best biking routes out of south loop

i work at wabash + adams and am wondering if anyone has suggestions for a good biking route out of downtown toward the uk village. right now i take adams to dearborn... and dearborn to randolph. (and so on).

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Permalink Reply by Noel Cunningham on May 28, 2009 at 8:28pm

SERIOUSLY!
rotflol.

kevin, i'm going to try that route too.

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Permalink Reply by JKT on May 28, 2009 at 9:04pm

I second the Canal > Kinzie > Milwaukee... route that Kevin mentioned, although I'll have to try Adams > Franklin > Kinzie... one of these days.

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Permalink Reply by payton on May 28, 2009 at 9:34pm

keep experimenting... I'm okay with Canal and Franklin, but those streets are fast (Canal less so, but many more double parkers) and a lot of people would justly be intimidated by taking the lane on Franklin. note that Franklin does not intersect Kinzie at grade: you'll need to use that little ramp through the Apparel Mart. also, why not use Jefferson instead of Canal? no bike lane, but way fewer cabs.

I used to work at Dearborn & Jackson and live at Damen & Iowa. I would often take Van Buren west -- it's amazingly quiet for being right downtown -- all the way to Morgan (1000W), then Morgan north to Hubbard to just short of Damen, and use some odd little streets to finish. all very quiet streets. using Milwaukee just from Kinzie to (e.g.) Chicago doesn't really cut much time or distance off your route, so I wouldn't bother with its crowds and frenzied six-corner intersections.

for the ride in, I also worked at Wabash & Washington once upon a time. I'd use Kinzie to cut across River North, then hustle up the IBM Building steps and head south on Wabash.

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Permalink Reply by Noel Cunningham on May 28, 2009 at 9:44pm

on the way in, i take damen south to warren... warren turns into washington... washington to halsted... halsted to jackson. it's a whole lot longer, but it's such a nice quiet ride and there are lanes all the way until jackson which is really nice.