Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Elliot Bennett on April 20, 2010 at 6:19am

Here is the route I took last summer to Muskegon MI. It was a great route, and it avoided Gary for some very nice scenic bike trails...

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/il/chicago/750200588341

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michelle Green on April 20, 2010 at 6:30am

Remy, didn't we learn our lesson That Fateful Night? Remember how we threw caution to the wind and went to Gary anyway? Remember how much danger we were in? While we saw literally not another living soul? Except that cat bike guard? And whoever was driving that minivan?

GARY OR BUST

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joe TV on April 20, 2010 at 6:38am

I've never ridden through Gary, on purpose. I did however quite enjoy the bike trails south of there. Plus its an excuse to go to Three Floyds. I'm with Elliot.

I'd guess my map is quite similar to his.

http://www.mapmyride.com/run/united-states/il/chicago/3431241767679...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Primitive Don on April 20, 2010 at 8:18am

+1 on the routes suggested. There are some recently constructed trails through the area that will avoid Gary and other urban areas. As a cyclist I'd more concerned about speeding traffic on Hwy 12 going through Gary than I would about other aspects of safety. 12 also runs through the steel mill areas in Porter County, so you would need to seriously look out for semis.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on April 20, 2010 at 8:36am

No idea on biking it but do some research on your route and stick to routes people have used before.

I spend a lot of time in Gary for work and have done a lot of urban exploration there and like any other city Gary is made up of many areas of varying degrees of sketchiness. However it seems to me that most of Gary is sketchy as hell; I would make sure it was a say time trip and stick to proven routes not just for safety but because the roads there are HORRIBLE and there are huge coil trucks everywhere.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Patrick O'Connor on April 20, 2010 at 11:42am

Seconding this due to working in Gary.

notoriousDUG said:

No idea on biking it but do some research on your route and stick to routes people have used before.

I spend a lot of time in Gary for work and have done a lot of urban exploration there and like any other city Gary is made up of many areas of varying degrees of sketchiness. However it seems to me that most of Gary is sketchy as hell; I would make sure it was a say time trip and stick to proven routes not just for safety but because the roads there are HORRIBLE and there are huge coil trucks everywhere.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on April 20, 2010 at 11:49am

Avoiding Gary like the others suggested will add hours to your day. How far are you going your first day? Camping in the dunes? If so that's already a long day.

If you're riding around the lake you're going to be spending a lot of time on small highways, not unlike highway 12 through Gary. I'd suggest you buck up, and take the more direct route. Its really not that bad...No worse than chicago.

I'm sure the Blue Chip Security guard security guard would have said the same thing about Humbolt Park.

also- Check out Warmshowers.org for places to stay along the way. I did the same ride last year and stayed with 4 or 5 people from that site. Good Luck!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on April 20, 2010 at 2:11pm

An adventurous friend and I wanted to go to the dunes. So we followed the L.S.D. path all the way south. We wanted to stick as close to the lake with a the help of a map. IT SUCKED! On our way there some friendly locals laughed and said "hey look some white people!" Into Gary it was a different story going down MLK drive. It was a nasty westside type ghetto. Getting back, we took the train tracks along the lake in order to avoid going through Gary again.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by S on April 20, 2010 at 3:34pm

Juan Dominguez said:

An adventurous friend and I wanted to go to the dunes. So we followed the L.S.D. path all the way south. We wanted to stick as close to the lake with a the help of a map. IT SUCKED! On our way there some friendly locals laughed and said "hey look some white people!" Into Gary it was a different story going down MLK drive. It was a nasty westside type ghetto. Getting back, we took the train tracks along the lake in order to avoid going through Gary again.

Going south along US 41 isn't all that bad. I've done the ride to Schererville, IN a bunch of times with my cycling club and it's moderately pleasant since you can use the greenway to go from the south side to wolf lake and indiana and from there it's fairly empty roads for the most part with one stretch that's along the highway although that isn't too bad either.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on April 21, 2010 at 4:04am

Juan Dominguez said:

An adventurous friend and I wanted to go to the dunes. So we followed the L.S.D. path all the way south. We wanted to stick as close to the lake with a the help of a map. IT SUCKED! On our way there some friendly locals laughed and said "hey look some white people!" Into Gary it was a different story going down MLK drive. It was a nasty westside type ghetto. Getting back, we took the train tracks along the lake in order to avoid going through Gary again.

I've had pretty much this exact experience a few years ago except the phrase was something along the lines of "...white guy on a BIKE!" I had the impression that both were completely alien. I took the same route back and never had any actual problems.

But next time I do it (tentatively planning on a long weekend camping ride to the Dunes this summer) I think we will take the southern route. The sketchy is nerve-wracking, but perhaps more harmful to one's spirit is the utter bleakness and and despairing appearance of the place. I dunno... if one has never seen it it is probably a good thing to behold first hand, but I don't look forward to repeating the experience.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Barry Niel Stuart on April 21, 2010 at 9:05am

If you really want to avoid Gary, come to Milwaukee, Bay View to be exact and take the Lake Express to Muskegon. It's only two and a half hours across and it's a very bike-friendly ferry. After that, enjoy plenty of Michigan hospitality.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Amber K on April 22, 2010 at 2:18am

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.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page