Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on March 27, 2012 at 5:47pm

Go Pete!

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 27, 2012 at 6:11pm

Hey, kids, it's Mr. PP!!!!

I think this advice from Lauren still stands:

1. take 51st west to Drexel.
2. go north on Drexel until either Oakwood (if you prefer bike lanes, albeit with plenty of bumps, nice old houses and tree-lined streets) or 43rd (a bit smoother, not much car traffic, kinda barren, wide lanes but no bike markings). i prefer oakwood, but it does entail either a short sidewalk-jog around a fountain, or cutting over a block early.
3. go west on Oakwood (or 43rd) to King Drive
4. north on King until 35th
5. west on 35th two short blocks to Giles
6. north on Giles to 33rd
7. west on 33rd to Halsted (i posit that 33rd is the absolute best east-west cross through the bridgeport/bronzeville area. it has slower/less traffic than both 31 and 35, and it has a marked sharrow. 31st is kinda desolate, while 35th has plenty of activity but not necessarily the kind you'd want to ride your bike through. 33rd, on the other hand, has a lot of tree-lined, residential, IIT-campus kinda riding.)
8. north on Halsted to Milwaukee/Grand
9. NW on Milwaukee to Logan Square

Except I'd only take Halsted up to maybe Kinzie, jog to Hubbard via Green, and then take Damen home.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 28, 2012 at 12:47am

Overall, that's a really great route.  I'd suggest 2 minor changes. 

1.  Right now pavement under the railroad viaduct on 33rd is in rough shape.  Either 35th or 31st is a smoother ride.  I've ridden all of the strees recently.  You'll see the most traffic on 35th, but it has the smoothest pavement.  Whenever they repave that rough section of 33rd, it would become my #1 east-west choice in this area - more attractive, residential, less traffic.

2.  Halsted through Greektown tends to be really really slow - stoplights at every intersection, lots of stopping traffic (valet parking for restaurants, cabs, etc.).  If this really drives you nuts, you might try Peoria as an alternate route from Grand to either Harrison (heavier traffic but avoids bad expansion joints on Halsted bridge over the Ike) or Jackson (or Van Buren on the northbound trip).

On the reverse, I'd suggest a similar detour, then pick up Howard's suggestion - taking Hubbard west to Damen, then north.

h' said:

Hey, kids, it's Mr. PP!!!!

I think this advice from Lauren still stands:

1. take 51st west to Drexel.
2. go north on Drexel until either Oakwood (if you prefer bike lanes, albeit with plenty of bumps, nice old houses and tree-lined streets) or 43rd (a bit smoother, not much car traffic, kinda barren, wide lanes but no bike markings). i prefer oakwood, but it does entail either a short sidewalk-jog around a fountain, or cutting over a block early.
3. go west on Oakwood (or 43rd) to King Drive
4. north on King until 35th
5. west on 35th two short blocks to Giles
6. north on Giles to 33rd
7. west on 33rd to Halsted (i posit that 33rd is the absolute best east-west cross through the bridgeport/bronzeville area. it has slower/less traffic than both 31 and 35, and it has a marked sharrow. 31st is kinda desolate, while 35th has plenty of activity but not necessarily the kind you'd want to ride your bike through. 33rd, on the other hand, has a lot of tree-lined, residential, IIT-campus kinda riding.)
8. north on Halsted to Milwaukee/Grand
9. NW on Milwaukee to Logan Square

Except I'd only take Halsted up to maybe Kinzie, jog to Hubbard via Green, and then take Damen home.

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Permalink Reply by JeffB on March 28, 2012 at 4:00am

The LFP is certainly your best bet in the morning.  And even in the evening, a good chunk of your northbound ride will be south of downtown, so at least that portion won't be as crowded.  And I think riding thru those north-side LFP crowds is still preferrable to street traffic; you'll just have to exercise more patience.

But if you don't want to deal with them, get off at Roosevelt, take it to Jefferson, to Fulton, to Des Plaines, to Milwaukee, to Elston, to Damen

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Permalink Reply by Mr.PP on March 28, 2012 at 3:18pm

Thanks, h' and Anne, for the route recommendations. And thanks, Jeff, for the time estimates.  I'm a patient rider by nature. However, the combination of the longer commute plus my significant popularity as a man about town will likely result in the need to get back north as fast as possible in the evening with some regularity.  I'll have to do some testing.

Thanks again!

JeffB said:

The LFP is certainly your best bet in the morning.  And even in the evening, a good chunk of your northbound ride will be south of downtown, so at least that portion won't be as crowded.  And I think riding thru those north-side LFP crowds is still preferrable to street traffic; you'll just have to exercise more patience.

But if you don't want to deal with them, get off at Roosevelt, take it to Jefferson, to Fulton, to Des Plaines, to Milwaukee, to Elston, to Damen

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Permalink Reply by Gerry G on March 28, 2012 at 4:14pm

+ 1↓

JeffB said:

The LFP is certainly your best bet in the morning.  And even in the evening, a good chunk of your northbound ride will be south of downtown, so at least that portion won't be as crowded.  

But if you don't want to deal with them, get off at Roosevelt, take it to Jefferson, to Fulton, to Des Plaines, to Milwaukee, to Elston, to Damen

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Permalink Reply by A.K.A Paul on March 28, 2012 at 5:42pm

Welcome Pete!

See you tomorrow (Yes, I'm "That" Paul).

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