This is the trip that started the trips around twenty years ago. I was raised in Peru and moved to Chicago, and still have relatives in Peru, so it's a natural destination for me - and a nice place to visit and a pleasant route. It's about 100 miles or so southwest of Chicago.
Twenty years ago (maybe longer, I forget!) I made the trip on a 3-speed bike in one day. Too short, no time to smell the flowers. I wore a long-sleeved shirt because I was afraid of sunburn. I took enough water to float a ship. I took the most direct route, along the highways that seemed to make up the shortest route. In short, I didn't know what I was getting into. I've learned a few things along the way, in other rides. The most important thing: take enough time to smell the flowers and stop along the way. It's now a two-day sojourn, I could stretch it into three days, if I really tried.
If you take the shortest route, it's about 106 miles. The longer route (described here) is around 130 miles. The basics: through the city to the near western 'burbs to the start of the Illinois Prairie Path. Take that west, to the Aurora-Elgin split in Wheaton. Follow the south leg to Aurora, then along the Fox River Path. Where that ends, take route 25 to Route 71 and south of Oswego take a couple of country roads to Morris, Illinois and join the Illinois-Michigan Canal route. Follow that about 40 miles, all the way off-road to LaSalle Illinois.
I followed this route pretty much in June of 2000. From my place on the northwest side of Chicago, it's about 16 miles to the start of the Illinois Prairie Path. Since I left the house at first light on Saturday around 5:00 AM, there wasn't a lot of traffic. On the way, I tried to find a path along the DesPlaines River indicated on the Chicagoland Bike Federation's bike map. I found it, south of Grand Avenue, but it was just a mud path. Worse, we'd been having rain, the river was near flood stage, the wooded area was swamp and mud! It took me an hour to go a mile! I had to push the bike, I was too close to the next street (I thought) to go back, and I pushed (literally) on, accumulating mud as I went. Worse, when I got to the next street, it was up a steep incline, and there was no exit. I had to unpack the bike, carry the gear up and over the guardrail. Then find a car-wash to wash off the bike and re-oil the components. Not a good start to the trip. Not a bike path worth considering.
Eventually, I found my way to Mannheim Road, and took this south to Butterfield Road. Just south of this intersection there are very clear signs pointing you to the trail head. From this point, it's straight west on a off-road hard packed gravel trail. No problem whatsoever, even for a street bike. It's a pleasant ride, no hills, through the western suburbs. Plenty of places to stop and shop, restaurants, etc.
In Wheaton, the trail splits. 
I
took the left turn, south a couple of blocks, across Roosevelt Road and
continue on the leg that goes to Aurora. It's easy to find: you're riding
on a street just south of the railroad tracks, and there's a couple of
tall building, with prominent balconies that you pass on your left, or
south, just before you come to the split. 
This is more ex-urban country, a few places to stop but not a continuous
string. Just follow the path, eventually you'll reach Route 25, on
the east side of Aurora. There has been marked improvement in this leg
of the path. A new bridge was added crossing over Eola Road, right
after the railroad tracks. Crossing Rt. 25, a path continues south
along the Fox River. At some point you'll be shuttled back onto the
street and can continue south. 
There
will be bike signs directing you to a bike route which runs along the east
side of the railroad tracks. Or you can stay on the main street on
the east side of the tracks. Either way. When you run out of
path, stay on Rt. 25, to Oswego. I followed the signs for Rt. 34,
turned left, road a couple of blocks to Rt. 71, then turned right to Washington
Street. A short distance, and Grove Road is on your right.
This goes straight south. It's actually the road behind the small
shopping center right on the corner of Rt. 71 and Washington Street.
This point, Oswego, is about 40 miles from where I entered the bike trail above. The next leg, to Morris, is about 25 miles. Country highway, nothing along the way. If you're inclined to eat about this time, I'd do so in either Aurora or Oswego. There's a couple of places, easy to find, right along Rt. 25. But nothing south of Oswego, until you get to Morris.
Actually, on the day I road this it started raining about Aurora.
Not bad, but it got worse. Quitting at 3:30 in the afternoon in Oswego
didn't appeal to me, so I kept going south. Into even harder rain. 
I stopped a couple of time, in a barn, on somebody's porch, and even in
the entranceway of the Aux Sable Presbyterian Church. This slowed
me down quite a bit. From 3:30 in Oswego until 7:00 in Morris, a
distance of only 25 miles. It normally doesn't take that long, except
for the inclement weather.
Let me explain a little more about this leg from Oswego to Morris: Grove Road goes straight south (there's a little jog in it, as if it went around something a long time ago) until it stops. Your turn right, then left at the next road, Brown Road. This continues all the way to I-80, where there's a bridge over the expressway. But the bridge doesn't go anywhere, so don't take it. Instead you turn right just before this bridge and follow the road along I-80 until the next intersection. This bridge also crosses I-80, and within 1/2-mile you're at Rt. 6. Turn right (there's a wide shoulder) a couple of miles to Rt. 47, and Morris.
I stayed in Morris because of the rain and the lateness of the day.
There's a motel just south of the intersection of Rt. 6 and 47, the Park
Motel which is very clean and reasonable. A block further south is
the Morris Motel. These are small motels, the big 
ones
(if you insist on spending money) are north of I-80 along Rt. 47.
There is also the campground, for tent camping. Follow Rt. 6 and
the signs to the entrance to 
the
Illinois-Michigan Canal and Gebhard
State Park . This is south of Rt. 6 about a mile or so, and you
can't miss Gebhard State Park nor the Canal. If you're not inclined
to camping you should give some thought to staying in Morris. I'm
not sure if there's another motel between Morris and Ottawa or not, and
Ottawa is about another 25 miles. For campers, there's a lot of places
to stay along the canal route.
At this point, you may be wondering: where are we going, and WHY are we going there, and how are we going to get back? Other than being my home town, the LaSalle- Peru area is worthwhile visiting. As I hope to convey here, it's a very pleasant ride, not too taxing but enough of a strain to make you feel like you've accomplished something. Two bike paths and a country road in-between make for a good ride. The two cities hold about 20,000 people, there are movies and restaurants and places to stay. The county seat of LaSalle County is Ottawa , about 10 miles east of LaSalle, Peru.
You could, of course, ride back to Chicago. I had planned to take Greyhound and had even arranged with Tullio's Cyclery in LaSalle to mooch a box. I emailed them, and Todd was friendly and helpful and offered to save me a box, and told me how far I would need to disassemble the bike to satisfy Greyhound. It turned out this wasn't necessary, my two sisters decided to make a day trip to Chicago, and drive me back. Don't bother thinking about Amtrak because it's a waste of time. The nearest station is about 15 miles away, and they don't accept checked luggage - so no bike, even in a box. Although I've traveled Amtrak, their limited facilities are a serious hindrance to cycle touring.
Enough of the editorial! Let's get back on the bike, in Morris, on Sunday morning, when it finally stopped raining.
The Illinois-Michigan Canal actually begins east of Morris, but I elected to join the path here near Gebhard State Park.. It's about 40 miles west, for the most part off-road, to LaSalle and Lock 14, where the canal originally joined the Illinois River.
The
canal is now broken into sections by earthen mounds between sections of
the canal. (Remember, it's downhill from Lake Michigan to the Illinois
River; without these earthen dams, the canal water would simply flow downhill
and empty into the river.) At various points, overflow is provided
to drain excess water into the river. Flooding used to be a problem,
washing out parts of the tow path, but isn't a problem any longer.
Along the canal there are (what look like) cutouts or turnarounds.
These were the places where the mule teams were exchanged. Indeed,
some of these are indicated as tent-camping places, and most of them are
trimmed and would make for good campsites. There are mile-marker
posts along the canal, each with a little information
about the canal. Short little signs, but it means stopping each mile
to read one!
There's a paved road on the north side of the canal you could take, until you reach a bridge over the canal. You could continue on the road after the bridge, but it deviates away from the canal. Or you could enter the canal at the State Park, or a couple of crossings along the road.
There is enough of the canal left over to make it historically interesting.
A viaduct, where a bridge for the water had to be 
made,
so the canal could cross the Fox River, and a couple of smaller streams
and creeks. The locks remain, and some of them have water flowing through
them, like the one pictured here. As you pass the locks you can appreciate
how far downhill it is between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River.
There's enough scenery along the way, and places to stop. A lot of
side roads, with very little traffic you could explore too. There's
roads that run right along side the Illinois River.
Between Morris and LaSalle, you'll pass through Seneca, Marseilles,
Ottawa, Utica, and then LaSalle. All have a place to get food and
water. I'm pretty sure only Ottawa and LaSalle have bike shops.
You'll pass by both Buffalo
Rock State Park (and campground) and Starved
Rock State Park (and campground). Illini
State Park is just south of Marseilles, across the river. 
Just past the Buffalo Rock exit from the tow path, there's a couple of
big camping sites (primitive) along a beautiful lagoon where we used to
go 'skinny dipping' when we were kids. (I don't think I'd try that
now, at least during the daylight hours!) The water is iridescent blue,
from the copper (I think) leached from the ground from the dregs of strip
mining years ago.
A short side trip (if you want to get off the gravel on onto the pavement) would be to exit at this Buffalo Rock entrance to the towpath, and take the road (Dee Bennet Road) along the river to the dam at Starved Rock. It's a working dam, there's a large public building, lots to see and learn about navigable waterways - and if you're lucky maybe see the mechanics of moving a large barge through the locks and raise or lower them many feet to accommodate the different water levels. You could return, or simply stay on Dee Bennet Road until the next highway, turning north to Utica and the path, or south over the bridge into Starved Rock. Dee Bennet Road parallels the canal towpath.
To get to Starved Rock, you'll need to take the highway at Utica
south, over the river, and then into the park. Utica has an Illinois-Michigan
Canal Museum , 
several
restaurants (and bars!) and a couple of covered picnic tables right before
you re-enter the path again. Between Utica and LaSalle stands Split Rock
park - and the ONLY way to get to it is to walk or bike along the towpath.
As you can imagine, it's never crowded, would be a great place to (primitively)
camp too. It's a large sandstone rise that blocked the canal, until
they blasted through it to make room for the canal. Hence, the name
- Split Rock.
And it's only about two more miles to the end of the Illinois-Michigan Canal path, at Lock 14 in LaSalle, Illinois.
It's a great ride, not overly taxing, no significant hills, and lots to see and explore along the way.
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