The Chainlink

Ride to Milwaukee

So, with the weather (hopefully) turning nice pretty soon I wanted to feel out if there would be anyone wanting to join up with a ride into Milwaukee.

Last time I did this it was in a freaking blizzard, but the route is pretty straightforward, and there's lots of really cool stuff to do in our neighbor to the north: palominos, art museums, cafes...

when: TBD but leave Chicago together early on a saturday, and take the amtrak back from milwaukee with our bikes in the PM (they charge you for a bike box to do this but it's not too bad)

ride will end at palominos but we can figure out some cool stuff to do after a deep fried meal before we bike to the amtrak station!



I say date TBD because it would have to be a relatively mild day (60s?) with hopefully not too bad of a headwind.

If you would be interested in joining up let me know. I treat these sorts of rides like roadtrips by bike so we would stop for food along the way and probably shoot for a somewhat decent speed (14-16 mph), but would take rest stops as needed. this would not be a "prove how fast you can finish a century" ride

I'm gonna ride it fixed gear this time and any other intrepid souls are encouraged to do the same!

Me in the middle of my last cold ride up there:

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Smash on March 14, 2009 at 9:36pm
It is likely that I will be LIVING in Milwaukee by the time this ride occurs (I'm not happy about this but so it goes). So I'm game in the sense that I'd love to meet you guys once you arrive, or even meet you halfway and ride back with y'all. :) Keep me posted!
Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on March 14, 2009 at 11:13pm
Camping is a good idea too. I like the idea of making the round trip.

Matt M. said:
Cheap to stay at Cliffside park in Caledonia....just need a tent.... Sounds like a cool idea.... They have showers there but you'd have to eat somewhere else or bring food.
Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on March 15, 2009 at 1:59pm
Sorry, Brett - I posted that as an FYI. Keep in mind you'll have to wait until the 2nd weekend of April to camp at Cliffside: http://www.racine.org/campsite.html - - -- Don't head up there without a backup plan. There's also a nice Radisson hotel on the Racine lakefront ($$$). My apologies.
Permalink Reply by Norm Hansen on March 16, 2009 at 7:22am
I would like to meet you and ride up der. But I would rideup one day. Its 85 miles from my driveway to the Downtowns eastside (brady st).
[url]http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/il/lake%20zurich/335161196[/url]

I rode up there in 2007 in 5 hours stopping at Frankville for lunch with a couple of stops onthe rode for energy and gatorade breaks. I rode up that year using a midsizr Backpack. Staying in Mil. two days then riding home .

In 2008 I had a cargo trailer (not a burley brand..Big mistake) The trailer was a Chariot Croozer. I have a Burley and Burleys Pull way nicer than anything else.

I could ride up on a friday Morning stay thru Sunday Ride home Sunday Morning.
Permalink Reply by root on March 16, 2009 at 9:27am
i would love to do this ride but i'm not sure my fixed granny gear would treat me well..
Permalink Reply by El Duke on March 16, 2009 at 10:12am
I didn't know that you can camp at Cliffside Park, it would be a great place for it. From my trek up North last Fall:


I wouldn't ride alone again, and would wait for it to warm up a bit more. Riding as a group in warm weather would be a lot more fun, regardless of how tough you wanna be.
Permalink Reply by T. Mo on March 16, 2009 at 10:51am
I'm in!! Keep me posted - I'll be doing the return trip as well.
Permalink Reply by Chris on March 16, 2009 at 2:14pm
Okay, whoa!

I'm psyched by all the interest in this ride and it has sparked several ideas on my part:

1. looks like we have 7 definties and a number of maybes. The definites would be: DonRay, Norm, T.Mo, Kelly, Tank, Brett and myself.

2. I agree that the best to wait until the weather gets warm(er), so should we shoot for the weekend after easter (Apr 19) as a provisional date? Alternatively the last weekend in March, if by some fluke it's in the 60s and sunny?

2. I myself would defintiely be game to crash overnight and then bike back the next day, but I don't think all are. I have e-mailed some folks I know in Milwaukee to see about interest in hosting us. If y'all could do the same that would be great. If you DON'T wanna stay overnight that's fine too!

3. For those who are definites, do we wanna meet up for beers/longish ride in the next few weeks? We can get to know each other and hash out details.

4. If the group is big enough maybe I'll have to design some cool memento spokecards, etc.
Permalink Reply by DonRay A.K.A. Zesty on March 16, 2009 at 2:46pm
Down to stay the night for sure, down for a shorter ride soon...as for the MIL ride, the later the better due to my work schedule, but I realize I'm only one.

Chris said:
Okay, whoa! I'm psyched by all the interest in this ride and it has sparked several ideas on my part:

1. looks like we have 7 definties and a number of maybes. The definites would be: DonRay, Norm, T.Mo, Kelly, Tank, Brett and myself.

2. I agree that the best to wait until the weather gets warm(er), so should we shoot for the weekend after easter (Apr 19) as a provisional date? Alternatively the last weekend in March, if by some fluke it's in the 60s and sunny?

2. I myself would defintiely be game to crash overnight and then bike back the next day, but I don't think all are. I have e-mailed some folks I know in Milwaukee to see about interest in hosting us. If y'all could do the same that would be great. If you DON'T wanna stay overnight that's fine too!

3. For those who are definites, do we wanna meet up for beers/longish ride in the next few weeks? We can get to know each other and hash out details.

4. If the group is big enough maybe I'll have to design some cool memento spokecards, etc.
Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on March 16, 2009 at 3:29pm
Scheduling a beer/ride/planning session sounds like a good idea.

I think I'm free mid April, so the 19th should work for me.

My personal preferences would be...
1st choice: To camp and ride back
2nd choice: Stay in a hotel and ride back
3rd choice: Take the train home

That said, I'm flexible and laid back about such things, so whatever works best for the group works with me!!!

If we decide to make the return trip on our bikes, I propose we leave the train as a backup plan just in case. People may not want to ride 80+ miles with a hangover, or if it's pouring rain, etc.

As a side note, when we're in Milwaukee, I want to go here...

http://www.benscycle.net/

Chris said:
Okay, whoa!

I'm psyched by all the interest in this ride and it has sparked several ideas on my part:

1. looks like we have 7 definties and a number of maybes. The definites would be: DonRay, Norm, T.Mo, Kelly, Tank, Brett and myself.

2. I agree that the best to wait until the weather gets warm(er), so should we shoot for the weekend after easter (Apr 19) as a provisional date? Alternatively the last weekend in March, if by some fluke it's in the 60s and sunny?

2. I myself would defintiely be game to crash overnight and then bike back the next day, but I don't think all are. I have e-mailed some folks I know in Milwaukee to see about interest in hosting us. If y'all could do the same that would be great. If you DON'T wanna stay overnight that's fine too!

3. For those who are definites, do we wanna meet up for beers/longish ride in the next few weeks? We can get to know each other and hash out details.

4. If the group is big enough maybe I'll have to design some cool memento spokecards, etc.
Permalink Reply by Sarah on March 16, 2009 at 5:14pm
I would love to come on the April weekend, I would also like to camp, but I might need to take the train back due to time constraints. Count me in, at least for the one way trip.

Brett Ratner said:
Scheduling a beer/ride/planning session sounds like a good idea.

I think I'm free mid April, so the 19th should work for me.

My personal preferences would be...
1st choice: To camp and ride back
2nd choice: Stay in a hotel and ride back
3rd choice: Take the train home

That said, I'm flexible and laid back about such things, so whatever works best for the group works with me!!!

If we decide to make the return trip on our bikes, I propose we leave the train as a backup plan just in case. People may not want to ride 80+ miles with a hangover, or if it's pouring rain, etc.

As a side note, when we're in Milwaukee, I want to go here...

http://www.benscycle.net/

Chris said:
Okay, whoa!

I'm psyched by all the interest in this ride and it has sparked several ideas on my part:

1. looks like we have 7 definties and a number of maybes. The definites would be: DonRay, Norm, T.Mo, Kelly, Tank, Brett and myself.

2. I agree that the best to wait until the weather gets warm(er), so should we shoot for the weekend after easter (Apr 19) as a provisional date? Alternatively the last weekend in March, if by some fluke it's in the 60s and sunny?

2. I myself would defintiely be game to crash overnight and then bike back the next day, but I don't think all are. I have e-mailed some folks I know in Milwaukee to see about interest in hosting us. If y'all could do the same that would be great. If you DON'T wanna stay overnight that's fine too!

3. For those who are definites, do we wanna meet up for beers/longish ride in the next few weeks? We can get to know each other and hash out details.

4. If the group is big enough maybe I'll have to design some cool memento spokecards, etc.
Permalink Reply by Chris on March 19, 2009 at 11:30am
So lets set up a a beer n ride to hash out details?

So a few ideas: please chime in with preferences!

a (the easy option) we all just ride up to a brewpub (perhaps something in andersonville such as hopleaf?) for beers, plannin and then maybe a quick spin around the block

b (harder option) we do a longerish, say 30-40 mile get acquainted ride and then beers. perhaps a saturday ride? I was thinking of hitting up aurora at some point (possibly this weekend?). theres a brewery right next to a train station called walter payton's roundhouse. they have burgers, etc as well as rootbeer (for us vegan-edge kids like myself) I like to take augusta west to prarie path, butterfield rd west. alternatively we could just take the prarie path the whole way if it's not soggy!

so those of you who are interested in planning/meeting/working out the kinks before apr 19th, leave a comment with your thoughts!

c) we could just do a loop somewhere in the city!

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