Chicago to Milwaukee - Riders? Routes?

I plan on riding to Milwaukee tomorrow, spending the night, and then riding back on Friday (or taking the Metra if I'm too lazy to go the whole way).  

Does anyone want to join, or does anyone know of any good route in particular?

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Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on June 13, 2012 at 1:08pm

The McClory trail makes me so angry. Especially when you do that dipsy-do to the underpass that welcomes you to the Waukegan leg. It's like "WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!!" There is so much glass in that crushed limestone (which is harder to see) that it boggles my mind. 

Permalink Reply by Mike Keating on June 13, 2012 at 2:53pm

If you use Priceline for MKE you can get even better deals. I went to Marquette and still go up there a couple of times a year. Priceline rarely fails. We've gotten the Hilton or Hyatt for as low as $50. Lesser hotels could be even cheaper. However, when Summerfest is going hotels are actually tough to come by.

Alex said:

McClory is boring, yes, I would agree with a different route one way at least.

Especially for a weeknight, I've gotten great deals on nice downtown hotels in Milwaukee through Hotwire, which is the best friend of the touring cyclist with a smartphone traveling through/to big cities who is too lazy to set up his tent. 

Permalink Reply by millenial removing Bernie tattoo on June 13, 2012 at 2:58pm

When I rode the DPRT a month ago I was constantly on edge and I was on 28mm tires. The loose gravel and twisty downhills are tricky. Its a beautiful trail to ride on in and of itself but not a great way to get anywhere.

My two cents, routewise:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Chicago-to-Milwaukee-Fast-on-R...

The philosophy here to go out west ASAP and completely miss Waukegan, Kenosha and Racine. Although its worth it to ride through Kenosha and Racine sometime if you've never been.

Permalink Reply by Ride it like you stole it on June 13, 2012 at 4:08pm

I have gotten a lot of comments/statements from people about loose, and even sandy like areas on the Lake County portion of the trail lately. Idk if this is due to new stone being laid or just areas that come with the territory(e.g. the crossing over 90). Was the loose gravel just on the downhills, or in flat spots too?  

envane x said:

When I rode the DPRT a month ago I was constantly on edge and I was on 28mm tires. The loose gravel and twisty downhills are tricky. Its a beautiful trail to ride on in and of itself but not a great way to get anywhere.

My two cents, routewise:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Chicago-to-Milwaukee-Fast-on-R...

The philosophy here to go out west ASAP and completely miss Waukegan, Kenosha and Racine. Although its worth it to ride through Kenosha and Racine sometime if you've never been.

Permalink Reply by Alex Moroz on June 13, 2012 at 4:39pm

This route actually looks really good.  I think I will use it to get to Milwaukee, and then go through Racine on my way to the Metra station in Kenosha.

Thanks a lot!!!



envane x said:

When I rode the DPRT a month ago I was constantly on edge and I was on 28mm tires. The loose gravel and twisty downhills are tricky. Its a beautiful trail to ride on in and of itself but not a great way to get anywhere.

My two cents, routewise:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Chicago-to-Milwaukee-Fast-on-R...

The philosophy here to go out west ASAP and completely miss Waukegan, Kenosha and Racine. Although its worth it to ride through Kenosha and Racine sometime if you've never been.

Permalink Reply by millenial removing Bernie tattoo on June 14, 2012 at 7:31am



Ride your bicycle said:

I have gotten a lot of comments/statements from people about loose, and even sandy like areas on the Lake County portion of the trail lately. Idk if this is due to new stone being laid or just areas that come with the territory(e.g. the crossing over 90). Was the loose gravel just on the downhills, or in flat spots too?

As long as I've been riding it, there has always been loose gravel on the DPRT.  Its no big deal if you are riding in a straight line, but if you take a turn at too fast, you'll easily wipe out.   Twisty downhills are where one is apt to take a turn too fast, and there are quite a few on the path. 

Another phenomena to watch for, is, on slopes, when it rains, a rut will form where the water flows down in a stream.  This rut will then fill in with soft sand.  When you are riding down a slope often your front wheel will sink into the soft sand in the rut and make your bike hard to control and potentially wipe out.  Its very hard to spot these traps.

None of this makes the DPRT unridable, you just have to pay attention more.

Permalink Reply by jon on June 16, 2012 at 2:45pm

I've always wanted to ride from chi to mil. i'm down to do it in the future if anyone wants to go

Permalink Reply by Michele on June 22, 2012 at 9:11am

July 21 Cycle for Change Ride is biking from Brookfield Zoo to Milwaukee County Zoo

http://www.thechainlink.org/events/first-annual-cycle-for-change-ride

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on June 22, 2012 at 11:24am

I just emailed Howard to sign up for this. This could turn out to be an absolutely epic ride. 

Michele said:

July 21 Cycle for Change Ride is biking from Brookfield Zoo to Milwaukee County Zoo

http://www.thechainlink.org/events/first-annual-cycle-for-change-ride

Permalink Reply by Loan L. on June 22, 2012 at 2:43pm
I just signed up too, can't wait to do this ride. Hopefully it won't be hot then.

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