Lake County, IL has reportedly over 550 miles of connected trails and bikeways. (I’m stunned by that figure…until writing this post, I knew the number of available trails is impressive, but hadn’t looked up how impressive until just now. Amazing.)

22 years ago my parents bought me a Schwinn Sidewinder bicycle. (I was going to link to one, but I didn’t have any luck finding a decent image. Go figure.) I was a grown man without a dime of disposable income and my folks knew I always liked riding a bike.

It moved with me, from house to apartment to townhouse to house again, from city to suburbs. For most of its remaining days, it didn’t get much use. It was beat up and dusty, with stretched cables, brittle brake pads, sprung rims, and Swiss cheese tires.

I had managed over the last few years to get the old Schwinn out on a few trails, but it really was a beast by modern standards. I envied nicer bikes, but never so much that I was ready to spend the cash.

That ended this past April, when I somewhat spontaneously (I had done some research the last few summers, plus for a couple weeks before I shopped, but I really did pull the trigger suddenly) bought a Trek from a local shop.

Like the Nikon D3000, I wanted entry level with a solid reputation. So, I picked the Trek FX 7.2 (in Waterloo Blue). Bike shop owner confirmed it was a good choice for LC trails.

That bike was AWESOME, considering what I was used to. But I quickly discovered that the Lake County trails I was riding were rougher than I remembered…and, apparently rougher than the shop owner remembered. I put about 60 miles on the FX…then took advantage of the 30-day policy and went back to the shop.

This time around I swapped over to a dual sport (and, bumped it up a classification to take advantage of better tires, and few other features that felt like a solid upgrade) and picked up a Trek DS 8.3.

I also bought an Ibera PakRak Mini Commuter carrier rack and quick-release bag, which fits a camera with attached lens—even the 250mm—quite nicely.

Of course I wear a helmet. I enjoy life too damn much to NOT wear a helmet for any activity that is much faster than a brisk walk. And as my eyes are usually wandering all over the place—taking in the trees, clouds, blue skies, wildflowers and occasional wildlife—I need that helmet.

It’s nearly mid-September and while I haven’t ridden as much as I would have liked…I’ve ridden far more than I did the last 5 years or even more—combined. With a few weeks left of autumn, I’m looking forward to packing in a few more miles.