Chicago West Suburbs Cycling

kmunny19 · Sep 12, 2012

looking for places for good, training rides, in the west suburbs. Staying in Lombard, where I used to live, but was not then a cyclist, so I only have some vague ideas of what may be good places.

unfortunately, I'm looking for the unlikely...good long stretches of road, with few intersections and less car traffic. Any set aside bike areas, or Good MUT's that one can actually ride at decent speed on that people know of would be great.

Arch Itech · Sep 13, 2012

I live a little bit north of you in Roselle. There's a nice route from the Roselle Metra station to busse woods and back. Other than that, most of the roads around me aren't incredibly busy, given you ride them at the right time.

Bawlzout · Sep 13, 2012

Im north of you in Arlington Hieghts. I just started cyling this summer and got bored real quick with Busse Woods, and Palatine bike path. Wanted to find something new and explore some terrain. The whole time i have been using the Mapmyride app. Started playing around with it and found that you can view different routes that people upload near your area. Plus you can set the mileage. Me and friend wanted to try a half century so I plugged in 50miles and hit Nearby Routes. Found a nice one that took us North to Deerfield rd. than east to Sheridan than we just headed south all the way to Navy Pier. By then it was getting dark so we headed to Union Station and hopped on the Metra Home. Exactly 50.74miles when we boarded train.

Route was great, only a few short sketchy parts of road with heavy traffic. Sheridan was awesome. Then once we hit Hollywood we jumped on the bike path along the beach. Best bike ride all summer.

Already found some nice routes for the future in all directions. I'd check out that app. Once I see the roads I go to google maps satellite mode to see what I'm dealing with. If not, and I were you I'd say head South, or West.

tschmitzify · Sep 30, 2012

Gotta go out west of Randall Road

But if you don't want to drive out here ride Warrenville Rd (4 lanes and pretty light traffic given it parallels the tollway) into Warrenville then right on Batavia Rd into and thru Fermi. Then cut thru Batavia and head west on Main St or McKee St/Wenmoth (right)/Fabyan (left)/Hughes Rd (right) or Keslinger. Once out past Rte 47 it REALLY gets wide open and you ride for miles with little traffic, good roads, few hills and just wind to deal with.

From here in Batavia u also can launch NW to St Charles (west of Randall again) to actually Campton; or SW to Aurora and West to Big Rock. Outstanding. Don't tell anyone!

Haagis58 · Apr 29, 2013

Renewing this thread - I'm in the Western 'burbs and would also like to know of any longer, paved trails.

Robert1 · Apr 29, 2013

You can't beat the cenntenial trail that runs about 12.5 miles from Romeoville to Willow springs. Because it's in between the canal and the Desplaines river there are no cross streets. The only roads that cross are I-355, Lemont Rd, and Route 83, but those are all bridges that cross above. You can get on there and do a 25 mile round trip 20+ mph TT. Because there is not a lot of easy access in between the number of pedestrians if very, very light if any.

tihsepa · Apr 29, 2013

Haagis58 said:
Renewing this thread - I'm in the Western 'burbs and would also like to know of any longer, paved trails.

Send me a PM or a email. I am in the far west burbs and have a ton of good roads.
Rode 60 miles Sunday. All paved. Got passed by less than 10 cars each direction.

Haagis58 · May 7, 2013

Has anyone ridden the Illinois Prairie Path? It's 61 miles of crushed limestone. I'm wondering if it's suitable for riding a road bike on. Illinois Prairie Path. North America's first successful rails-to-trails conversion. Founded 1963.

Haagis58 · May 7, 2013

Also, does anyone commute to work near me? I'm going to try commuting between Naperville and Oakbrook this week.

bike_meister · May 8, 2013

Haagis58 said:
Also, does anyone commute to work near me? I'm going to try commuting between Naperville and Oakbrook this week.

Haagis-

Check out our bike club website Elmhurst Bicycle Club Home Page If you drill down far enough, you may find a cue sheet that meets your commuting needs.

BTW, the Prarie Path is OK for a road bike, but many of us don't use it due to the effects of crushed limestone on drive trains and a lot of pedestrian traffic.

headloss · May 8, 2013

Road bikes on crushed limestone are fine so long as you have 28mm or wider tires. I haven't noticed any increased drivetrain deterioration, but my tires always look nice and powdery white afterwords so there is definitely no shortage of dust. I don't find that pedestrian traffic is all that bad on the Prairie Path and manage to ride two abreast greater than 50% of the time.

The roads near Fermi Labs which is right off of the Prairie Path are usually nice and quiet.

The Salt Creek Trail stretches from Busse to Woodfield and the majority of it is paved... there are a couple rough patches near Elmhurst.

There is a bicycle group at MeetUP that seems to focus on the Western burbs.

Re: Naperville to Oakbrook, I've taken Warrenville Rd to 53 to Butterfield and it wasn't too terribly bad; there are plenty of side streets along the way to avoid traffic. Maple isn't all that bad either except for the mess in Lisle where it crosses 53. You can also plot out a route that roughly runs parallel to the Metra line.

I was living in Lisle for a while and most of the Google suggested bicycle routes were acceptable in that area.

Pirx · May 8, 2013

You can also check out the ride calendar of the Naperville Bicycle Club. They offer everything from easy recovery rides all the way to their "Blur" rides, where you can try to hang with active racers...

Haagis58 · May 8, 2013

I ended up taking 75th to Hobson Road along the Southern Dupage County Trail...which admittedly I didn't even know existed...to Meyers Road to Butterfield. The ride was fantastic! I went over streams and near ponds, thru a forest preserve, both gravel and paved paths, and crushed the time Google Maps estimated. Now all I have to do is make sure I have enough energy to make it home after work!

bike_meister said:
Haagis-

Check out our bike club website Elmhurst Bicycle Club Home Page If you drill down far enough, you may find a cue sheet that meets your commuting needs.

BTW, the Prarie Path is OK for a road bike, but many of us don't use it due to the effects of crushed limestone on drive trains and a lot of pedestrian traffic.

meister - thank you for the link to the Elmhurst club, I will check it out today!

headloss said:
Road bikes on crushed limestone are fine so long as you have 28mm or wider tires. I haven't noticed any increased drivetrain deterioration, but my tires always look nice and powdery white afterwords so there is definitely no shortage of dust. I don't find that pedestrian traffic is all that bad on the Prairie Path and manage to ride two abreast greater than 50% of the time.

The roads near Fermi Labs which is right off of the Prairie Path are usually nice and quiet.

The Salt Creek Trail stretches from Busse to Woodfield and the majority of it is paved... there are a couple rough patches near Elmhurst.

There is a bicycle group at MeetUP that seems to focus on the Western burbs.

Re: Naperville to Oakbrook, I've taken Warrenville Rd to 53 to Butterfield and it wasn't too terribly bad; there are plenty of side streets along the way to avoid traffic. Maple isn't all that bad either except for the mess in Lisle where it crosses 53. You can also plot out a route that roughly runs parallel to the Metra line.

I was living in Lisle for a while and most of the Google suggested bicycle routes were acceptable in that area.

headloss - thank you for the tips and route suggestions, I will try these on future commutes to/from work, or just for leisure on the weekend. It turns out there are more options than I assumed, which is great. Were you a part of any bike club when you lived in Lisle?

Pirx said:
You can also check out the ride calendar of the Naperville Bicycle Club. They offer everything from easy recovery rides all the way to their "Blur" rides, where you can try to hang with active racers...

Pirx - I have checked out the NBC website several times but just haven't felt like I'd be up to snuff to join their ranks. I just started cycling at the beginning of last month, for the first time ever, and I want to make sure I can ride 30+ miles solo before I start riding with a group (to avoid embarrassment, improper etiquette, bonking, etc.). Thank you for the link and suggestion!

headloss · May 8, 2013

Wow, talk about a glaring typo in my above comment... was supposed to say Busse to Brookfield (not Woodfield, which would be an incredibly short ride).

I didn't join any clubs when I was living in Lisle, as I simply didn't have the time to participate. I kept meaning to sign up with the Naperville club but I was stretched to thin to even do that at the time. Search their website, the club rides are on a calendar and range from slow to fast... you don't need to be experienced to participate in a slower ride. Many skills are better learned from others.

The rides posted on MeetUp tend to be more than geared towards new riders. Another good approach is to participate in formal rides such as the 4star, LateRide, and BikeTheDrive.

But, the best way to get up to snuff is to just get out there. Granted, it needs to be an appropriate group.

I might join the Elmhurst club this summer, as I'm currently living near Addison. At the moment, I'm just solo riding because one of my road bikes is in PA and the other is missing a wheel... so I'm stuck with my hybrid.

Haagis58 · May 24, 2013

I haven't joined a group yet, but I'll be riding in the Udder Century (MCBC) put on by the McHenry Country Bike Club on June 2nd...my goal is to complete the metric century.

I've taken the Illinois Prairie Path three times now, between Naperville and Oakbrook, and it's been great. I'll be taking it again this afternoon back to Naperville. I experienced my first flat this morning, at mile 10 of 26. Thank you to the lady riding a GT mountain bike for stopping and lending me some CO2...I ran out of the cartridge I carried with me.

headloss · May 25, 2013

June 2nd... I forgot about that one. If I can make that ride, I'll look you up!
No real trick to riding a century, especially if it has pit stops along the way. Make sure, at the least, you take a few energy bars incase you run out of gas along the ride.

Pirx · May 25, 2013

Haole-Maole said:
I was just wondering: What are folk's thoughts on riding solo _via_ Route 59 from Naperville to Bolingbrook? I underlined _via_ 'cause I already know you can't take Route 59 all the way -- point-to-point -- between the two. Route 59 is kind of a Mount Everest for me. It's kind of like I want to ride it, just because it's there. LOL!

Whatever you do, avoid Rte 59. It's like a highway, at least four-lane, and six-lane in places. Plus, depending on the time of day, vehicle traffic is crazy there. You don't ride that road, certainly not during those high-traffic times, unless you have a death wish...

tihsepa · May 25, 2013

59 is bad untill north of 64 then there is a shoulder. I think that goes away in Bartlett somewhere.

headloss · May 25, 2013

I try to avoid 59... even when driving!

mxred91 · May 26, 2013

You can go over Rt 59 south of 95th and take primarily paved path all the way to Bolingbrook. I guess it depends where you are starting in Naperville, but there are many bike paths. I use MapmyRide it shows available paths
BB to Naperville in Bolingbrook, IL | MapMyRide
Chuck S

Chicago West Suburbs Cycling

kmunny19

Arch Itech

Bawlzout

tschmitzify

Haagis58

Robert1

tihsepa

Haagis58

Haagis58

bike_meister

headloss

Pirx

Haagis58

headloss

Haagis58

headloss

Pirx

tihsepa

headloss

mxred91

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