Chicago lake front bike path - how do you maintain your sanity ?

[skiffrun]

I don't know why I started reading this thread, but it certainly has reminded why I am so glad I don't live in Chicago-land, anymore.

Instead of the LFP, I usually ride somewhere with roads that resemble these (click here).

[DVC45]

What's the condition of this trail nowadays? Is it ridable? Lots of snow mounds?

[Barrettscv]

Ha!

No ice on the Lakefront anywhere... for now.

Yesterday I covered all of the North Branch on my road bike. It's 99.999% dry and ice free. The only ice on the path was north of Glenview road. Those sections were only a few yards long and did not require dismount.

[DVC45]

Ha!

No ice on the Lakefront anywhere... for now.

Yesterday I covered all of the North Branch on my road bike. It's 99.999% dry and ice free. The only ice on the path was north of Glenview road. Those sections were only a few yards long and did not require dismount.

Great!
' might be there tomorrow, if the weatherman is right with tomorrow's forecast.
Thanks!

[ColombianGT]

Been there twice this week and last, and I'm heading there now... still somewhat empty so there's a chance to actually go fast without running over stupid pedestrians who like to walk hugging down the middle of both lanes

[bibliorun]

Yeah , any open space on the trail is gone now. I am switching back to early morning rides.
I did see a thankfully harmless though initially nasty looking crash between two bikes today.

[JeremyZ]

This is just not a good path to train on. It is for everyone, not just cyclists trying to go fast. People go there to get away from sidewalks and automotive traffic and see the lake.

If the OP is still looking to train, I recommend some proper bike trails that are miles and miles long north of the city.

He might also want to try it with a slow bike. He'd get just as much training pouring his energy into a slow bike at medium speed as he would a fast bike at high speed. For example a multi-gear beach cruiser or a folding bike with 20" wheels.

[Amesja]

I disagree.

This isn't "training" -it's exercising. The riding position and the muscles used are different. Sure, you'd be getting good exercise but you wouldn't be training for riding fast or learning the same bike handling skills.

For the most part train like you will race. Otherwise you are training yourself wrong.

He might also want to try it with a slow bike. He'd get just as much training pouring his energy into a slow bike at medium speed as he would a fast bike at high speed. For example a multi-gear beach cruiser or a folding bike with 20" wheels.

[kiltedcelt]

If the OP is still looking to train, I recommend some proper bike trails that are miles and miles long north of the city.

My focus has long since switched from training to commuting. I realized it was a heck of a lot easier to get my exercise/"training" in if I just rode to work and back, rather than trying to hurry home in the car and then hop on the bike. I've been riding now for well over 3000 miles, almost exclusively on the LFP. I've seen it filled with oblivious peds and bike racer jerks during Summer and Fall, to blissfully free of either during the depths of Winter. Now, alas it's filling up with idiots again. I realize now that one simply can't expect to haul-you-know-what on this path except a very few sections that are typically mostly free of slow oblivious peds, joggers, etc. What I contend with more these days are the racer-jerks who are whizzing by at high speed an not announcing themselves, as they zip by with little more than a foot of distance between themselves and me. I've already read about several incidents of bike crashes since the weather started getting nicer. I think I'm firmly in the camp now that you DO NOT "train" on the LFP. Go find yourself a velodrome or go ride somewhere out in the country. If you want to go do laps on "that secret little loop", great! Just take it easy until you get there. Bustin' out a few miles at high speed because you've got Spring Fever is not worth causing yourself or someone else grievous bodily harm.

[jimmytango]

My focus has long since switched from training to commuting. I realized it was a heck of a lot easier to get my exercise/"training" in if I just rode to work and back, rather than trying to hurry home in the car and then hop on the bike. I've been riding now for well over 3000 miles, almost exclusively on the LFP. I've seen it filled with oblivious peds and bike racer jerks during Summer and Fall, to blissfully free of either during the depths of Winter. Now, alas it's filling up with idiots again. I realize now that one simply can't expect to haul-you-know-what on this path except a very few sections that are typically mostly free of slow oblivious peds, joggers, etc. What I contend with more these days are the racer-jerks who are whizzing by at high speed an not announcing themselves, as they zip by with little more than a foot of distance between themselves and me. I've already read about several incidents of bike crashes since the weather started getting nicer. I think I'm firmly in the camp now that you DO NOT "train" on the LFP. Go find yourself a velodrome or go ride somewhere out in the country. If you want to go do laps on "that secret little loop", great! Just take it easy until you get there. Bustin' out a few miles at high speed because you've got Spring Fever is not worth causing yourself or someone else grievous bodily harm.

I tend to be one of those "bike racer jerks" once I get down by your house (far southern end) because I'm usually the only one on it down there.

[kiltedcelt]

Jimmytango,

To be a bike racer jerk you'd need to wear spandex team kit with matching shorts and socks and be all about buzzing peds and other cyclists with inches to spare and not calling out before doing so. You'd also not be riding a fixed gear bike but instead would be riding something extremely expensive and in carbon most likely. You may be fast but I don't think you qualify as a bike racer jerk, especially with the jeans and the scruffy beard - nah, you're more likely to be mistaken for a rude hipster

[Road Fan]

I'm pretty much over my exasperation about riding on the path. The path is what the path is. It's never going to be a really great place to bike except maybe in late Fall and Winter when hardly anyone will be out there. Otherwise I see it for what it is, a place where I can get out and ride without dealing with cars and I've just come to the realization that I can't get worked up over stupid people. You just have to slow down when there are peds around. What scares me more are the other cyclists. There are a lot of guys out there who are WAY faster than me, and I know they're just an accident waiting to happen as Mayo pointed out from his earlier post.

You'll appreciate it much more if you don't have it. When I moved to other cities, St. Louis, Denver, Dallas, and Detroit, I was always disappointed that major shorelines didn't exist, or had not been protected for public use, or did not have at least adequately wide paths running continuously through them. The fact that Chicago has and has had a culture of using it's public parks also sets it apart.

Enjoy it for the wonderful resource it is - most of the United States DOES NOT have a space like that!

There's a kind of training called "fartlek." It's essentially riding as fast as you can when the path is clear and slowing to negotiate obstacles, other users or blockages. Then you accelerate as hard as you can to get back up to speed, then do it all over again when you encounter the next dog-walker. Imagine doing that on the Lake Front Path from Bryn Mawr down to Shedd and back every afternoon. Consider it training, irregular intervals. It will certainly feel like training if you do it right.

How courteous and non-invasive you are when you do encounter people in your way is strictly up to you. If you can't be courteous, you're the jerk, not the other path users. But you can still get training. Do fartlek.

[Road Fan]

It is about 20 miles from Fullerton LFP to the Botanical Garden welcome center. I usually take Sheridan from Hollwood all the way up. Note that bikes are not permitted in the "ravine" section of Sheridan just north of Tower Rd (there is a stop sign at Tower, turn left, go about .5 miles and turn right just before the Metra overpass, and follow Old Green Bay for a mile before turning right and back to Sheridan Rd.). Take Sheridan all the way to County Line (Lake Cook Rd) and follow it west about a mile past Green Bay to the gardens entrance.

It's too bad about the Ravines. I used to ride it pretty regularly in the late '60s and the '70s.

I also used to go north (starting around Bryn Mawr) up to Lake Forest (Deerpath Road, town square) and back, about 40 miles round trip. I'd go through Highwood and past Fort Sheridan. It was a great change of scene for an Edgewater/Rogers Park kid.

[DVC45]

Are they going to close this path this weekend because of the NATO summit?

[ColombianGT]

Are they going to close this path this weekend because of the NATO summit?

I was actually there yesterday and the path was open only up to Balbo and Lake Shore. There were snowplow trucks lined up from Michigan Ave ALL THE WAY east to the lake I'll go ahead and upload some pictures I took! Saw a few black Tahoes/Suburbans speeding down with their lights and siren on (guessing FBI) Kind of just sat around Millennium Park observing how "mysterious" these agents appear to be.. wonder if some Colombian hookers would distract them a bit

[ColombianGT]

IMAG3169.jpgIMAG3167.jpg

[DVC45]

I was actually there yesterday and the path was open only up to Balbo and Lake Shore. There were snowplow trucks lined up from Michigan Ave ALL THE WAY east to the lake I'll go ahead and upload some pictures I took! Saw a few black Tahoes/Suburbans speeding down with their lights and siren on (guessing FBI) Kind of just sat around Millennium Park observing how "mysterious" these agents appear to be.. wonder if some Colombian hookers would distract them a bit

Thanks for sharing the pics. I'm glad it is over now.

[catonec]

Im assuming its a multi use path and not reserved for bicycles only, that means your going to get alllllll the dog walkers, baby carriage pushers, rollerbladers and speed walkers. I suggest riding on the roads where there are rules, and everyone know where they are supposed to be. Please dont get hit by a car.