The Chainlink

Tonight I decided to venture out from Uptown to Evanston.   All was good until I got north of Loyola.  Then I had a really hard time.  Everything was car sewers (Sheridan) or construction/terrible road surfaces (Ridge).  Those of  you who must commute from Evanston into the city, what do you do?  Frankly,  my ride tonight was miserable.  This is why I almost always ride and spend my money in Lakeview and Lincoln Park...

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Clark St. turns into Chicago Ave. north of Howard. Take it right on into Evanstonia.

I've been told that cyclists aren't allowed on Ridge.

Cyclists aren't allowed on Ridge from Howard to Emerson.

Fran Kondorf said:

Clark St. turns into Chicago Ave. north of Howard. Take it right on into Evanstonia.

I've been told that cyclists aren't allowed on Ridge.

It's true that Clark is a good, straight shot to Evanston and also true that the surface is very rough up in Rogers Park. I bike up to Evanston regularly on California. It's quick and smooth.

Yeah, Clark between Ridge/Peterson and Howard is in rough shape. My usual route when I don't feel like dealing with the potholes is Glenwood north to Pratt, west on Pratt to Ashland, then north on Ashland to Howard (Ashland along here is a narrow low-traffic residential street, nothing like it is further south). Then you can take Howard over to Clark/Chicago Ave. and head north into Evanston.

Greenview is one block west of Sheridan and parallels up to Howard St. Option there to go west to Clark/Chicago Ave or go east to Sheridan or Eastlake Terrace and go around the cemetery into Evanston

Clark is a scary ride from Bryn Mawr to Howard. From lakefront trail, follow the signs: Ardmore, north on Kenmore and across Sheridan, snake through Loyola north to Albion, cross Sheridan north and west to Ashland, Howard then Chicago.

Head west young man, use california/dodge  

What Michael says.  I used to live in Evanston and never found a good route to/from Chicago on the east side of town.

Michael A said:

Head west young man, use california/dodge  

Once I get to Howard St., if I'm closer to the lake, I prefer Custer (turns into Damen on the Chicago side). Custer is good up to Main St. At or around Main, I usually shift to Elmwood (further west) or Hinman (east of Chicago Ave.)  If I'm further west when I reach Howard, I like California/Dodge.

I find these easier to deal with than Chicago Ave. To split the difference between the east and west options, Asbury (turns into Western at Howard St.) isn't bad.

This is my preferred route from A'ville to downtown Evanston.

Good to know that I'm not crazy in my thinking that riding on the east side of Evanston into Chicago is a nightmare.  I don't see why anyone would sanely want to ride on Clark street either.  For riding into A'ville I almost always stay west on Dodge/California and then use Granville to cut east/west to Ridge/Ravenswood.   It seems to work okay.

I don't know how widely it's used, but for heading south out of Evanston, I've always had great luck riding on Washtenaw Ave between Howard and Granville.  There are a lot of stop signs, but almost no traffic so you can make pretty good time.  For northbound, I'll usually just stay on California. 

I've done 'em all but based my suggestion on Jeff saying he was coming from Loyola (east).

Glenwood is good to cut through the 'hood from the LFT, then west on Pratt to Ashland. Boulevard, that is. Up to Howard, stop by The Recyclery on Paulina, then west to Clark.

I also agree that Cali/Dodge is a great route when you're further west. Much better pavement and calmer traffic.

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