Illinoistocht

With summer fast approaching, time for an update on the conditions of the Hennepin Canal trail and the I&M Canal trail.  As always, for the most current update, contact the respective offices of the the Illinois DNR (see the links page).
Not too much has yet changed from last year's update.

For the Hennepin, work on the two sections that were closed last season is progressing.  On the west end, a little east of Colona to about Lock 26, is impassable and closed while on the east end, from approximately Bridge 4 to Lock 3, is closed.  

For the I&M, two of the three washouts have been fixed, but there is still a closure just east of Utica.  There is also another issue with the trail, and this is a no trespassing zone (no "cyclocrossing"!), and so users will need to exit the trail at Utica and use surface streets and rejoin the trail at Buffalo Rock park (or vice versa if heading west). 

A little video from Stage 3 of the AMGEN Tour of California.   This is at the summit of Tunitas Creek Rd. just before Skyline Blvd.  (This is at the ridgeline of the coastal hills, at about 2000 ft. / 610m, west of Stanford University on the peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose, CA).  There was a nearby KOM point where the slope was greater, making for better race viewing, but I arrived fairly late so I just took a place here at the summit (where the slope was tapering off).  There was a little bit of a steady rain near this point in the race which then was a steady drizzle with the redwood trees dropping the moisture on the spectators.   Most of the course was dry but I'd kind of planned on watching it here.  Oh well. 

Notice how the three riders in the breakaway are pedaling hard while, given the grade is beginning to flatten here (after about 2000 ft. of climb up from the coastal road), many in the peleton are able to soft pedal.  These particular breakaway riders were caught; however, later in the stage, a three person breakaway did get and stay away, with Dave Zabriskie taking the stage win.  Zabriskie won last year's Tour of Missouri, which may not be held this year unless it receives further support, see here.

While its biking season for some of us, others are skating a lot.  While the focus for inline skaters tends to be shorter races, after training for an Elfstedentocht and logging a lot of miles in inline skates, I wondered where the longest paved multi-use trail was in the USA.  There are many bike trails and converted rail trails now in the US, but many of these are crushed limestone (suitable for wider, hybrid or mountain bike tires) but fewer paved trails (and even fewer trails with smooth pavement, but that's a more subjective judgment that requires first-hand observation). 

A few paved multi-use trails come to mind for being long paved trails, here's a partial list:

Silver Comet (near Atlanta, GA)    61 miles (98 km)
Chief Ladiga Trail (AL)                   33 miles (53 km) (note it connects to the Silver Comet trail) 
Little Miami Scenic Trail (OH)       78 miles (126 km)
   (like several of these, part of a larger network of trails)
Mesabi Trail (MN)                            75 miles (121 km)
Central Lakes Trail (MN)               55 miles (89 km) 
Lake Wobegon Trail (MN)             62 miles (100 km) (connects to Central Lakes)
Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes (ID)    72 miles (116 km)
Iron Horse Trail (CA)                      33 miles (53 km)

Please send any thoughts or comments -- I'm probably missing at least a few great, paved trails and I don't know what the texture of the pavement is.  "Paved multi-use trail" can mean a lot of things, from super-smooth "black ice" to rough, almost gravel-like pavement.  Also, several trails have added extensions or additional paved mileages so this list may shortly be out-of-date.   Finally, I'd never want to say which trail is the "longest", because, like amusement park claims about the _____-est roller coaster, there is a lot of room for variation given that some of the trails connect, others may have short gaps in the paved sections, or some other qualification.