so I think I am finally going to attempt to ride on streets with my tri bike- getting really tired of the trainer and the path is always a joke other than from 5am-7am… I live downtown on the lake with no car so will have to ride out of the city. thinking of taking the path north to the end of it and jumping on Devon west to Ridge Rd and taking it up the Green Bay Road north to Lake Forest and them back down Sheridan Rd to Ridge and back down the path home… Is this a pretty doable route on a tri bike (dont have a road bike)?
Doable, although the short section where Green Bay meets Ridge, bikes are not allowed. it…
What most riders do is take the path north and exit on Ardmore. Avoid Sheridan until Devon, so take a side street until after Devon then you can follow Sheridan, Green Bay, Old Green Bay, and other routes, all the way to Highland Park, Lake Forest, even Kenosha if you’re doing really long rides.
If you’re interested, a group of triathletes, me included, ride every Saturday morning (3 hours or more), starting from Evanston. I can give you the starting point if interested. You can ride north, meet us, and ride with us as long as you want. Plan is to ride up to Highland Park and Fort Sheridan and do loops there at higher intensity. Others are doing bricks up there and you’re welcome to join in too. Its a nice group of all levels, with some pretty speedy bikers.
thanks for the pointers! I didnt realize there was a section of green bay that was closed to bikes- glad I posed the question. Where and when to you all meet?
I live right off of Sheridan, in Rogers Park, so we can meet up there and we can ride to Evanston, the meeting spot, and beyond. Send me a private message for the details.
FYI, ride starts at 7am, so if like to sleep in it might be a problem.
Doable, although the short section where Green Bay meets Ridge, bikes are not allowed. it…
What most riders do is take the path north and exit on Ardmore. Avoid Sheridan until Devon, so take a side street until after Devon then you can follow Sheridan, Green Bay, Old Green Bay, and other routes, all the way to Highland Park, Lake Forest, even Kenosha if you’re doing really long rides.
If you’re interested, a group of triathletes, me included, ride every Saturday morning (3 hours or more), starting from Evanston. I can give you the starting point if interested. You can ride north, meet us, and ride with us as long as you want. Plan is to ride up to Highland Park and Fort Sheridan and do loops there at higher intensity. Others are doing bricks up there and you’re welcome to join in too. Its a nice group of all levels, with some pretty speedy bikers.
Would love to get the starting point and ride with you guys as well if the offer is open. I’ve only got about 3 more episodes left to finish off Deadwood…so I shudder to think what I’ll be watching should I be on the trainer after this weekend…
Seriously though I know your not offering to be a personal guide but I’d love to meet up and join for a while. Any chance there is a ride happening this coming Monday?
Not a problem at all. The more the merrier. I can even share a GPS Garmin file of the route so you can follow it on your own or know where to go if you get dropped or lost.
Send me a private message for the details. There is another group ride on Tuesdays, but the main ride is on Saturdays. During the week, we mostly ride on our own.
This route goes from North from Wicker Park to Highland Park (gets much nicer after that). http://www.xxxracing.org/index.php?/pages/ride/
I see the XXX riders out there all the time. Actually rode back with them last week. Speedy group and nice, but no aerobars/tri bikes allowed in group rides. Their route is very similar to ours though so definitely a good option.
Oh? I’m a member of the team and when I go on the group ride, I bring my TT bike. Obviously, can’t be in aero bars unless you’re pulling. There are some decent riders, including a few cat2s, that usually go and keep things interesting.
My bad, I just assumed it wasn’t allowed. Cool to know tri bikes are ok. There are other roadies that are very bitchy about aerobars and tri bikes.
You could also always take the Metra in any direction (you can get on the Green Bay trail at the Wilmette stop I believe and for sure by Winnetka, if memory serves me) or the Purple line to Linden which will drop you off close to Sheridan which you can hop on (mildly dangerous IMO due to the car drivers) or go over and catch the GB trail. The trail can be lonely or you have to weave around some people walking their dogs, but it is not crowded. Be very cognizant if Ravinia is playing that night because it can become a cluster of nonsense. All that said I’m new to the sport so I don’t know if those would be good training rides, but the trail goes all the way to Wisconsin, is pretty, has water and little downtowns close to the trail and most importantly is not the lake shore path which I ran on today and was an absolute zoo.
I second XXX, I was in the club back when I lived in the city. Their route is posted on their website: http://www.xxxracing.org/index.php?/pages/ride/. Great group to ride with. The saturday morning ride is fun and social. Tri bikes are allowed; but as mentioned, they are all roadies. Strongly recommend road bike when riding with the group. Take your tri bike later on your own when you learn the route.
Oh? I’m a member of the team and when I go on the group ride, I bring my TT bike. Obviously, can’t be in aero bars unless you’re pulling. There are some decent riders, including a few cat2s, that usually go and keep things interesting.
Folks,
Someone was just nice enough to point me to this thread. Are there any weekday group rides in the early AM from downtown (similar to this XXX ride?) I’m going to be out there next week and am looking for a good ride off the path.
Thanks in advance!
Starky and Ben Collins do weekday rides out of Starky’s place in Waconda. 80-100 miles at a 21 mph average pace. I’ve been joining those lately. Does that interest you?
There’s also the Chicago Cycling Club that does a Wednesday night ride out of some coffee shop in Evanston.
Alternatively, there’s a 5 mile stretch on the South Lakefront trail (b/n McCormick Place and Hyde Park) that’s relatively clear between 6-7:30 in the morning. I personally use that for 20 minute threshold efforts.
The Wednesday CCC ride leaves Dunkin Donuts on California and Lincoln at 6:30. It’s all roadies and TT bikes are not allowed. It ends at PK’s pantry which is a bit further east from the start where everyone has a beer or two. The ride is about 50 miles from downtown.
For TT bikes, I recommend heading out solo or in a small group; take it easy until you get out of the city - it’s not worth the risk. Once you’re in the burbs, it opens up a bit and you’ll be able to put in an effort in the aero position. The northern burbs is the default area for all riders coming out of the city.