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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This route makes sense to me. Last weekend my wife and I were on the lake around 4900 north and pretty much used this route to get up to Evanston to 1027 as she had a mechanical issue to resolve. Glenwood is a stress free route with a little jogging as you near the Howard L. We dumped onto Howard and then took Chicago Ave. (the extension of Clark) north from there into Evanston. If Chicago is too busy  its pretty easy to turn left at South Blvd and make your way towards downtown in a variety of ways.

Duppie said:

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

Glenwood is two-way north of Ridge. Coming south, you can turn left onto Ridge for a block and then take Wayne south, or salmon about 20 feet on Glenwood and then take a quick right onto Edgewater, then a left onto Clark (at this point you're into north Andersonville where Clark is less harrowing).

Ugh. I can't even count the number of times I've nearly taken out some cycling salmon while turning north onto Glenwood in my car in A'ville. Be extra careful if you're going to do that.  Likewise, look both directions if driving ;-). 


When I take Glenwood I cut over at Pratt to find another north south side street. No need to Salmon and Glenwood north of Pratt is a little narrow and claustrophobic.
Jeff Schneider said:

I like this idea.  Clark is fine in this area.  Lots of cyclists salmon on Glenwood, but I don't feel comfortable doing it (Yes, I like to obey the law, but also from a practical point of view I think it's dangerous to be in a place where drivers will not expect you to be).


Eli said:

Glenwood is two-way north of Ridge. Coming south, you can turn left onto Ridge for a block and then take Wayne south, or salmon about 20 feet on Glenwood and then take a quick right onto Edgewater, then a left onto Clark (at this point you're into north Andersonville where Clark is less harrowing).

Where in Uptown do you start?

 

I am off Sheridan and Carmen. When I head up to Evanston, I turn west on Foster, then turn north on Kenmore (which is a one way) all the way up to Granville. Then I go west again all the way up to Glenwood, turn north again. When I hit Pratt, I go west up to Ashland.

 

I head north on Ashland, and its only after I’ve passed Morse that I head on up one of the side streets up to Clark and into Evanston. It’s a relatively stress-free route for me.

As a life long Evanston resident I will say that Evanston is almost designed to keep people out, especially on bikes. I live near Howard and California, so I take Dodge to get everywhere in Evanston.

One way to get to Evanston from the East is similar to the route posted is to head to Ravenswood; head north to Greenleaf; head west on Greenleaf to Damen and take Damen North until you hit Main street, and then jog over to Chicago avenue to go North to downtown. Because of the two trains, you're always going to have to jog over at some point, but if you can see either of them and follow them North, you'll get to downtown Evanston no problem.

As for Clark, it's shameful that the street has been so torn up for so long between Howard and Devon. That cement infill was supposed to be resurfaced a year ago and it just adds to the garbage condition of that road. Since I have the option, I never ride down Clark anymore, I just take a winding neighborhood ride through RP if I need to go that way.

Over the years I've had plenty of close calls riding NB on Glenwood at night between Foster and Ridge. Lighting isn't very good. There are plenty of dark spots where it can be REALLY tough to see ninja salmon unless you have a very bright headlight on your bike.

Jeff Schneider said:

I like this idea.  Clark is fine in this area.  Lots of cyclists salmon on Glenwood, but I don't feel comfortable doing it (Yes, I like to obey the law, but also from a practical point of view I think it's dangerous to be in a place where drivers will not expect you to be).


Eli said:

Glenwood is two-way north of Ridge. Coming south, you can turn left onto Ridge for a block and then take Wayne south, or salmon about 20 feet on Glenwood and then take a quick right onto Edgewater, then a left onto Clark (at this point you're into north Andersonville where Clark is less harrowing).

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