What's your favorite stealth bike route or other Chicago biking secret?

Did you that you can skip the crowded (in summer at least) Lakefront Trail and get from Belmont to Foster almost entirely on little-traveled paths paths, many of them unpaved, with even better views of the lake?

And did you know there's a four-mile route encircling Lake Calumet on the Far South Side with almost no motorized traffic and a country-road vibe, with six-foot-tall cattails and high green hills (of sodded-over landfill)?

For a magazine article, what are your favorite little known cycling routes and ways to escape the hustle-bustle of the city's most commonly-traveled bikeways?

And do you know any other Chicago cycling secrets, like bike shops that have unique features or fascinating local cyclists who should be well-known but aren't?

Thanks!

John Greenfield

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Permalink Reply by David on December 24, 2011 at 9:09am

That's the Cherry Avenue Bridge, in my opinion one of the most absolutely gorgeous bridges in the city.  John had a nice write-up of it on Grid Chicago.    

John appeared to be kind of skeptical of its usefulness as a bike route, but I'm with you.  Goose Island to Cherry Ave. Bridge to North to Kingsbury is my standard north-south route while Halsted is out.  I find it much more pleasant than the "official" Chicago Ave. detour.  Although I have to admit that that stretch of North Ave. is one of the very few places in the city where I tend to ride the sidewalk.  I feel guilty about it though.


pistola said:

When coming up north or northwest from Halsted, because of the bridge being out, I like cutting west through Goose Island and crossing the river at the newly repaved pedestrian/bike only bridge at North Ave. This avoids the dreaded Clybourn/North intersection somewhat.
Permalink Reply by Len Krietz on December 25, 2011 at 7:52am

I work on Goose Island and the Cherry St bridge is my regular way of accessing the Island fro the north.  I do hate (and will not ride) on North Ave so I do ride the sidewalk from Kingsbury to the bridge. In the winter the people at the Wrigley Reseach center keephe bridge clear (I think it was really rebuilt as as pedestrian access for Wrigley but I'm not complaining).  However the sidewalk on north is not maintained sowhenthere's snow & ice the path to Kingsbury is bad.

Permalink Reply by John Wirtz on December 26, 2011 at 3:20pm

I had to do a traffic study on the busway once and I talked the guard at the gate on Lower Lower Randolph into letting me bike on it.  It was fantastic.

Juan said:

For sure they do not want bicycles on the busway. I tried getting on from the southend when a Metra Patrol S.U.V. Followed me along its perimeter telling me I can't use the busway.

Martin Hazard said:

No the McCormick busway is not I believe a leagal roadway for cyclists. You have to figure out how to activate an electronic gate to get in or out of it. You can find it though on lower, lower, (service level) Randolph, just west of Columbus, next to the Metra station. Might not be the best for commuting. Lumber road however rocks.

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