The Chainlink

3 Day tour/vacation ideas?

Does anyone have a good route or destination for a 3-day trip?  My girlfriend also cycles, so we're thinking of doing a light bike trip.  Something like riding out somewhere on a Friday, spending 2 nights, and riding home Sunday; or, going somewhere with good day routes and just riding those.  Small shops, restaurants, or other sites.  I think a decent hotel or  bed & breakfast atmosphere might be preferred to camping since neither of us have any gear with us at this point.  Paved trails and roads would be best as her bike only runs 25mm tires.  

Riding out to Starved Rock?
A few days riding near Lake Geneva?

Any suggestions?  I have a car rack and obviously the Metra can dump us outside the city -- so the trip doesn't need to be 100% bike-based.

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Permalink Reply by Kelly on June 16, 2010 at 7:31am
I hear Kettle Moraine in Wisconsin is amazing. I did it with my parents as a kid and don't remember too much, but they are always saying how they want to go back.

I also just came back from the Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton. You can take highway 12 (55 miles)or three trails Erie/lackawana, oak savanah, and prarie dunes (68 miles). All is doable by bike.

If you had your car and were interested in new scenery, the tour de shore has a plan of first the indiana dunes and then the warren dunes.

Zion has the Illinois state beach which is very nice too. That is about 53 miles by bike.
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on June 16, 2010 at 10:07am
New Glarus, Wi.

There's camping nearby at the Blue Mounds and Governer Dodge, and the road biking is bar none.
Permalink Reply by Joel on June 16, 2010 at 10:17am
Thanks for all of the ideas! Another thought was South Haven, MI which is a nice lake town with a number of things within a 25 mile biking radius to go explore.
Permalink Reply by millenial removing Bernie tattoo on June 16, 2010 at 11:27am
The Coach USA bus from Madison to Chicago (via Janesville and Beloit) will take bikes. Lots of great riding in every direction to/from Madison.
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on June 16, 2010 at 11:32am
That is great to know! Do you need to box it?

envane x said:
The Coach USA bus from Madison to Chicago (via Janesville and Beloit) will take bikes. Lots of great riding in every direction to/from Madison.
Permalink Reply by kathleen on June 16, 2010 at 11:43am
There is a nice looking charity ride that goes by Kettle Moraine in early August - http://www.cowalunga.com if you're into that kind of thing.
Permalink Reply by millenial removing Bernie tattoo on June 16, 2010 at 12:53pm
Nope. I stuck the whole rig panniers and all into the compartment.

Kelvin Mulcky said:
That is great to know! Do you need to box it?

envane x said:
The Coach USA bus from Madison to Chicago (via Janesville and Beloit) will take bikes. Lots of great riding in every direction to/from Madison.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on June 16, 2010 at 1:40pm
I heard the Elroy Sparta Trail is nice.
Permalink Reply by JeffB on June 16, 2010 at 1:41pm
Yeah, I used this too and was able to just stick my bike in the luggage compartment. Its also nice because its a regular daily schedule and you don't buy tickets in advance, just pay on the bus. I know it by the name Van Galder (http://www.coachusa.com/vangalder/)

envane x said:
The Coach USA bus from Madison to Chicago (via Janesville and Beloit) will take bikes. Lots of great riding in every direction to/from Madison.
Permalink Reply by JeffB on June 16, 2010 at 2:05pm
Its great. Its part of 4 connected trails that go 100 miles from Reedsburg, WI (3.5 hours drive from Chicago) to the Mississippi. Check out http://www.bike4trails.com/.

All crushed, packed gravel trails, very well maintained and flat. They're all rails-to-trails conversions. I think the Elroy-Sparta section was actually one of the first such conversions.

I always recommend these trails to anyone looking to bike in WI. The great thing about the Elroy-Sparta section are the three railroad tunnels you go through. One of which is a half-mile long. Except for the lights at the ends, they're pitch-black; walk your bike thru.

Lots of small towns along the way. Be sure to stop at Gina's Pies are Square in Wilton if you go. And if you lose interest in the straight, flat trail, you can always detour onto the county rds that run along side.

Julie Hochstadter said:
I heard the Elroy Sparta Trail is nice.

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