dedication. Team Canada’s own Warren took on the ceremonial duties, and added some Canadian embellishments, including the famous “the roots, the roots, the roots are on fire” chant. With references to the great Canadian Beaver, he brought the international spirit to the tree dedications.
We had an 81-mile day to lunch, which is extraordinary, but fried chicken at the rest breaks carried us all through in style. And the weather cleared up, except for one scary looking system that brewed up mid-morning. It looked the opening scene of The Wizard of Oz, and the winds scattered the group I was riding in all over the road, but the winds passed as quickly as they came. Then the sun came out and the temperature climbed. And climbed. Lunch in the air conditioned Village Grind coffee shop in Oswego was a great relief from the heat, and Oswego Cyclery was a great host. The best part of the 81-mile ride to lunch was the fact that we only had 20 miles to go to the end of the day’s ride, which included a tree dedication in the TREE Fund’s home town of Naperville, at their beautiful Riverwalk Park.
I’d like to say that I hammered all day and rolled in first, but in reality we rode in much larger groups today and kept a steady but strong pace, and all rolled in together. You might say that it was because we were all tired after a tough day the day before, but in truth we were neutralizing the peleton to protest the obviously biased course officiating (right Joanna!) that say a certain fast rider disqualified in Stage 2 for going off route. Of course, this was after the very same official told me, or should I say “that anonymous fast rider,” to turn left at Bell School Road. That and a litany of other pretty sketchy official rulings just put the peleton in a rebellious mood.
Day 6 is also the last full day of the Tour, with the celebratory ride into the ISA Field Day tomorrow. Our dinner at the Morton Arboretum was a chance for us all to reminisce over the week’s adventures, recognize standout accomplishments like Dick Rideout’s first century since his accident (and then his second and third), and to start thinking about next year.
As usual, it has been a slice. From Team Canada, thanks for a great STIHL Tour des Trees.
