Day 6 - Apple River IL to Genoa IL

Saturday June 16, 2001, 108 miles (174 km) - Total so far: 448 miles (721 km)Left Apple Valley at around 7:00 a.m. - Cool and Sunny today! Went by Apple River Canyon S.P. shortly after and went for a short hike on a trail that ended up running up close to the park campground. I rode the county "backroads" paralleling U.S. 20 till I reached Lena IL, ate a good breakfast, nice farm town. Good tailwind made Freeport IL close to noon. Went into a library downtown to look up info on the Pecatonia Prairie path. Apparently it is still under development, I stopped a bicycle shop and nobody knew anything of it there either. After searching for a trailhead I headed out of town on a county road, got my bearings and decided to follow the "backroads" bypassing Rockford IL angling Southeast along S.R. 72 towards Elgin IL. Stopped for the night at Russell Woods Forest Preserve.