2008 Year in Review

GITAP Arrives in Morrison

GITAP riders began pedaling into town around noon on Friday. Morrison was their final night of the tour. GITAP riders spent the night at Morrison-Rockwood State Park. The Friends of the Park provided food and entertainment for the participants.

The 2008 Grand Illinois Trail and Parks (GITAP) ride began Sunday, June 15 at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon. The 300-mile trek brought the bikers through beautiful northern Illinois on its sixth annual weeklong tour.

For GITAP-08, the bicycle riders returned to one of their favorite routes, although the start/finish location – near Dixon – was new. The ride on the prairies and undulating hills of northwest Illinois brought them to overnight at three state parks and one college campus. For a map of the 2008 tour see GITAP 2008.

Chuck Oestreich, chairman of the event, states, “The Grand Illinois Trail and Parks ride has great admiration for both Morrison and the state park, staying overnight at the park for four out of the six-year’s history. We—and that includes people from all over America (17 different states last year) – have enjoyed your community’s hospitality and assistance whenever we have stayed at the park. In particular, the Friends of the Parks has helped to make our stay the most enjoyable of all those on our overnight list.”

The group ended their tour on Saturday, June 21 at Sauk Valley College.

by Dawn Zuidema, theCity1.com
June 24, 2008