Originally Posted by HarborBandS

Sounds like you got around quite a bit! Chicago has had a lot of bad press lately due to lingering crime issues in certain corners of the city, but vast areas of the city and suburbs are really great places to live and recreate. I'm out in the "commuter rail" burbs now, and have really enjoyed the interlinked trail systems out here. They not only provide a place to ride or jog, but also give an easy "escape route" out of the congestion of the metro area without tangling with a lot of cars.

I ride through Lincoln Marsh regularly, since the prairie path provides easy week day rides before or after work. But my favorite riding around here is in southern Wisconsin--either in the Kettle Moraine area northwest of Milwaukee (around the basilica known as "Holy Hill"), or the super hilly "Driftless Area" west of Madison.