New to the Western suburbs. Can anyone tell me some good bike routes. Looking for a 10 mi, 30 mi, 60 mi and 80+ mi loop. Road or tri friendly.
Not sure about in DG itself - Im out by Naperville & generally go west from there out near Oswego/Plainfield & Yorkville on the country roads since there doesn’t seem to be much open road that is bike friendly by me
There are some tri & bike groups that do group rides in the area - but quite often its a bit of a drive to get to where they start at
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Busse Woods in Schaumburg has a nice 7.7 mile loop
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Hey I have a great one here I ride a lot in the middle of the year… http://connect.garmin.com/activity/352311914
I also live in Downers Grove- right near Downers North High School. There’s several ways to find yourself some decent rides. On the weekends, Warrenville Rd is a popular biking route, and if you follow that through a few turns it will take you all the way to Fermilab.
Also, consider heading down Woodward toward Woodridge to access the I-55 frontage roads. That’s pretty much the most uninterrupted section of road you’ll find out here.
If you’re looking for hills and a little more distance , consider riding county line rd through Hinsdale and Burr Ridge and head toward Western Springs on German Church Rd. when you hit Willow Springs Rd, you can follow that south through some pretty decent hills in Palos as WS Rd turns into 104th Ave.
It doesn’t seem like a great area for cycling, but there’s definitely some hidden gems to ride if you look around. Let me know if you have any questions, but the routes I described are definitely my regular rides, and combining some of those together to string some long hours in the saddle isn’t out of the question either.
That’s a great ride, but man whenever I try and do that route, the minute I get myself out of Fermilab I really screw up where I’m going and aimlessly attempt to find my way back to Batavia rd.
West west west… into St. Charles and onward - if you want any good roads.
I also live in Downers Grove- right near Downers North High School. There’s several ways to find yourself some decent rides. On the weekends, Warrenville Rd is a popular biking route, and if you follow that through a few turns it will take you all the way to Fermilab.
Also, consider heading down Woodward toward Woodridge to access the I-55 frontage roads. That’s pretty much the most uninterrupted section of road you’ll find out here.
If you’re looking for hills and a little more distance , consider riding county line rd through Hinsdale and Burr Ridge and head toward Western Springs on German Church Rd. when you hit Willow Springs Rd, you can follow that south through some pretty decent hills in Palos as WS Rd turns into 104th Ave.
It doesn’t seem like a great area for cycling, but there’s definitely some hidden gems to ride if you look around. Let me know if you have any questions, but the routes I described are definitely my regular rides, and combining some of those together to string some long hours in the saddle isn’t out of the question either.
X 2 ON I-55 Frontage. Park at Waterfall Glen forest preserve, take the cass ave south exit and then head out on frontage. If you east towards Madison, their are quite a few streets the intersect with Madison that have some good riding.
If you are looking for open roads and some terrain - head south via woodward / past the I-55 frontage roads to 109th ave. Take that to Lemont Road. From there you can do a loop / circular route using Bluff Road to Joliet Road back to Internationale Parkway that has some rolling hills.
If you want more open space keep heading south on Lemont road and utilize various routes in Lemont for hills - hilliest area in Chicagoland. From Lemont you can go up / down various residential streets - Timberline is the most popular, but others are good. For more fun, head to the tank farms in Lemont / Romeoville on 127th using Smith Road / 127th and 143rd, there is a nice loop with some rollers and one bigger hill up 127th.
For more miles and hills, head south on Smith from 127th, cut via archer to lemont, to gouger and head south for a variety of loops using cedar, parker, etc. Nice rollers, etc. Go really far south on Gouger and pick up the Old Plank Trail and you can use that as a connector to the roads that get you to Monee and the reservoir.
Tons of options if you head south, you will find terrain, hills, and open roads. No reason to use your car if you loop it correctly.
Enjoy.
New to the Western suburbs. Can anyone tell me some good bike routes. Looking for a 10 mi, 30 mi, 60 mi and 80+ mi loop.
Another suggestion: get an MTB, a CX bike, or a gravel bike (or maybe one of these) and try this out. It’s an impressive network, and there are more routes not even shown on this map.
The saturday shop ride from Endure It - Naperville goes southwest to the Yorkville area as does the Naperville Park District ride that leaves from the riverwalk downtown. For a mellower pace and a wider variety of roads consider the Naperville Bike Club and the Downers Grove Bike Club. If you want to ride from your front door you’ll find that the DGBC uses most of the bike-friendly roads in town. Also may want to check out the Lifetime Fitness Burr Ridge Cycle Group for some of the hills down south.
Great information, we have to be “almost” neighbors, I am on Lincoln near Elm, swim @ Good Sam.
Thank you for all the suggestions. I am excited for Saturday morning to come and try some of these out. Also, thank you for the swim idea at Good Sam, the next item on my list was to find a decent pool.