Great Lakes - Bicycling Indiana's Lake Michigan Shore
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I'm looking at doing a tour around the southern half of Lake Michigan.
I'm concerned about bicycling safely through Indiana. Wanting to stay close to the shore, to keep mileage down, is Route 12 a decent route for bicyclist? Or, is there a better way through this congested area?
Thanks for the help.
Gary in Des Plaines, IL
Road Fan
11-16-09, 11:07 AM
I'm looking at doing a tour around the southern half of Lake Michigan.
I'm concerned about bicycling safely through Indiana. Wanting to stay close to the shore, to keep mileage down, is Route 12 a decent route for bicyclist? Or, is there a better way through this congested area?
Thanks for the help.
Gary in Des Plaines, IL
In Gary, IN it goes through some pretty rough areas, and is not always scenic. East of there it gets better.
Do a search on the forum, there have been other discussions about how to traverse this area.
Doug28450
11-17-09, 08:10 AM
As above, however I would also include the area through Whiting, Hammond and East Chicago. I would not consiser those areas bike friendly. The roads are busy and the drivers are most likely not looking or caring to look for bikes.
If you can get east of Gary US 12 is not a bad route. Consider taking the bike path south around Gary. You can use Google Maps to follow the path, then you can head back northto US 12 once you get east of Gary. Staying on the bike path will make the ride longer, but safety will be increased.
Torgrot
11-19-09, 10:05 AM
US 12 on the west side of Gary is called Industrial Highway. It isn't called that for nothing. Seeing as I work in the area, every once in a while I find a group of cyclist in East Chicago looking at maps. They are usually pretty lost. All I can say is go south to the bike trails in Cal City, Lansing, Hammond, Munster or Highland. There are many better ways to get from the south side of Chicago to Michigan than attempting to ride on either US 12 or 20 in this area. This is the heart of the rust belt and there are literally hundreds of trucks hauling stuff in and out of that area constantly. They wouldn't even feel you when they rode over you.
torgrot
rockdog
11-19-09, 11:04 AM
You might take a look at this thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?588057-Chicago-to-Michigan-Route&highlight=michigan+city) in the Touring Forum
Randy Bosma
11-19-09, 05:38 PM
Here's another thread with some ideas.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?574824-South-Chicago-burbs-to-Indiana-dunes-route
Jim from Boston
11-29-09, 09:18 PM
I'm looking at doing a tour around the southern half of Lake Michigan.
I'm concerned about bicycling safely through Indiana. Wanting to stay close to the shore, to keep mileage down, is Route 12 a decent route for bicyclist? Or, is there a better way through this congested area?
Thanks for the help.
Gary in Des Plaines, IL
Sorry it took so long to reply, but I had to find this URL about a tour starting in Ann Arbor, MI around Lakes Huron and Michigan. Pretty good detail as I recall about the segment from Chicago into Michigan:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=RrzKj&doc_id=2292&v=1L