Ride #19 - Biking with Google

A bridge on the Interurban trail. 7/24/26 dwm

My second day in Springfield, I planned to ride all or part of three bike paths - the Interurban, Wabash, and Sangamon Valley trail.

Just looking at the map of Springfield on the computer helped but I was hoping to find signage along the way.

Interurban was the closest path and I noticed that it appeared to start near MacArthur Blvd. and Stanford Ave., which I traveled Thursday. That's where I saw a sign indicating where the Interurban went, but there weren't many other signs after the first.

Looking at my phone came early and often; I'd get off the bike and use the Maps app to learn where I was and if I was headed where I expected to go. If there were bicyclists around, I asked for advice. The first biker I stopped turned out to be doing a solo ride east on the old route of U.S. Highway 66. He described following the path a long way, which matched the map I studied online.

A well-manicured section of the Interurban. 7/24/26 dwm

You can ride all the way to Chatham, a community south of Springfield following the Interurban trail. Years ago, Illinois had more than 40 fossil-fueled or electric trains connecting small towns to bigger ones.

I recall dad telling me about riding an interurban train to get to the University of Illinois in Champaign.

Most went out of business as Interstates and local highways made it easier to drive than take the train.

I've only been on four paths like this in Illinois, but I am surprised there weren't more businesses along the trails. Railroads usually had water stops every six miles and towns would grow around the depots, but not with interurban.

The old Chatham depot. 7/24/26 dwm

The interurban trail may be extended in the future, but for now the paved path ends at Goldenrod Road on the south side of Chatham.

I stopped at a convenience store just off Main Street where I bought snacks and a bottle of water.

The clerk told me how to find the end of the path.

The path picked up a block south where I took some pictures of the train depot that is now serving as a museum.

I turned around at Goldenrod, heading to Springfield to find the Wabash Path.

Part of Lake Springfield from the trail. 7/24/26 dwm

While the Interurban became a bicycle trail years ago, there are two sets of railroad tracks less than twenty feet from the cyclists, runners, and walkers.

I crossed the bridge over a portion of Lake Springfield but a few seconds later I heard a whoosh in the distance, a few seconds later an Amtrak passenger train flashed past at (I'm guessing now) more than 70 miles per hour. It was impressive.

Before I finished the Interurban trail, I thought I confirmed where to get on the Wabash path. What I thought was the answer was literally a dead-end.

I asked the next bicyclist where to go and followed her directions. Part of the issue was that Stanford Avenue, which I used three times already on rides, magically turned into Wabash Avenue at MacArthur Boulevard, which I was on the way before.

The Wabash part is right. 7/24/26 dwm

I was only on Wabash Avenue for two blocks before seeing the start of the three-mile Wabash Path. I
didn't see for myself how or where Interurban and the Wabash Path met, but that's what the sign said.

The Wabash was a straight line until it stopped at Robbins Road. After looking at my phone for a while, I took a couple of streets back to where I was on Wabash Avenue, then followed it to Bunker Hill Road where I found Centennial Park which is where I got on the Sangamon (name of the county where Springfield is located) Valley Trail (SVT).

You may recall several paragraphs earlier I mentioned buying a bottle of water at a convenience store in Chatham. That bottle was empty after filling the new one I placed in the new cage I bought the day before (see Sunday's blog).

My starting point on the S.V.T.

By this time I had been looking for a refill of water and get another snack for the back-pack. (I should have stopped sooner, but with all the houses near the trails, I expected to find a gas station somewhere.)

The SVT is beautiful. I joined it in Centennial Park less than a half-mile from where the path started. My plan was to ride the SVT until it ended at Irwin Bridge Road then turn around and get off the trail at Washington Street and the ride back to downtown Springfield.

When the trail crossed high above Washington Street, I realized there was no intersection. In fact, I didn't see any place to leave the trail and back-track to Washington Street. That changed my priorities. It was more important to get bottle of water than reach the 13-mile mark at the end of the Sangamon Valley trail.

A bridge on the S.V.T. 7/24/2026 dwm

When I saw a sign pointing to Stuart Park, a half-mile off the trail, I took it, hoping to find someone selling bottles of water. I saw a mountain biker unloading his ride and asked where I could get one.

He explained there weren't stores nearby, I'd either need to ride three miles into town or up and around the airport where I would find a Shell station. He thought that was closer, so I headed that way, but a half-mile up the road, I decided food and water were top priority.

I took Winch Road south to Jefferson Street where I turned left. I crossed Veterans Parkway, then a mile or two down the road I found a Walgreen's where I bought a 24-ounce bottle of water, took several swallows, then filled the bottle on the bike. It was delicious and I felt my body respond fast.

From there I headed downtown from the north west, riding around the current state capitol, then down 5th Street where I found the Cozy Dog Drive In, a restaurant that was in its hey-day when Route 66 was taking hundreds of cars a day past its doors on the way from Chicago to Los Angeles.

The Cozy Drive In. 7/24/2026 dwm

It was what I was looking for, a roadside diner with a big menu. It's known for its cozy dogs, known as corn dogs in Wisconsin, but it does burgers and pork tenderloins as well.

As thirsty as I was, I was hungry, eating almost every inch of the tenderloin before it was time to finish the ride and return to our temporary home at the Holiday Inn Express.

There was no bike computer on the trip. My speed was in the 14 to 15 mph range all day. After putting together three trails plus the miles across town and in between the three bike paths, I estimate this trip at 53 miles.