Petra and I are planning a fairly painless 1 day bike trip for sometime this summer. We have some friends that are avid cyclists as well as those who don’t ride much at all, and so we are hoping for a leisurely trip with a nice destination at the end that all of them can enjoy.

I found out about the North Branch Bike Trail from a friend and checked it out. It is a 15 mile bike path that takes you through forests, prairies, along a river and over bridges until it reaches it’s final destination; the beautiful Chicago Botanic Gardens. We are hoping to gather a group of about 8-12 friends and head out in the morning, have lunch in the gardens in the afternoon, take pictures, perhaps have a few drinks and then ride back in the late afternoon and be home by nightfall.

Petra and I wanted to check it out to make sure it wasn’t too difficult or long and also so that we would know what we were doing on the day of the trip and be able to time it out. This little day trip was a test run for us and also to be used as a marketing tool for our friends to hopefully get them interested in participating.

The weather was perfect. The shade of the forests was refreshing and the sun was beautiful. We even saw 3 deer including a big buck and 1 deer who practically ran into us on the trail! The trip was a complete success, except for the fact that the Botanic Gardens closes 2 days out of the year for a private party benefit, which just so happened to be the same day of our test run.

It was a bit disappointing to say the least.

We still had a great time anyway. Next time we might actually get to SEE the gardens with our friends, but that will be another blog entry soon to come.

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