I left Geneseo with sunny skies and a light west wind and pleasantly cool temperatures. The trail wound its way through the countryside and surrounded me with constant water at my side and shade from a belt of trees. It was a lovely ride and the miles just flew by. The trail was very flat as expected. But it ran out at the little hamlet of Bureau. I had to ride a very short section of state highway but thankfully it was deserted. There were a few hills as I went through several little towns via back roads and streets. In Spring Valley I finally stopped for the first break of the day around the halfway point, at a Subway. They were pretty fast despite being busy and I had a good window view of my bike from inside, always an important consideration. I continued on, grabbed a couple things at the Dollar General, and rode on to Peru, then La Salle. I wound my way through the industrial part passing all sorts of interesting plants by the river, both new and abandoned. I found the start of the Illinois and Michigan canal trail pretty easily. The trail was hard packed dirt and pea gravel Once I got out of town was singletrack through the grass but it was fast rolling. Only a little bit of mud. I had to stop a few times for dead trees across the path from the storms yesterday. I passed a few primitive campsites along the trail but decided to push on to my planned end. Just before the town of Morris, the trail actually dead ended at a creek without a bridge so I had to divert on streets which was fine. I jumped back onto the trail in time to see a huge barge on the Illinois River heading towards Chicago. I pushed on and found McKinley Woods, and after a little confusion, I found the camping area, just a few simple primitive sites with tables and fire rings, and apparently free because despite looking all over the place, including the handy information board at the parking lot, I couldn't find anything about a fee. And actually this is a fantastic site. Other than the mosquitoes which are quite bad. There's no nearby road or rail line and the dominant sound is crickets and owls. It is quite industrial around but tucked away in these little woods and with the giant river right there, you'd never know.