Today, I completed the longest bike ride that I’ve ridden in 9 years! When I finally returned home, I'd ridden 52.3 miles. Today’s ride also put me above the 1,200 mile mark for 2019. It was a grand and glorious weather day in Chicagoland, and I knew that this would be the perfect day for a long ride. On the bicycle bridge over Irving Park Road in Wood Dale, I watched airplanes on approach to O'Hare pass directly over my head. My route took me south to the Great Western Trail, east to Villa Park, then north along the Salt Creek Trail, the Busse Woods Trail, and west through Schaumburg, Streamwood, and Hanover Park. I started riding at 10:22 a.m., reached the Great Western Trail at 10:57, reached the 7-Eleven in Villa Park (to buy sports drink and water) at 11:35 (13.5 miles) and resumed riding at 11:50. The Salt Creek Trail was closed near the St. Charles Road bridge, so I took Monterey Avenue (a parallel road) instead. I reached the Irving Park Road bridge at 12:30 p.m., passed along the line of electrical towers in Itasca at 12:43, left the trail part of the Salt Creek Trail at 12:45, passed the 25 mile mark in Elk Grove at 1:06, reached the Busse Woods loop at 1:10, left the Busse Woods loop at 1:47 (32.0 miles), reached the 40 mile mark on Weathersfield Way at 2:40, reached the 50 mile mark at the junction of the Mallard Lake and Hawk Hollow Trails at 3:39, and returned home at 3:55. I experienced some problems with my calf muscles (particularly left) but performing stretching exercises every few miles got me through. Skies were mostly sunny - partly cloudy with a temperature of 72 - 75 and light - moderate ESE winds.