Commute - I used to commute from Elgin to Aurora along the Fox river Trail - 50 mile round trip. It was a great commute with no worries. There are extensive trail systems through the entire area but you will find that there are major corridors that are NOT bicycle friendly - no real way of getting from A to B without putting yourself into total urban assault mode and taking your life into your own hands. Such is life.

Commuting by car is treacherous and not unusual for most people's commute to be int he 45 min- 1 hour range each way regardless of the distance. My commute is something like 15 miles now and it takes 40-50 minutes on average. Really wish I could ride it but as of now I have NOT found a good way to get there.

It is strange to drive over 1.5 huors to a race though.

The chicago cyclocross cup series (which I am a sponsor of *plug* ) is just what is says and it is an entire series held in Chicago. i could ride my bike from my home to at least 3 or 4 of those events if I chose to.

just move already.