Cycling Sisters

Come ride on a nearby Rail-to-Trail conversion through the far South suburbs. The Old Plank Road was originally a Native American trail that was converted around 1852 into a 'plank road' (literally a road made of wooden planks), to allow early settlers to get their goods to market. By 1855, the plank road had been converted into a railroad. In 1911 an interurban trolley was built in parallel to the RR on the same right-of-way. After hard times for the railroads from the end of WWII through the early 70s, the Joliet Cutoff (as the Old Plank Road was known) was abandoned. It took 20 years of hard-fought advocacy, but eventually the Old Plank Road Trail was opened in 1997.

Today, the OPRT is a lovely and historic green ribbon through the farm fields and rapidly suburbanizing regions of Chicago's southland. There is a lovely wetland toward the beginning of the ride. Wildlife and native wildflowers make this ride quite scenic for most of the route; you may wish to bring a camera or binoculars.

The route is fairly level and straight, and completely off-road--great for a casual ride or for inexperienced cyclists. You can choose to ride either 10 miles (with ice cream in Frankfurt, mid-route) or you can ride the full 30 mile loop into Joliet and back.

Meet at 10 am at Target. Bring money for snacks and be sure to have water with you.

contact person: Jane Healy (repto at aol dot com)
day of event cell phone--708-308-8662

The ride will start at the parking lot of Target in Matteson (just S. of Lincoln Mall). Exit I-57 at Lincoln Highway (east). Travel about 1 mile to Cicero. Turn South and travel a few blocks to the Target. The OPRT is just N. of the parking lot. Look for cars/vans with bike racks to know where to park.