deacon mark

I should know this I know the city but never road my bike near it. Is it possible to cycle lakeshore drive the paths up and down a at normal road cycling pace. I guess I see it as probably a bunch of stop and go cycling and wonder it there are stretches of riding that go 5-10 miles without stopping for crossings and ect..... I normally ride 30-60 miles on country roads at 17-20mph and sometimes never put my foot down for 2-3 hours. Would riding lakeshore drive be a pain. I just would like to give it a trying to see the sights.

Ben I.

I live in the West suburbs but pretty sure riding ON Lake Shore Drive would be bad unless it's a slow time of day because traffic is horrible in rush hour. I haven't tried it myself but people have said that the lakefront path is nice but on warm, summer days on the weekend is packed with people so would probably be annoying for anyone riding at a decent pace, not sure how it is during the week. Hopefully that helps a little.

Lastly, of course only is one day, but Bike the Drive is Sunday, May 24th. I did it last year and it was great. For the most part people are very good about staying where they should (slower on the right and faster on the left) and you can ride as much as you want within the time span of it.

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markcaruana

I live in nwi and there is a bike path along the lakeshore that I rode last year but you have to ride near a lot of walkers,it's beautiful though.

Psimet2001 

There are stretches that are better than others but best bet is hitting up one of the downtown clubs/groups. I believe xXx lists some of their training routes on their site. I believe all are on surface streets.

The path is awesome during the fall and winter when no one wants to enjoy the outdoors. In the spring and summer it can be like a giant game of Frogger.

Gus90

I've never ridden much south of the museum campus but I hear that's really nice and much less crowded. Not sure how far south you can or should go before it gets a little dicey but when I used to live in Chicago near Rogers Park I'd ride down Sheridan Road and hop onto the bike path off LSD and ride all the way down to the Planetarium. Only place where it really got crowded was around Oak Street Beach. Of course this was a long long time ago.

I did Bike the Drive last year with our dog in tow on his trailer and stopped off at Belmont Dog Beach so he could take a swim. The bike paths/sidewaks around there were horrible. All broken up and in bad repair. Not sure how well the city has been maintaining those sidewalks but if that was any indication. Not very well at all.

TenSpeedV2

As mentioned, you can ride the Lakefront Path which is a nice path. You will deal with runners, joggers, walkers, bladers, oblivious pedestrians, kids, tourists on bikes, etc. There isn't too much stopping on that path, and you can ride it for several miles. This is what you can expect as the weather gets nicer.

bungis

I've got a few thousand miles on the lakeshore path and it's not as horrible as many say. Once you get south of the Shedd Aquariam it really opens up with about a 10 mile stretch to the Indiana border (all trail then bike lane).

North of the Shedd you mainly want to avoid times with lots of tourists and runners. Dawn is a good time for that.

e: I like the lakeshore south path because it's beautiful, curvy, safe, and not completely flat. There's the "mound" just north of Promontary point that's fun to bomb up.

Drago1010

The LFP is my normal quick ride. Hollywood to Montrose is not bad with other options to ride roads in the park. South of Montrose to Ohio can be a trial. It's the most popular part with everyone (bikes,joggers, walkers, boarders, skaters , peds etc). Ohio to Navy pier is wide (even if its on an slope) so you can make time. At Grand the problem begins - Flyover constuction,dismount area and detour. Over the river sucks. South to the museum campus scan be ok or suck depending on the time. Once past The She'd it opens up and after Soldier field its the best cycling on the path. Again all depend on the day, weather and festivals. Bike the Drive is fine if you start early - 5:30am but it starts filling up with all the casual bikers with kids about 7am (all over the 4 lanes - gotta really be careful and pick your line). But an enjoyable 4 1/2 hrs (2 circuits w stops).

deacon mark

I can see this was a bad idea I appreciate the response.