Ride to River Forest

I rode the cinder path along the Des Plaines River through fields and old growth forest. There was mud and the fallen leaves made for slippery riding. I crossed the tracks. I lost the trail and recovered it. A fat nerd on a recumbent called out to me, asking what was I riding. I explained and he said his friend wanted one. His friend had cerebral palsy. I did not ask how someone with cerebral palsy could operate a biycle. I wanted the fat nerd to go away. He charged ahead of me and looked back for my acknowledgement. He slowed, fell behind me, and continued to talk to me. I ignored the nerd. "Watch this!" he yelled and powered down a hill and up the other side, turning to wait for me at the top. "I have to go home now," he said when I reached him.

The light was still strong when I reached the Frank Lloyd Wright homes in River Forest. On the way back I road the Des Plaines River Road. There was none of the beauty of the forest and the river and the leaves, but the wind was behind me and the asphalt was fast. If you can ride hard enough, and keep your head down, all that is ugly you do not see.

93km.

www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/sets/72157622766473758/

Ride Around Milwaukee

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church at 9400 West Congress Street, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright, 1956.

77km ride through Milwaukee.

More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/sets/72157622126225790/

Eyeballs Out

Unity Temple at 861 Lake Street. Completed 1906.

Nathan G Moore House at 333 Forest Avenue. Completed 1895.

To Oak Park, IL to see many Frank Lloyd Wright houses.
102km.

Eyeballs out, all the way.

More pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/sets/72157621930604032/

Ride to Glore and Vanderkloot Houses

Herbert F Glore House at 170 North Mayflower Road, Lake Forest, IL
Frank Lloyd Wright architect, finished 1951

William J Vanderkloot Bungalow at 231 Prospect Ave, Lake Bluff, IL
Frank Lloyd Wright architect, finished 1916

From the pictures I had seen I was very much looking forward to seeing the Glore House. Unfortunately, the summer growth was too thick to get a good look and I shall have to return in the fall or winter. But the house being built above a deep cut streambed was spectacular enough. You can just make out some of the house through the trees from the bridge over the cut.

Ride of 63km.

Fallingwater at Bear Run, PA

Frank Lloyd Wright architect, finished 1934.

These pictures are from a Miami-New York-Chicago drive done in late winter, before the water moved.

Ride to Baldwin, Hebert, Irving and O'Connor Houses

JJ O'Connor House

James B Irving House

Hiram Baldwin House

Hebert Property, 1300-02 Davis Street

Ride of 88km.

More photos from this ride at http://www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/

Ride to Brown, Hanney and Hebert Houses

Hebert Property, 1308 Asbury Avenue

Hanney and Son House

Charles A Brown House

A W Hebert House

Ride of 88km.

More photos from this ride at http://www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/

At Edmund F Brigham House

Edmund F Brigham House at 790 Sheridan Road, Glencoe, IL.
Frank Lloyd Wright architect, completed 1915.
Ride of 31km (same ride as Ravine Bluffs below)

Before I rode, Leonard the baker gave me pastries and told me how to beat a DUI case. It is a marvelous routine told to him by a Chicago judge and it made me wish to get back to the drinking if only to test it out. On the roads there were cyclists dressed like heroes from comic books riding lightweight machines used in racing competitions. While shooting pictures on Sheridan Road one of these brightly dressed men stopped and was worried I had flatted. No sir, I haven't. I appreciated his concern for my welfare. My bicycle seemed to confuse him and he rode along. At Glencoe Beach a man called Ivan approached me and had many questions about folding bikes. He talked to me of carbon fiber. I admitted I knew nothing of the substance. How much did my bike weigh? I did not think that was an appropriate question. It was like meeting a girl and within a few minutes asking her how much her breasts cost. Could he pick the bike up? Would you ask her if you could touch them? Ivan left.

Mathias and his wife and little children next introduced themselves. Knowing less about bicycles they were very pleasant to speak with. Mathias was from Pennsylvania and they were soon moving back to Philadelphia. I had lived there once and done good work there and I told them and we were happy to talk of things we both understood. Then we spoke knowingly of cheesesteaks and we became even a little happier. We wished each other luck and feeling hungry for something I could not ever find anywhere in Chicago I rode away. There are more pictures from this ride at http://www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/

At Ravine Bluffs Housing Development

J M Compton House

Sherman Booth House

S J Gilfillan House

Ride to Ravine Bluffs Housing Development at Glencoe, IL.

Compton, Booth, and Gilfillan Houses by Frank Lloyd Wright, completed 1915.

Ride of 31km (same ride as Bigham House).

More pictures from this ride at http://www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/

Not The Ride I Wanted

I do not think I found what I was looking for. There were office parks for credit card and chemical companies and then the massive homes on smaller lots-- that next year and next decade they will look at and be disgusted by and the children will ask them why they built them. The parents will know but be too embarassed to say. On a dirt road beyond a heavy gate I could just see a house through the trees. I am not sure this was the house I was looking for. I will try for the house again, another way, from another road, from another direction. There were, however, wonderful trees and the roads were fast and a white bicycle rides just a little faster. The clicking of a Sturmey Archer is a music you do not tire of. On each ride there is the remarkable.

23km

At George Madison Millard House

George Madison Millard House at 1689 Lake Avenue,

Highland Park, IL.

Frank Lloyd Wright architect, finished 1906.

Ride 26km (same ride as Adams House)
More pictures from this ride at www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree

At Mary M W Adams House

Mary M W Adams House at 1923 Lake Avenue, Highland Park, IL.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, finished 1905.

26km ride (also saw Millard House on this ride).

More pictures from this ride at www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree

At John O Carr House

I had read the John O Carr House could only sometimes be seen from the street in winter, and then only when the tree cover and brush were cut back. There was very little of the house visible when I went to it. But when you are traveling by bicycle, especially on an old English bicycle that you have carefully reconstructed yourself, there can only be successful trips.

John O Carr House at 1544 Portage Run, Glenview, IL.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, finished 1950.
19km ride.

More pictures from this ride at http://www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/

At Ward W Willits House

Ward W Willits House at 1445 Sheridan Road, Highland Park, IL.

Frank Lloyd Wright architect, finished 1901.

24km ride.

More pictures from this ride at http://www.flickr.com/photos/moralinefree/