Grand Illinois Trail

My bicycle and tent have been complaining of neglect more and more loudly at the start of each week so i'm caving into the pressure and taking them out on the trail for a week. I'll leave Lockport (just north of Joliet) tomorrow morning and spend 8 days pedaling around the northern part of the state. It's supposed to be a little over 500 miles long, with 200 of that on paved roads and the rest on packed gravel trails, but i'm cutting out the eastern swing through the city of Chicago.

(info, pdf guide, map)

My current plan is:
Day 1: Starved Rock State Park near LaSalle
Day 2: Campground north of Sheffield
Day 3: Campgound north of Port Byron on the Mississippi River
Day 4: Mississippi Palisades State Park north of Savannah
Day 5: Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park in Lena
Day 6: Rock Cut State Park in Rockford
Day 7: Somewhere in McHenry, as yet unknown
Day 8: Long ride south from McHenry — McHenry, Crystal Lake, Elgin, Naperville, Romeoville, home.

Where the "true" trail would go east from Elgin into Chicago, then south along the lake, before turning back west to Joliet, i seen no sense in being a target for goofballs looking for a new bike and willing to take mine... so i'm avoiding the city altogether.

A few of the days are around 55 miles, but it seems that most of them will be between 65 & 70 miles.