Great Lakes - From downtown Chicago 60 mi route

Hi! I live in downtown Chicago, just west of the Merchandise Mart, and always seek to find safe rides beyond the lakefront path. Starting from my home, I've now found a decent 60.2 mi roundtrip...

1. Head to the lakefront bike path and go south to end of bike path (10.5 mi)
2. Continue S on South Shore Drive (has bike lane a few miles)
3. SSD/Hwy41 becomes Ewing; continue S on Ewing (a few stop lights).
4. Ewing ends at 118th St (about 17 mi tot); turn right (W) onto 118th
5. W on 118th approx .25 mi until ends at Avenue O
6. Avenue O S (turn left from 118th)
7. Continue S on Ave O (a few lights) until it ends at approx 208th St in Lansing/Lynnwood (approx 29.5mi)
8. Reverse course.
9. On return trip, detour into Calumet Park (right turn at 95th St?) to insure >60mi
10. Exit lakefront path and take Roosevelt W to Canal N.
11. End at Kinzie and Canal (60.2 mi)

I've done this now twice, and it's developed from my usual weekend 35 mi trip (steps 1-5). The pavement is a little dicy on Ave O in a couple places but didn't stop me from maintaining 18mph; trouble also didn't last more than a mile-or-two at a time. Traffic also isn't bad on Sunday or July 4th, but both times I finished around noon. Ave O could be busy during the week.

Dave

This is the route I take to get to 3 Floyds in Munster across the state line from Lansing.

For a north side trip, go to the North Branch Trail (starts at Devon and Caldwell). They've repaved it so its silky smooth and usually not too crowded.

d-klumpp: Thanks for the south route. I look forward to trying it out.

Envane: I take that trip a ton. I like it. I only wish some of the stretches were a hair longer.

Thanks to you both.

Milwaukee to Elston to Milwaukee to North Branch trail to Chicago Botanic Gardens and back.

Envane,

Maybe stopping at 3 Floyds would ease the return ride! ;-)

Dave

BG80,

The one time I did the North Branch, for the beginning of a solo century last year, the NB Trail was pretty slow and crowded with dog walkers etc. Hard to believe, but it seemed worse than the lakefront path.

Maybe that was an aberration, so I'll have to try going north again. Plus, I ran into the repaving project last year, so it would be nice to see the new pavement.

Thanks,

Dave

This is the route I take to get to 3 Floyds in Munster across the state line from Lansing.


You have no idea how jealous I am that you can just get on a bike and ride to 3 Floyds! Last time I drove up to Chicago, I brought a case of Alpha King back to TX with me - and shared with nobody.

You have no idea how jealous I am that you can just get on a bike and ride to 3 Floyds! Last time I drove up to Chicago, I brought a case of Alpha King back to TX with me - and shared with nobody.

At 70 miles r/t, its not exactly a stroll down to the pub, but I do it 2-3 times a year.:)

For a Tour de Pubs, you could make that ride to 3 Floyds, then ride 15 more miles down Glenwood Lansing Rd. / 187th St, / Dixie Hwy, and / Flossmoor Rd to Flossmoor Station (metra station and pub). Then ride a Metra train back into the city from Flossmoor.

That's 45 mi on bike, 2 pubs to carb load at, and an air conditioned ride back home.