Christensen

Would like to rent bikes and ride along a paved path on the lake. I will be there during Memorial Day weekend but really don't want to participate in the Bike the Drive event. Where is the best place to rent and bike along the lake on Monday, Memorial Day?
Thanks!

SuzieTrue

Which section of Lake Michigan? It is a long-g-g-g shore line.

weimer

You can rent bike at Navy Pier. The path goes north from there about 7 miles before the lake shore path ends.

jlm_mi

Given the reference to the "Bike the Drive" event, this must be Chicago as weimer deduced.

But, it certainly helps to include a location in the title, or at least somewhere in the post.

patg

Please be warned that Chicago's bike path along the lake is not wide enough for the traffic it has to handle, especially on a holiday. It's a mob scene.

Here's a link to rentals and other bike paths:
http://www.bikechicago.com/

swalter518

I agree with Pat G, the bike path headed north is a zoo-I can testify that I was a causalty of the path after being hit by a biker when trying to cross it! I'd suggest going south toward the museum campus and south for slightly fewer crowds. You can detour through Grant Park too then.

JJ5

IMHO, bike riding idea is just too crowded to be fun on Mem. Day weekend. IMHO. I feel the exact same way about Taste of Chicago on the 4th. How do you feel about being pressed in a crowd? Kind of like being in a slow moving /walking parade.

This is nice to do on a weekday when you can actually ride the bike.

jtraveler35

While the lakefront path to the north will be extremely crowded, I would suggest heading south of the museum campus during the day (serious bikeriders tend to ride early mornings to avoid crowds). The bike path extends all the way to the U of Chicago campus near the Museum of Science and Industry and there are some beautiful views of the city along the path. It is usually not crowded that far south. Another bike path I'd suggest is the I & M Canal path. It's not on the lake, but is a great path in it's own right.

flamingomonkey

Go to the 63rd St. Beach House. There is plenty of free parking, and you can rent bikes there. There will probably be fewer crowds on the south lakefront, so you'll have a much better time than trying to rent a bike downtown. Also, consider riding into Hyde Park. It's a scenic neighborhood with some great restaurants if you're hungry.

exiledprincess

Christensen, jtraveler35 got it right by saying that serious bike riders go out EARLY in the morning. Just after dawn until about 6:30 am. That's when I prefer to take the lakefront path, watching the sun come up over the lake.

The stretch of the path that the gets the most congested is the area from just north of the Navy Pier to around Fullerton. On weekends, it usually gets really heavy after 9-9:30 am to 2-3 pm (although this timing is nebulous, it depends on the weather). Can't answer how it would be on Memorial Day - but I'm thinking that it would probably be about the same as most people tend to get up later.

Once you get beyond that point, the traffic on the bike path lessens quite a bit - personally, I like the view up at Montrose Harbor myself. Beautiful view of the skyline especially when the sailboats coming out from Belmont Harbor are in the foreground.

If you wanted to bypass this congested area, what I'd suggest is to cut through Lincoln Park north of North Avenue - going around the Lincoln Park Zoo and up past the Nature Museum around the lagoon. (There are several paths in this area.) You could then cut back out onto the lakefront biking trail just south of Belmont (don't use the entrance just at Belmont--there's one just south of it which is better)and head on up to Montrose Beach.

Note: most CTA buses have bike racks on the front. So if you wanted to first bike in a certain area, then hitch a ride on the bus to a different area, you can do so. (No cost for hauling the bike on CTA--just yourself.) So if you wanted to bike around Osaka (Japanese) Garden down by the Museum of Science and Industry and then hitch a ride on the #10 bus up to the Water Tower area on the Magnificient Mile, can be done without you having to pedal many miles.

Lastly, there are some companies that have biking tours. Bike Chicago is one. Bobby's Biking Tours is another - and I believe they have a nighttime tour. You might want to check out their websites for further details.

Hope this helps a bit. Have fun here!

exiledprincess

I guess the name of that last biking company is Bobby's Bike Hike. Sorry.

exiledprincess

Sorry for the extra post but I just thought of something to mention. Since this is a major holiday weekend you are here, if you have any interest in using CTA to haul the bike(s) anywhere, I'd give them a call first to make sure how many of those buses with the bike racks will be in service and their hours of service. (Actually, I'd do this to be on the safe side anyway.)

It might be that they've been discountued on some routes with them(with recent service cuts) or some might only have them come by at certain times of the day.

So hard to know what's up at CTA nowadays because of the funding issue.

alisa23

I would rent a bike around Navy Pier and go south from there. The bike path is the best from Grant Park to around 53rd street on the south side. 63rd street will work as well but you will not want to get lost south of 59th street since some of neighborhoods on around there are quite dangerous.

flamingomonkey

Actually you have to go farther north, around 47th St., before the neighborhoods start getting dangerous. And it's hard to get lost when you're on the bike path along the lake. It's a long narrow strip of asphalt with a big blue blob on one side. I assumed he was driving in, which is why I reccomended 63rd St. Plenty of free parking. I live in the southwest suburbs, so that's where I go.

flamingomonkey

Also, 59th St. falls in between 63rd and 53rd. If he's going to go down to 53rd, he may as well go to 63rd. The neighborhood starts to improve considerbly by 47th St, 6 blocks north of 53rd. And he'll be on the bike path, not on the streets. Though by the time you get to 53rd, you should consider venturing off into Hyde Park, you'll need some refreshments by then anyway.

alisa23

Just to clarify. The neighborhoods are not safe from around 30th to 47th street and then from 59th south. You are definitely fine on the bike path but I would stay away from venturing off the bike path or Lake Shore Drive (if you are driving) into these areas. BTW, I live in Hyde Park and bike or run every week around here.