# How's the road biking scene in Chicago?



## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

Wife & me are considering relocating to Chicagoland area. Of course I can't go if the biking scene isn't good. How's the scene out there? How's the traffic/ The motorists/ how many lights can I expect for a 30 mile ride???:skep:


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

From where? Where in Chicago?

chicagobikeracing.com


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## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

I really have no idea yet. My wife & I just started talking about it this eve. She's never been through the area, I have and I know it's a HUGE metro area. For now I'll listen to any advice/input.


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## Dank (Nov 26, 2006)

If you go to the Lemont area or southwest burbs you will be fine. If your talking chicago, you will hate it. There are people and cars and stop lights every 10 feet. The western burbs are fine though. We have hundred mile loops with hardly any lights. Heading out today on one of them. Good luck


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

I moved here form Los Angeles (Orange County actually) three years ago and love it. I am in the Far West suburbs though and can ride hundreds of miles and not find any stop lights. I am in Geneva if you want to check the area out just to get an idea. I think I have been to the city once. If you want to go its just a short ride on the train and you are there. They do allow bikes on the train so I hear it is nice if you want to take a slow ride on the lakeshore.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

A from Il said:


> I moved here form Los Angeles (Orange County actually) three years ago and love it. I am in the Far West suburbs though and can ride hundreds of miles and not find any stop lights. I am in Geneva if you want to check the area out just to get an idea. I think I have been to the city once. If you want to go its just a short ride on the train and you are there. They do allow bikes on the train so I hear it is nice if you want to take a slow ride on the lakeshore.


And by "slow ride" he really means slow. It's not even rideable in the summer during the daytime.


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## CoffeeBean2 (Aug 6, 2005)

I used to live on the NW side of the city (Bucktown). I used to ride north out of the city into the northern suburbs. It would take me about 30 minutes to get out of the city to the 'burbs. Stoplights weren't too bad, and most drivers try to give you enough room, when they can.

The lakefront path from about Fullerton south to the McCormick Covention Center can be deadly (literally) in the summertime. People walking all over the place, not paying attention, stopping right in front of you, etc. I almost hit a little girl once - her parents weren't paying attention and she decided to run across the path, right in front of me. Took me about a mile to calm down. Once you get passed McCormick heading south, the path will clear up. Same for heading north once you get passed Fullerton.

I also lived in the western 'burbs (La Grange, Clarendon Hills). The riding was good, especially if I headed south and got on the frontage roads, but if you want any type of night life and good restaurants, you need to live in the city. That's about the only thing I miss about Chicago - the hole-in-the-wall, mom-and-pop ethnic restaurants. From our apartment (we lived on the top floor of a renovated funeral home), we could walk to about 7 or 8 different ethnic restaurants within a 5-block radius.


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## Streamwood Steve (Oct 15, 2008)

Unfortunatly it seems that the Chicago area is getting more hostile to riders. 


http://www.northbranchcycling.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=2718

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=253789 The comments are as scary as the story.

http://www.biketraffic.org/content.php?id=113_0_7_0


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## CoffeeBean2 (Aug 6, 2005)

I'm glad I now live in Boulder County where the opinion of cyclists seems to be contrary of the Chicagoland area. That being said, Chicago itself seems to be trying hard to be a more bike-friendly city.


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## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

Do you mean Boulder County CO? If so, I can't speak for that part of CO, but I was in Denver for 6 years & have a very close friend in CO Springs; the scene in Boulder & CO Springs is absolutly increadible. I know a little about Boulder's road bike culture. How would your part of Chicagoland compare to that?


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

its ok. there are lots of cluns scattered throughout, but there doesnt seem to be any cohesion. if you are looking at doing lots of riding, the closer to the WI border you get, the better. or the further West.

fwiw, just this past week i ran into two riders i have never seen before. both within three miles of my house.
ed or brian, if youre out there let me know.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

yeah. Like anyone from lemont would ever amount to much of a cyclist


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## Dank (Nov 26, 2006)

Yeah, if you wanna eat in Chicago, bring a heavy check book. If you park next to a meter, bring 2 rolls of quaters. Lakefront riding with the wife/girlfriend, wear blinders, cause you will go blind or divorced. Nice people driving in the city? Now that was funny....


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## CoffeeBean2 (Aug 6, 2005)

Dank said:


> Yeah, if you wanna eat in Chicago, bring a heavy check book. If you park next to a meter, bring 2 rolls of quaters. Lakefront riding with the wife/girlfriend, wear blinders, cause you will go blind or divorced. Nice people driving in the city? Now that was funny....


Sounds like your opinion of the city is from downtown. If you eat at the restaurants in the Loop then, yes, you will pay a lot. However, as I said, my wife ate primarily at the smaller restaurants in the neighborhoods (Bucktown, Wicker Park) - which are no more expensive then the restaurants in Boulder, CO.

As far nice drivers, I had more drivers in the suburbs honking, yelling at me to get off the road then I did in the city. I had a driver come up to me at the intersection of Holmes Ave and 55th St in Clarendon Hills and proceed to tell me bikes belonged on the sidewalks. And those incidents we're recently read about? On St. Marys - in the northern suburbs.

However, you are correct - blinders are needed on the lakefront path if riding with the wife/girlfriend - lots of scenery, especially at the North Ave. and Oak St. beaches.


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## CoffeeBean2 (Aug 6, 2005)

jpdigital said:


> Do you mean Boulder County CO? If so, I can't speak for that part of CO, but I was in Denver for 6 years & have a very close friend in CO Springs; the scene in Boulder & CO Springs is absolutly increadible. I know a little about Boulder's road bike culture. How would your part of Chicagoland compare to that?


Ooops - sorry. Yep, I meant Boulder County, CO. There are more cyclists in and around Boulder, IMO, then in Chicago. That being said, on my route heading north out of the city and into the Northern suburbs, you could see quite a few riders. The far northwest, and western suburbs saw the largest groups of riders (some of my teammates lived in Arlington Heights, Barrington, Crystal Lake). 

Boulder County seems to view cyclists as an integral part of the community, especially with a major university there. Chicago, while seeming to try hard to become a bike-friendly city, seems to view cyclists as something to be tolerated. But, as I mentioned in another post in this thread, I've had more issues with drivers in the 'burbs than I did in the city.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

CoffeeBean2 said:


> However, you are correct - blinders are needed on the lakefront path if riding with the wife/girlfriend - lots of scenery, especially at the North Ave. and Oak St. beaches.


The wife and myself were puttering down the lakefront path and as I craned my neck to watch the babe in the bikini rollerblade by I managed to catch my front tire in a good sized crack in the concrete. I was lying there in a heap and the good Mrs. stopped, looked down at me in all my glory and asked "So, did she have a nice ass?'.
Uh, yeah!


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

60 degrees plus today. No clouds. Little wind. 40 miles through rolling farmland on the newly rebuilt FG. It couldnt be better. There were not even any cars out there today.:thumbsup:


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## Doctor Who (Feb 22, 2005)

Chicago proper sucks to ride in unless you're into fixed-gears with an Aerospoke up front. I'm happy that I live in the Rogers Park neighborhood and I can escape to Lake County pretty easily. The lakefront path is where I, and many other cyclists, do our weekday training because there are simply few other alternatives within the city limits unless we go to the far southside toward Calumet Park. 

The lakefront path is good for fast riding until about 8 AM on warm weekdays, and after that is aswarm with rollerbladers, strollers, and kids. Awful stuff. My commute home today was slow, but that's fine 'cause it was a recovery ride. Most of us competitive riders are out riding by 6:15-6:30 AM in season, just 'cause we have no other alternatives. 

Weekends, we're out up to St. Mary's or maybe in the car to Rockford or Madison.


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## MJH2 (Feb 26, 2007)

A from Il said:


> 60 degrees plus today. No clouds. Little wind. 40 miles through rolling farmland on the newly rebuilt FG. It couldnt be better. There were not even any cars out there today.:thumbsup:


PM me and let's ride sometime! I'm in Geneva (east side).


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. 70 today. I ditched work and rode the river trail to Oswego. About 40 miles. Nobody out but a few joggers and the wind.


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## Streamwood Steve (Oct 15, 2008)

Where is the rolling farmland? I am a little north of you and most of the farmland has been developed.


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## MJH2 (Feb 26, 2007)

Out west of St. Charles. There's not a ton of it, but it's there!


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

Streamwood Steve said:


> Where is the rolling farmland? I am a little north of you and most of the farmland has been developed.


 I go straight out west and ride west out Main St. Rd past Il.47. Once you get west of there there is nothing but farms with a few businesses scattered about. Remember, I started riding in So. Cal and these are farms to me.


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## Doctor Who (Feb 22, 2005)

A bunch of us from the HACT/Killjoy squads go out to Elgin and do rides like this. Park by the Wendy's at the corner of Randall Road and Bowes Road and head west. Can't really pick a bad route, just so long as the route you choose is made up of desolate farm roads, of which there are plenty.


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## RHRoop (Nov 1, 2006)

The cycling scene objectively measured can be answered with a description of how much racing you can do-

www.ambikerace.com
http://illinoiscycling.org/modules/news/
http://www.wicycling.org/

You can race two, three or four times per weekend now through October and against world class fields.


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## Cycle Obsessed (Jun 19, 2006)

I commute from a north shore suburb down into the city every weekday, all seasons. Urban riding is urban riding, but Chicago has been pretty good about creating bike lanes. I've been commuting for almost 20 years and have very few run-ins with cars.

As for weekend and early-morning-weekday road riding, there are many good group rides that start in north shore suburbs, including Evanston, the first city north of the Chicago border. There are groups of moderate and strong riders all over the north shore, and you can hook up with a group that fits your skill level without a problem.

The rides north are pleasant. Getting west and north (on about an 80-mile loop from Evanston) gets you into some mild rolling hills. If you want to drive somewhere and ride for the weekend, there is great riding in western Wisconsin (quite hilly), and in Michigan, especially up north in lower Michigan, all a day's drive and a great weekend of riding.

There are numerous good bike shops (Pony Shop, Turin, Higher Gear...) on the north shore that would be happy to introduce you to any number of group rides.

The road bike scene in Chicago is quite active.


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## oily666 (Apr 7, 2007)

Cycling in the greater Chicago area is pretty much like commuting. The roads don't clear out until Boone County, about 35 minutes West of the Fox River. Get off at Genoa Road in Belvidere and go North. Park at the high school and ride straight South at any speed you choose while you take in the cows and corn. Check your map. A century is easily done with enough little towns ( Kirkland, Genoa, Malta, Monroe Center) to find vittles. If you see a guy with perfect form cruising at 22 MPH on a blinged out Cervello, it's not me.


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

I dont think you have to go that far out. Just jump on the train and ride any of them away from the city until they throw you off. You can ride forever from there. I live just west of Il.31 and dont have to go but 1 mile to be in no traffic.


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## randi_526 (Jun 12, 2008)

I live in the city in Pilsen (Near south-west) and all my riding is in city traffic. I've never had any major issues with traffic and I ride in the loop fairly often. For real rides, I either get on the lakeshore path at 31st street and ride south to the Indiana border/ Hammond area and back, or take by bike on the purple line and ride out of Evanston. I'ts definitly possible to get some good miles in living in the city. Last season I was riding 100-150 miles a week by using my bike as my main transportation.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

RHRoop said:


> You can race two, three or four times per weekend now through October and against world class fields.


A "world class" field has not been seen in the chicago/wi area for decades. Even then, it was more of a national scene.

Superweek is useless to pros, now. Only the ones who are paid to show up will come. The Garrison brothers pretty much ruined it. The last 2 years have been horrible.


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## Messerschmitt (Jul 18, 2006)

The scene is not bad at all I cannot comment on the situation in the southern subs but in the North/northwest there is a lot of group rides and clubs to ride with; it all depends on the level of riding you are looking for. I was always under the impression that Chicago as a city was not really cycling friendly but after spending last summer in San Antonio, TX I think it is; even though, there are some strange things happening in the Barrington area where Police is giving out tickets for riding two abreast and such. Where are you moving from?


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## slow29er (Jun 11, 2009)

The far North and far West suburbs are great for riding. I live in Mundelein IL which is north. The closer you can get to Wisconsin the better for road riding. From Mundelein it's an hour away from single track mountain biking named Kettle Morraine/Whitewater. Also near Mundelein is the Des Plaines river trail which is a multipurpose trail running north and south. There is also the NorthShore trail running west and east and south. Evanston and Highland Park are two northern towns from Chicago which attract a few bikers passing through from Chicago on their ride north. Also St.Charles/Geneva on the far west side. In my area people usually ride the road St. Mary's N+S. Bull Valley, IL and Lake Geneva, IL are destinations bikers like to ride to and turn around. If you visit and can introduce you to a few riders. Also a good contact in the Bicycle Club of Lake County for the Northern suburbs. They are on the web.


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