I've been an road biker most of my life - rode bikes through undergrad & grad school because I couldn't afford anything else :-), both in South Asia and here. I've ridden seriously for two years in the Netherlands ( *great* biking country), and infrequently after moving to Chicago. I'm dusting off my old Nashbar racer, taking a deep breath, and planning to hit the Lakeshore bike path again - I need to lose a few (OK, a lot of) pounds...

KNS

More Chicagoeans! Gooooooooooo.... Sox!



Hee hee. Welcome to the forums! How long have you been here in Chicago?

Word of advice- don't hit the path between 7am- 9am and 4pm- 8pm on weekdays, and after 6:30am on weekends. You may end up getting nothing accomplished, and feel discouraged with cycling in the long run! The lakefront can suck about 85% of the time since it's now not a bike path, it's more of a pedestrian pass.

Koffee

Moved to Chicago the year the Bears won the Super Bowl (1985?), and watched them go downhill ever since. I was in the Netherlands in 91-92, NW Indiana till early '97, but moved back to Chicago after that. Can't beat that Chicago magnet school system...

Didn't realize the path got crowded as early as 6:30 am on weekends nowadays. I remember heading out literally at the crack of dawn during my athletic days - it was a great ride.

Yes... it is a great ride at the crack of dawn! Because of the marked increase of people training for the Lasalle Bank Marathon and a lot of people training for Mrs. T's, added to all the little mini-run races they have almost every weekend on the lakefront, it is a nightmare. And the closer it gets to the marathon, the earlier the weekend warriers get up in the mornings, since it does end up taking them forever to run a longer distance, so they have to get up earlier in order to not be out there running all day!

Koffee