Lagunitas Route

Does anyone have a "nice" route from Downtown to the Lagunitas Brewery?  By "nice" I mean bike lanes, minimal traffic, interesting waypoints, etc.  Heavily trafficked streets and deplorable road conditions in viaducts have me wondering.

I need this for a group of Seniors (65+) to ride at an average speed of 10 mph.

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Permalink Reply by Rich S on September 26, 2014 at 10:06am

Definitely avoid Roosevelt! You could try taking the LFP down to 18th street which will get you most of the way to Lagunitas. Pilsen's a great neighborhood to ride through. You could also take a short detour through Chinatown and/or stop at Ping Tom Park which is under the 18th St bridge. 21st is an option as well going east/west but I'm not sure of that street's condition.

You're going to have to cross under the Dan Ryan at some point. You can do that on either 16th, 18th, or Canalport. 16th is probably the least hectic of those options. 

Permalink Reply by Jeff Blumenthal on September 26, 2014 at 10:13am

It's when I get close to Western Avenue that things seem to get dicey with terrible pavement under most viaducts.  I agree that 18th is pretty good, and I'll follow your advice to stay off of Roosevelt -- bike lanes or no.

Permalink Reply by Rich S on September 26, 2014 at 10:31am

Yeah you might have to deal with a bit of bumpy pavement no matter what route you choose. I have yet to visit Lagunitas and it's been a while since I've been down to Working Bikes so I can't give you specific advice on street conditions in that area. 

Permalink Reply by Bob on September 26, 2014 at 11:11am

been to the brewery and have been wondering if they would let a few bikes inside,,,i do not like to lock up my road bike but was hoping to do a ride there, have lunch and a few pints. might give them a call soon. they do have tons of space inside to accommodate a couple of bikes.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Blumenthal on September 26, 2014 at 4:24pm

I volunteer at Working Bikes and have scouted around to find a good route.  The problem is that I cannot find a suitable underpass, i.e. one that is reasonably dry, having solid pavement, and not littered with glass and other objects.  18th street from the east is a fine route up to Western Avenue, then it goes to hell in a hand basket.  Coming out Roosevelt or Ogden has too much traffic and lacks uniform marking.  I'm 74 years old and leading a group of seniors, so the route is important.  The Pink Line at California is a fairly good safety valve.

By the way, I have been to the Taproom at Lagunitas and there is plenty of secure bike parking space out front and no need to bring your ride inside.  Lock your bike properly and get a life.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Blumenthal on September 27, 2014 at 1:30am

I'm at DuSable Harbor -- Lakefront Path and Randolph -- for a starting point.

Permalink Reply by grayn8 on September 27, 2014 at 3:14am
I frequently ride from bronzeville and sloop to Lawndale. 18th and Roosevelt both have bike lanes and both can be stressful for folks uncomfortable riding in urban environments. 18th and halsted, blue island. 18th and western north can be rather hectic. I'd seriously think Roosevelt is just as calm or stressful as 18th. I would favor the more direct route of LFP to Roose to Ogden (at the point of the left turn on Ogden there is a side access road with a dept of transportation office, iron mountain, and mattress store. This can be taken to the stoplight for the left turn onto washtenaw between the hospital and the clinics. This goes one street west of the entrance road, but has a stoplight for east west traffic so bikes can move south. It's direct and avoids going further south to get north to avoid the western ave sitch. Taylor is an option, but to be honest by the time you reach canal to get over to Taylor the "worst" of Roosevelt is over. Then again, I bike Roosevelt, 18th, 26th, and 31st daily so all of the pot holes are my friends. And Ogden will allow your group to stop by Hector's ghost bike and say hello/respects.

Rich S said:

Definitely avoid Roosevelt! You could try taking the LFP down to 18th street which will get you most of the way to Lagunitas. Pilsen's a great neighborhood to ride through. You could also take a short detour through Chinatown and/or stop at Ping Tom Park which is under the 18th St bridge. 21st is an option as well going east/west but I'm not sure of that street's condition.

You're going to have to cross under the Dan Ryan at some point. You can do that on either 16th, 18th, or Canalport. 16th is probably the least hectic of those options. 

Permalink Reply by grayn8 on October 10, 2014 at 10:08am
So how did it go? And did you go to Ferrara's? I love their cookies. Mmmm.
Permalink Reply by Jeff Blumenthal on October 10, 2014 at 4:31pm

We have a path that suits our needs in most cases.  We take 18th street to where it ends at Western Avenue.  There is an underpass with a sidewalk that can safely take our group on a sidewalk to 16th Street where there is a light and can cross Western.  16th takes us to Lagunitas.  On the return we have used Ogden and Roosevelt -- both with bike lanes and and traffic without complaints.  We do tweak the repute a bit to go by interesting places such as museums, public art, etc.

Everyone loves Lagunitas for the food, ambience and the beer.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Blumenthal on October 11, 2014 at 11:19am

I will.  The underpasses were the worst part so I will check 15th Street

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