My wife is going to a conference for 5 days begining May 30th and I麓m going as a visitor while she麓s at the lectures.
I was planning to rent a bike to ride arround the city and the different neighborhoods...
Two quick questions:
1.- Any bike rental facilities anyone can recommend near downtown?
2.- Is Chicago a bike-friendly city in terms of bike routes arround town?
Many thanks for any response!
Chicago: Bike friendly?1. http://www.chicagobikestation.com/rentals.htm
2. www.chicagobikestation.com/resources.htm
Chicago: Bike friendly?Chicago is extremely bike friendly, it%26#39;s one of the Mayor%26#39;s pet projects. The best place to ride is the designated bike path along the lakefront, it stretches pretty much from one end of the city to the other along the lakefront. In most places, there is a designated bike lane and a designated pedestrian lane but visitors to the city don%26#39;t know this so in certain congested areas you need to be watchful for the stray person who might cross your path.
You might find this helpful if you are biking the neighborhoods, it shows the streets that have designated bike paths on the streets (no riding on the sidewalks). Be extra vigilant on roads that have parked cars along them not to get hit with someone opening their car door.
cityofchicago.org/Transportation/鈥eymap.html
If you want to do a guided tour by bike there%26#39;s a company called Bobby%26#39;s Bike Hike that does tours. The downtown one is not fast paced or really cover that much ground but I thought it was fun and might be interesting for someone from out of town.
http://www.bobbysbikehike.com/
They even have an Obama tour, around 20 miles according to their website, I hope they give you a better bike than the ones with the coaster brakes we had on the downtown tour! You could self tour the same sights as well, the U of C campus is easy to get to from the bike path as is the ';President%26#39;s favorite eatery'; which I assume is either Valois or Dixie Kitchen. At the end of the bike trail, before it goes onto the street, there%26#39;s a cool building, the Southshore Cultural Center, the Obama%26#39;s wedding reception was held there.
chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction鈥?/a>
Biking around Chicago was probably the highlight of my trip the last time I was there. You can basically go up and down the lakeshore with no automobile traffic. You can get to most of the attractions without going onto the road. The only part that I ventured off the bike trail was to go to Wrigley Field, which was a pretty decent ride as long as you stay alert.
Most rental places provide a bike lock, helmet, and map with the rental.
you can also rent bikes at Bobby%26#39;s Bike Hike, in addition to the tours offered
Even the CTA busses have bike racks in front you can use if you get tired from some long bike ride and need to get the bus back.
Just a couple notes...
I%26#39;m an avid biker and do a lot of riding around Chicago. It is very congested and you must stay alert at all times on the roads. As a visitor, I would stick to the roads that have designated bike lanes...you%26#39;ll feel much more comfortable there.
Additionally, you%26#39;ll see a ton of bikers flying through red lights and stop signs. Don%26#39;t be one of them. A biker is obliged to obey the rules of the road just like drivers. Don%26#39;t fall into the trap of seeing it so much that you do it too. It%26#39;s illegal and people are getting killed doing it. This disobedience of laws is also creating a lot of animosity between bikers and drivers. So if you see drivers being disrespectful of your space, many do so because of that animosity.
Also make sure you lock your bike anytime you aren%26#39;t in direct contact with it. Bike theft is huge here.
outside of the thngs I%26#39;ve said above, given the number of cars, Chicago is a great city to bike in.
Yes, Chicago is a bike-friendly city. But...have you ever biked in a major metropolitan area before? There are many rules and regulations to keep in mind.
If you go to the City of Chicago%26#39;s website, you will find an *entire* section devoted to this subject. I strongly, strongly urge you (or any others planning on biking independently) to view this information ahead of time - especially since you are considering on biking into different neighborhoods.
You see, you just cannot just bike anywhere in the city. Some thoroughfares and areas prohibit bicycles altogether. Some roadways have marked bike lanes and some you will have to share the road with vehicular traffic. You might want to take a good look at the photos on the ';What are Bike Ways?'; area to get an idea of what it%26#39;s like riding a bike under those circumstances.
The City%26#39;s website has bike maps of the various areas which you can download (but wherever you rent the bike will no doubt have them available as well, as well as other places around town). You%26#39;ll just need to choose which ones will be pertinent to your purposes.
Particularly pay attention to the information about not riding bicycles on sidewalks and within certain designated areas. I see many infractions of this every year, especially in those areas where tourists and those unfamiliar with the city tend to be. IMHO, I think that some are intimidated with sharing the roadway with vehicular traffic.
Of course, you could take a guided bike tour, as suggested above, if those were the areas where you were wishing to visit anyway.
I also wanted to mention this: With the number of bicyclists growing each year, the number of accidents is also on the rise. Some have been pretty severe and some fatalaties have occurred. I don%26#39;t want anyone to think it%26#39;s only those ';daredevil';-type maneuvers which cause those serious/fatal accidents. Areas of the Lakefront Path become very congested at times (walkers, joggers/runners, rollerbladers, cyclists, etc., all share that area), and particular caution is needed there. And when traveling on roadways, you must not only keep an eye out for traveling vehicles, but for pedestrians and occupied, parked vehicles as well.
Thank you for all your very informative responses...
Actually I麓ve biked before in DC and had a wonderful time there doing that...
And I麓ve been to Chicago several times for medical meetings in McCormick Place ( RSNA) but has been the first week of December and because lack of spare time because of the lectures and weather not too friendly to bike arround, I麓ve never experienced to rent and use the bycicle...
I supose I麓ll have a great time with the precautions mentioned.
15mridoctor, if you%26#39;ve biked in DC, then you are probably familiar with the situations faced.
I thought I better mention those items above because so many people just read these posts, without responding.
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