The Chainlink

Chicago to St Louis

My friend and I will be touring around the country this fall. Most of of our route is covered via Adventure Cycling maps. One specific segment from Chicago to St Louis though is unclear to me. Has anyone ever cycled between the two cities with a specific route in mind? Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on August 11, 2012 at 8:13pm
If biking, Take the MRT to the GIT. Otherwise lock the bike in St. Louis in a storage unit and take Amtrak to Chicago. A small storage unit can't be more than $50-$70, far cheaper than biking all the way to Chicago and back.
Permalink Reply by Alex on August 11, 2012 at 8:46pm

Have ridden most of it - using this - http://www.bikelib.org/maps-and-rides/route-guides/route-66-trail/ - as a general guide. If you take a route like this, be prepared for a lot of flat and straight riding through cornfields with painful headwinds and crosswinds that don't stop - though I liked having a chance to ride the Chain of Rocks bridge over the Mississippi (bike and peds only) and there is some nice riding through the Metro East area.

You can put bikes on Amtrak between St. Louis and Chicago, or any portion of the route for an extra $5-10 too, which is nice.

Permalink Reply by Larry Mysz on August 11, 2012 at 8:51pm

MRT to GRT ... or just ride the Illinois Route 66 trail ( http://www.bikelib.org/maps-and-rides/route-guides/route-66-trail/ ).

If you want to take the train, the Amtrak Illinois Service from St Louis to Chicago will let you roll your bike on board.  It only costs $10 for the bike. You have to make reservations for yourself and the bike, and the rules say you have to remove the front wheel and hoist the bike into the overhead luggage rack.  But some conductors will let you just roll the bike to a storage area at one end of the car and tie it down.

 

Note that it is the Illinois Service that allows roll-on bikes.  The Texas Eagle is an interstate route that also goes thru St Louas to Chicago, but it only takes boxed bikes as baggage.

Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on August 12, 2012 at 9:58am
That's COOL!



Larry Mysz said:

MRT to GRT ... or just ride the Illinois Route 66 trail ( http://www.bikelib.org/maps-and-rides/route-guides/route-66-trail/ ).

If you want to take the train, the Amtrak Illinois Service from St Louis to Chicago will let you roll your bike on board.  It only costs $10 for the bike. You have to make reservations for yourself and the bike, and the rules say you have to remove the front wheel and hoist the bike into the overhead luggage rack.  But some conductors will let you just roll the bike to a storage area at one end of the car and tie it down.

 

Note that it is the Illinois Service that allows roll-on bikes.  The Texas Eagle is an interstate route that also goes thru St Louas to Chicago, but it only takes boxed bikes as baggage.

Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on August 13, 2012 at 11:51am
Darn.
Permalink Reply by Jenn_5.5 mi on August 13, 2012 at 12:09pm

I plan/want to do a Route 66 Trail next summer. What a wonderful resource! My parents live on 66 in Staunton so that was my ideal stopping point (about 50 miles shy of STL). I will keep this in mind! Thanks Larry!

Larry Mysz said:

MRT to GRT ... or just ride the Illinois Route 66 trail ( http://www.bikelib.org/maps-and-rides/route-guides/route-66-trail/ ).

If you want to take the train, the Amtrak Illinois Service from St Louis to Chicago will let you roll your bike on board.  It only costs $10 for the bike. You have to make reservations for yourself and the bike, and the rules say you have to remove the front wheel and hoist the bike into the overhead luggage rack.  But some conductors will let you just roll the bike to a storage area at one end of the car and tie it down.

 

Note that it is the Illinois Service that allows roll-on bikes.  The Texas Eagle is an interstate route that also goes thru St Louas to Chicago, but it only takes boxed bikes as baggage.

Permalink Reply by Alex on August 13, 2012 at 12:46pm

Wouldn't want to depend on it 100%, but I've had luck with bus drivers allowing me to throw my bike in the baggage compartment below the bus on the IL Service during track construction. This was two years ago though. Also keep an eye out for the gigantic robot track-building monster that replaces existing tracks with high-speed capable tracks - very sci fi.

Could also probably ride up the MRT to Quincy and roll your bike onto the Carl Sandburg or the Illinois Zephyr to get to Chicago. Or conversely, take the train out of Union Station to Quincy then ride south on the MRT.

Or, you know, just ride your bike. Central IL, while flat, boring, windy, and full of annoying dogs that like to chase you, is pretty easy to navigate.

Cameron Puetz said:

Recently this particular Illinois Service route has had some bike blackouts due to buses being used on part of the route while the track is rebuilt. Call Amtrak and check your specific dates before planning on using this.

Larry Mysz said:

 

If you want to take the train, the Amtrak Illinois Service from St Louis to Chicago will let you roll your bike on board.  It only costs $10 for the bike. You have to make reservations for yourself and the bike, and the rules say you have to remove the front wheel and hoist the bike into the overhead luggage rack.  But some conductors will let you just roll the bike to a storage area at one end of the car and tie it down.

Permalink Reply by mark stetson on August 14, 2012 at 2:49am

The best route will depend on how much time you have for the trip and what you want to do.  I would avoid  Route 66 unless you were just looking for the fastest trip possible.   I'd do something like clp suggested if I had the time.  You could spend some time at Starved Rock, then follow the Illinois River.  Cross the Mississippi at Hannibal or Pike and come into St. Louis from the north.   The US54 bridge at Pike will probably have the lowest traffic of any of the options.  You can use Mapmyride to find specific roads in the general area you choose.  I found this route from Rushville into St. Louis by searching for rides near Beardstown:

 

www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/8126016

Permalink Reply by mark stetson on August 14, 2012 at 12:29pm

Yeah, the link was just meant as an example, I assumed that would be a pretty busy bridge.  I figured he could find other rides mapped in the areas he wants to travel through and link them together.

 

Good to know about the ferry.  Looks like you could also cross the Illinois River for free on the Brussels Ferry.  Pere Marquette State Park is right there on the east side of the river where the ferry crossses.  

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