Gary, IN?

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Permalink Reply by Amber K on April 22, 2010 at 8:18am

Thanks for the directions. Sounds interesting. I'm going to plan my route through Gary whenever I get a chance to ride to the Dunes.

Clark said:

Ridiculous! Bunch of 'fraidy cats....

Biking through Gary is one of the most interesting parts of the trip. I'm almost 70, and my wife is in her 50's. And we look forward to getting into Gary every year when we bike over to Union Pier, Michigan and back three days later.

Our route to Michigan generally follows US 12, right through Whiting, East Chicago and past the Gary airport. We always leave Lincoln Park before dawn and ride by streetlights through the city. Once in Indiana there's always a good rideable shoulder on Rt 12, and the traffic is light. Tho it IS gritty urban biking for the most part, with some commercial trucking. AND this is also the shortest, fastest route around the Lake.

Once you come over the Rt 12 bridge into the west side of Gary, continue south on Wabash St to 7th Av. going east. 4th and 5th Avenues are Rts 12 & 20...stay off them through Gary. On Seventh Avenue you actually are going through nice residential neighborhoods for a while until you hit downtown and all the abandoned buildings...which I find fascinating. The east side of Gary is pretty humble...there's usually few people on the street. But I wouldn't call it unsafe...just a low-income neighborhood. And anyway, before long you hook a left turn on MLK and you're back on Rt 12-20 heading for the respectable Miller Beach section of Gary. We always stop at the pancake house there on Rt 20 for breakfast...37 miles from home and about the halfway point of our trip! From there we take Stagecoach Road from County Line Road for the first rural section of our trip.

Yeah you see some different people and places on this route...but isn't that why we bike instead of drive? The pancake house has diverse customers...but they always remember us each year, and are super friendly. And there are gems in Gary to be discovered: On the way back, go instead to the Miller Bakery Cafe a block away in Miller Beach for one of the best gourmet meals you'll ever get in the midwest.

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Permalink Reply by Primitive Don on April 22, 2010 at 10:13am

Miller is pretty cool. I went to the MBC a few years back, and it was indeed a great meal.

Clark said:

And there are gems in Gary to be discovered: On the way back, go instead to the Miller Bakery Cafe a block away in Miller Beach for one of the best gourmet meals you'll ever get in the midwest.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on April 22, 2010 at 4:58pm

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