Cycling Advocates Ride to Pro Walk Pro Bike 2006

from Vancouver B.C. to Madison, Wisconsin

Date: 2006-09-13

We didn’t have any idea which was the quietest route in to Chicago, so we decided to use Waukegan Rd. We missed the freeway exit, so we had to double back on a side road, take a path through the bushes and carry our bikes over two sets of tracks. I stopped and talked to a police patrol car. He told us about a nice paved rail trail that would take us part way. At the abrupt end of that trail we decided to stop for lunch. We also happened upon a bike shop. He didn’t have any bike maps left, but when they heard where we were cycling from, they wanted a picture of us with their staff. The manager was also very helpful with directions to a paved forest trail that would take us near downtown. It was an enjoyable ride, but again, it wound around little lakes and through the forests. It was interesting to note that there was a separate gravel horse trail paralleling the bike path… even separate bridges for the horses. We then had to navigate the Chicago streets westward to the airport. Very few of them had any bike facilities, even though they were shown on the map as bike routes. The rush hour traffic had started. We have found this is not a good time to be cycling on streets without bike lanes. Drivers are a lot less polite when they are heading home. We arrived at our hotel around 4 PM. Chicago at last! This will be the last day of riding on my trip. I will spend the next two days walking around downtown Chicago and visiting friends. Then I will fly back to beautiful Vancouver. Jack plans to take the Amtrak to Santa Fe and continue his journey.