It had been about 10 years since I hung out with my good friends I met in Charleston, IL. I graduated EIU in ’98 and got busy with my career. It was long over due but good friends found their way back together. We all used to ride on some very technical trails on the north side of Lake Charleston. Most of us on rigid bikes, me on my burnt orange, matte finish 1995 Fisher Kaitai. (yes, no Gary in the name yet though Trek had purchased them. Last year of ¼ headtube) Please let me know if you have a pic as this is the best I can find.

I’ll never forget bombing down the single track and catching air on the roots and rocks. It was always a toss up between being the first down the trail and cutting the spider webs with our face. There were some nasty climbs and decents, sand, dirt and rock. It was like the Buffalo Range (RIP) out of bounds area of mountain biking.

Anyway, back in those days no one had a cell phone and in some rare cases someone had a disposable camera their mom bought them over Chirstmas break. We have a few dozen pics of all 3 years of school and 3 times that many from the recent ride on the Palos bike trails. Doyle With Cheese also put together a killer video using clips from my iPhone and his digital camera.

Warning, this footage makes us look cooler than we are LOL.

Check out CAMBR.org for more information on the Palos Trail system.