Originally posted Monday, August 18, 2014 on the River Blog, this excerpt is reprinted here with permission from Scott Hays. As much as I enjoy kayaking and canoeing, I also enjoy cycling the Sangamon Valley’s bike paths and county roads as they weave their way through forests, prairies, cornfields and crisscrossing the Sangamon River all the way. One of my favorite routes picks up the Lake of the Woods Bike Path at its eastern terminus at Prairieview Road and then I ride the trail west. This 3.3 mile trail is, in my humble opinion, one of our Sangamon Valley’s greatest assets. Riding this surprisingly hilly, curvy trail end to end takes me…