Two wheels. Two brakes. Two pedals. A few chains. A frame of steel. These are the fundamental aspects of any bike. These parts, put together in the right way, define a bike. But to me, my bike has a different definition. My bike defines the adventurous part of me, the part that wants to go explore, to go far and away. And so I will bring you along on one of my few trips, one of my explorations of the small town of Naperville.
Our journey begins on the blocked concrete of the driveway of my house. I fill my bricky black backpack with two protein bars and my metal stainless steel water bottle. The bag is almost weightless, but the simple act of wearing it makes me feel almost limitless, prepared for any situation. I climb onto my bike, push my hair back in my weathered Champion ball cap, and stand up pushing all my weight onto the limited surface area of the two tiny pedals.
I churn away down the driveway and hit the familiar lip separating the concrete from asphalt, going straight onto the road. I glide down from the end of the court to the opening. I make a turn straight out to the main road and stop right before the intersection. For some reason, I always find this latter straightaway harder than the initial one out of my court despite the similar length. While I am always annoyed by this slight inconsistency, it provides a reassuring tone to the rest of the ride.
I look side to side and quickly cross the street when there are no cars. The next mile or so just consists of following the sidewalk I have landed on, passing by many houses just touching the busy road. Near the end, right before the road ends, appears a declined hill. I switch my gear up, hearing the familiar click, and let myself coast. As I speed down, I embrace the wind in my face, which blows the tiny strands of hair sticking out of my hat. The hill comes to an end, and now emerging on my right is a paved trail surrounded by forestry.
The trail, about a mile to downtown Naperville, projects beauty at every moment. The initial section is almost completely encapsulated by trees, with sunlight seemingly angrily fighting its way through. I pass through, and come to the next section, where the trees open up to a view of the DuPage river. Today, the scene is almost straight out of a coming-of-age movie, with three story houses bordering the river and the sun shining right above. I smile at the sight, and bike right back into the familiar shrouding trees of the first section. The paved path eventually ends, leading to a residential area which brings me almost right to downtown Naperville.
I enter the glowing streets of downtown and make my usual twists and turns to exit as quickly as I enter. The time I spend there is short, as I go to visit Naperville Central. Today school was off because of a power outage, but only at our school, so a crowd of students were waiting for their buses to arrive. They remind me of my days as a freshman when I took the bus, which brings both a sense of nostalgia and recency. However, I quickly grow bored of the mundane sight, and continue on away from the school.
I enter another neighborhood on a downhill straightaway. When it levels off I take a sharp right into a path bordering the same river I had passed earlier on. This path faces parallel to the river. It leads right into a beautiful green grassy prairie full of life and small animals. With the bright sun of that day it seems almost surreal until it eventually ends not long after. The remaining path brings me back to sidelining the river but now in much more wild and natural scenery. The route barely is visible, only consisting of a faded dirt path. The dirt path then allows me to exit between two houses, back into another familiar residential area.
The residential area is quite large, and takes me some time to leave it. I then decide to go to Target to window shop for some time. I felt a little bit tired at this point, so when I arrive at the store I feel relieved. I yank the zipper on my backpack to snatch the water bottle I had stashed. Each gulp I drink of water brings sensations of relief and relaxation. Afterwards I enter the store, with the cold air hitting my face like the wind previously did. The store is a change of pace, and I take my time to just view all the products on offer. After some time, I felt the need to get back on my bike, and so I left to do just that.
Away I leave, and to Naperville North I go to visit. It was stunningly mundane, besides the typical sports teams practicing. My boredom took over and told me to depart and away I went towards my home. I take the route I usually take when driving home from school. Over the train tracks, past the graveyards, by the supermarket, and finally reach home. Today’s expedition is over, but by the end I am exhausted and sweat covered, but more importantly satisfied. I am happy to see all these wonderful places in Naperville.
Great post, Justin! I love the DuPage River Trail. I’ve enjoyed seeing things from my bike as well since the pandemic started…glad you had a nice day off to enjoy a ride! 🙂
Hi Justin this was such an entertaining yet peaceful read! I absolutely love forest preserves and walking along trails, but I’ve never biked one before, nor, have taken the path along the DuPage River (or at least your specific route); however, you’ve convinced me to do so, especially with the captivating photo you added in the middle of your excerpt. I usually walk the forest preserves closer to my house, though, the most appealing adventure was my journey at knock knolls it was beautifully landscaped and they have great bike trails that you should try!! I’ve also loved my experience at St. James’ Farm, Mcdowell, and Whalon Lake Park particularly has such an aesthetically pleasing view of a part of the DuPage River, all places you must try out! & please let me know if you do 🙂
I also share your desire to travel far and away sometimes. I know for me at least, I want to go outside of the midwest for college to have an experience outside of what I know. Are the colleges you’re applying to reflective of the desire to explore? I love that you bring protein bars because I eat them daily. What kind do you eat? I love the Dupage River Trail. I have used the same part as you bike on as a cut through to go fishing in the forest preserve from the pond chain near the Buffalo Wild Wings. This brings back many fond memories with my friends, especially my friend Jacob who moved to Arizona. Some of my favorites are swimming in the river, going to the Commons pool late at night, swimming in my shorts, and Jacob catching a massive six pound bass. I remember at one point we had to wade through part of the river, knee deep in mud. We got out and I remember telling my mom on the phone how dirty we were. She said “I am bringing wipes and towels to pick you two up and you are both going to be spotless before getting in my car”.
Hi Justin!
This story is so beautiful yet so simple. I love how you can find so much inner peace and time for introspection on your bike rides. You take such a simple, everyday act and make it so personal, and that really reflects how much this experience means to you.
I also really liked your descriptions of the city of Naperville. It is such a standard, run of the mill, non-problematic town (save for the sometimes snobby citizenry), and because of that it has the potential to be so idyllic. Your descriptions of the DuPage River trail and the vast neighborhoods really encapsulate the side of Naperville that people often look past because of its mundanity. I hope the in the future your bike rides will lead you to more exploration and adventures! Thanks so much for sharing about this 🙂
Your fellow biking enthusiast,
Ella
Hi Justin, I enjoyed the imagery you used throughout this narrative. I’m somewhat familiar with the trail you took, and as you described it I could picture the scenes as you saw them. Hearing your description made me want to go biking along the same trail, so I could appreciate the sights and experience it firsthand. I like that you went on a bike ride with no real destination or end goal in mind, it was just for the sake of going on a journey. Sometimes I also feel the urge to go for a run or a drive to distract myself. I think it is very important for us to occasionally get away from the stressors of life, and sometimes that means literally removing ourselves from our working environment. Getting a breath of fresh air and exploring nature is a great way to ease our minds. Although it might seem like there is not enough time in the day to go for a bike ride sometimes, I believe that taking the time to take care of ourselves will pay off in the end, making us more productive and healthier.
Hi Justin, I really loved this read from you because of how peaceful it was. I love how you provided so many details on your rides and how each experience was different from the rest. I really enjoyed the imagery you used throughout this post as it allowed me to visualize the sun or the beautiful trees of the forest as you rode through them and to the river. I can also connect a lot to your experience as I have gone on bike rides with many friends through countless nature preserves and throughout Naperville. There is just this feeling of overwhelming emotions when I ride a bike through these places because it seems to be an inner peace and helps me get away from life for a little and being able to appreciate nature for what it is. It also sounds like you really enjoy biking and think its something that’s really fun to you. I hope you manage to keep on biking throughout this year and hopefully share some posts about cities nearby Naperville.
Hello, Justn. More often than not, people will try to right about the world. We often would focus on the big picture and miss the minute details that lies within our own backyards.
There’s always been something enchanting about going to the great outdoors, especially to really nice looking areas where no one is around, where everything is silent. Everyday, we are surrounded by noise, by other people’s words and thoughts penetrating our minds, influencing our thoughts, to the point where we can’t even tell if our ideas are our own or not. In silence, we are able to think clearly, efficiently, without any form of disturbance or interferance. Even if you are an atheist, you would have a hard time saying that this doesn’t soothe the soul.
When I joined a sport, I decided to join a sport where we were allowed to have the freedom that you had while biking. Often during cross country, I would run to wherever I wanted. There were no practical limitations, and I was able to go places where even your bike cannot reach. I have run through residential areas, streets, forests, parks, and fields. I’ve run in snow, I’ve run in rain. I’ve run through underbrush, alongside train tracks, and through rivers, regardless of day and night. Every single time, I could just feel that curiousity, that sensation of being alive, going to new places, seeing new sites. We all have a little bit of curiousity that we need to keep sated.
I love your writing style, and the pain and effort that awarded us with every nitty gritty detail about your trip. Thank you for sharing, and keep up the good work.