The Chainlink

Anyone Wanna Ride to Indiana Dunes?

I'm thinking we could leave early on a Saturday, stay the night, and then head back Sunday afternoon. It's about 50 miles, so probably take 5 hours or so. I've never ridden it, so if anyone has a path or suggestions, post em!

Maybe last weekend in May or First in June...?

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Permalink Reply by joe on May 26, 2009 at 8:50am
yeah..like i said. i dont get out till 10ish...so ill be a tad late. but ill be there.

Brett Ratner said:
Everyone still on for the meet-and-greet tomorrow night at Estelle's?

joe said:
haha.

arman said:
just follow the lines of coke...

joe said:
its in wicker park...i belive on north ave. a couple doors west of damen. or somthing like that.

Juan Dominguez said:
Where is Estelles?
Permalink Reply by igz on May 26, 2009 at 8:59am
a notion to July...im wanting a ride to Glacial Park, Chain o Lakes or Moraine Hills. What y'all think of that or will the lot of yas prefer another Dunes trip?
Permalink Reply by shar on May 26, 2009 at 9:55am
yea, i'm still planin on it

Brett Ratner said:
Everyone still on for the meet-and-greet tomorrow night at Estelle's?

joe said:
haha.

arman said:
just follow the lines of coke...

joe said:
its in wicker park...i belive on north ave. a couple doors west of damen. or somthing like that.

Juan Dominguez said:
Where is Estelles?
Permalink Reply by pistola on May 26, 2009 at 9:55am
Sign me up for a July trip as well. Moraine Hills is a cool park, a great place to have a picnic, but there's no camping there. Glacial Park looks really interesting as well, never been there. Wouldn't mind checking that out.
Permalink Reply by joe on May 26, 2009 at 1:27pm
new all the recent riders comming along...plz go rsvp on the event page.
make it easier to get and accurate #. and if you could. please come out to the meet and greet tonight @ estelle's in wicker park, 2013 W North Ave. at 9pm.
Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on May 26, 2009 at 3:14pm
I'm probably going to go to the meeting tonight and can't make up my mind on the trip in June, but I'd definitely go for a trip in July. I recently went up to the Chain O' Lakes state park and did a camping trip in late April. The weather was bad, but the park was nice and they seemed to appreciate bikers. They also have canoe and boat rental which would be fun.

The roads up to the park are a little intimidating, though did the slingshot trick with the metra (it's only 5 miles from the Fox Lake stop and 10 from the Antioch stop). I had investigated other routes to get there and it should be pretty doable, though traffic is a little fast and many roads are one lane with no shoulders.

If we go there in July I know that there are some near-by orchards that should have you-pick cherries available.
Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on May 26, 2009 at 6:24pm
I don't wanna go to the dunes twice. I'd rather go somewhere new.

Any of those spots sound good.

iggi said:
a notion to July...im wanting a ride to Glacial Park, Chain o Lakes or Moraine Hills. What y'all think of that or will the lot of yas prefer another Dunes trip?
Permalink Reply by John Beck on May 26, 2009 at 11:28pm
Hey guys, I tried this the past two summers by myself and failed both times, so I thought I'd share some tips.

As with general touring, mount all you can to your bike, nothing on your back.

I didn't really spend time making up a route, just took the lakefront path to the end, then bushwhacked. There's some trail down there, but it only heads straight south, so it's not really useful.

One strange thing I found on the way is Marktown Park, IN. It's this little town surrounded by oil smelters. Check it out on google maps.

Gary is pretty rough looking. There are burned down houses still standing, one with a tree growing in it, if I remember. Make sure to cruise through a neighborhood to the north of 5th ave. Also, Broadway street downtown is like a time capsule of 50s-70s era storefronts. All out of business. There's a theater still advertising the Jackson 5 down there (their hometown).

If your bike breaks down like mine did, there's the south shore line train that runs from the dunes to millenium park. Unfortunately they're not bike friendly. The first time they were kicking an incoherent drunken chinese man off the train, having him arrested, and with this distraction I snuck on with my bike. The second time I wrapped my bike up with dumpstered plastic, since I read they allowed bikes in bags, then u-locked it together as a package. This wasn't legit either, but also got me home. So I recommend pretending to not know the rule, and probably just have one person per train.

Have a great time, wish I could make it!
Permalink Reply by brandon lee* on May 27, 2009 at 1:16am
sorry i couldn't make the meet and greet. got thursday and friday off though if anyone is interested in meeting up and filling me in. or just message me on here if you could. much appreciated. maybe see some of you at mass. hope all the planning went well.
Permalink Reply by joe on May 27, 2009 at 1:29am
i think brandon was scared of gettin wet!! kiddin. i think shar has most of the stuff writtin down. i got there late. . . but she filled me in. im leavin friday with brett, lindz and some other person i cant recall.

brandon lee* said:
sorry i couldn't make the meet and greet. got thursday and friday off though if anyone is interested in meeting up and filling me in. or just message me on here if you could. much appreciated. maybe see some of you at mass. hope all the planning went well.
Permalink Reply by Amy Rohland on May 27, 2009 at 7:21am
Okay...so the meeting records :)
We have a count of people going. If you have not rsvped yes or no, please do so on the event page. We need a final list.
*Peeps going on Friday:
Brett, Anne, Lindsay, and Joe
*Peeps going on Saturday:
Erick(iggi), Shar, Brandon, Jim, Juan......
Driving on Saturday:
Jami and Rachel
*Jami will be driving over on Saturday evening and his taking camping supplies for anyone who does not want to tote them on their backs.
If you want Jami to haul your stuff for you please contact her @ jami@balloonbiker.com b4 that Friday June 5th and make accomodations to get your stuff to her.

*We have 3 campsites reserved and paid for. $150 put out so far. Sites 44,46 and 139. We have 2-3 two man tents and a couple hammocks... Erick and myself are looking into borrowing 4-6 man tents from some friends of ours... just so we don't have to rent from REI.
However, Lindsay is still looking into that route as well.

*Anne and Brett have offered to grab some liquor and juices/soda and a couple snacks when down there on Saturday while the rest of us are riding up to the park.
*It is a non-alcoholic state park so use your discretion and feel free to bring what you want in your back packs during the ride.
*As for food... we'll figure it out when we get to the campsite.. but there will be a couple snacks when the second group arrives. We'll get fire wood at the state park. On Saturday night we'll add up all the costs and divey it up between anyone who is there.

*Anyone else that wants to leave on Friday as well please let Lindsay, Brett, Anne or Joe know.

*On Sunday... if anyone does not want to ride all the way back to the city.. you can go to Flossmore to catch a train back.

I'm putting this on the event page as well

Good seeing most of you last night. This trip looks like it is shaping up nicely! Look forward to seeing any of you in the next week or so at various rides.
Till then...
Permalink Reply by shar on May 27, 2009 at 7:24am
Sorry you guys.. i was on someone elses screen....
I posted that long as letter about last night

Amy Rohland said:
Okay...so the meeting records :)
We have a count of people going. If you have not rsvped yes or no, please do so on the event page. We need a final list.
*Peeps going on Friday:
Brett, Anne, Lindsay, and Joe
*Peeps going on Saturday:
Erick(iggi), Shar, Brandon, Jim, Juan......
Driving on Saturday:
Jami and Rachel
*Jami will be driving over on Saturday evening and his taking camping supplies for anyone who does not want to tote them on their backs.
If you want Jami to haul your stuff for you please contact her @ jami@balloonbiker.com b4 that Friday June 5th and make accomodations to get your stuff to her.

*We have 3 campsites reserved and paid for. $150 put out so far. Sites 44,46 and 139. We have 2-3 two man tents and a couple hammocks... Erick and myself are looking into borrowing 4-6 man tents from some friends of ours... just so we don't have to rent from REI.
However, Lindsay is still looking into that route as well.

*Anne and Brett have offered to grab some liquor and juices/soda and a couple snacks when down there on Saturday while the rest of us are riding up to the park.
*It is a non-alcoholic state park so use your discretion and feel free to bring what you want in your back packs during the ride.
*As for food... we'll figure it out when we get to the campsite.. but there will be a couple snacks when the second group arrives. We'll get fire wood at the state park. On Saturday night we'll add up all the costs and divey it up between anyone who is there.

*Anyone else that wants to leave on Friday as well please let Lindsay, Brett, Anne or Joe know.

*On Sunday... if anyone does not want to ride all the way back to the city.. you can go to Flossmore to catch a train back.

I'm putting this on the event page as well

Good seeing most of you last night. This trip looks like it is shaping up nicely! Look forward to seeing any of you in the next week or so at various rides.
Till then...

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