Touring - Best route into Chicago?

My friend and I are about halfway into a cross country tour and we are planning on visiting a friend in Chicago. Right now we are in western Iowa. Can anyone suggest a good route into Chicago? We are thinking of crossing the mighty Mississippi either in Clinton, Muscatine, or possibly up at Sabula, perhaps riding into Chicago on 30, 64 or 34. People who have already done this trip tell me it is a headache riding into Chicago and takes an entire day. I was hoping someone from around that area or who has done this ride before can suggest a road that is easier and less stressful. Thanks!

See if you can pick up a map made by Milwaukee Map Service of Northern Illinois. They are very detailed. I would suggest coming into the Chicago area on one of the rail trails, probably the Great Western Trail. Here's a link to some maps.

http://www.bikelib.org/mapstrails/index.htm

The roads you listed are all high speed/high traffic from about Dekalb east. There are tons of smaller roads to ride on, hence the map and trails.

Remember that you are entering one of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. I hope you can take a rest day and see some of the city.

The Grand Illinois Trail. (http://www.openlands.org/git/maps/index.asp)

see also Illinois Praire Path (http://www.ipp.org/GUI/index.html)

and Metra Rail (http://www.metrarail.com/) about bikes on trains.

xxx

thanks for the suggestions. we were planning on taking the prarie trail in, however, now that we are in geneva and its raining and lightninging heavily, we might just ride the train in.