Chicagoland area - passing through

[BootScootin'FireFighter]

Hello Chicago!!

I'm planning on passing through in mid to late May of next year. I was quite frustrated going through NYC on the scoot last spring without having the easy of the interstates. I have to get past Chicago, and as cool of a city as it is and I'd love to ride through....

How easy or difficult would it be? Difficult meaning endless suburban sprawl, unsynchronized traffic lights, and pretty much all the misery that comes with a major city. I'm looking to put in 250-300 mile days, so timing is critical. I'm ok with Lake Shore Drive, it looks like a lot of fun, but what options do I have approaching or exiting the drive to continue from Northern Indiana to Southern Wisconsin? If it's more hassle than it's worth, I'll try to bypass it by about 50 miles and work on saving time.

Looking at the map, it's showing Indianapolis Blvd through Hammond, then S Shore Dr to connect to Lake Shore from the south. I'd like to avoid Gary as much as possible. On the north end, how long would it take to get out of the metro on US 14 or 12? I'm looking for approximate time through the whole metro area from SE to NW. My other option is skirting past Kankakee and camping out in La Salle for the night at a state park, then shooting north to Monroe, WI the next morning.

It would be pretty awesome to do, but if not, I will definitely make a trip out on the future sport tourer, utilizing the expressways.

Opinions, thoughts??

[Robbie]

Southern Wi. where?
Need a zip code for destination.

I live just N/W of Chi. and often zip up to Lake Geneva....several routes available.

Rob

[BootScootin'FireFighter]

Awesome!! I was just checking the Drive on Google Earth streetcar... found this guy heading southbound on a tangerine Buddy. Good for him!

[BootScootin'FireFighter]

Southern Wi. where?
Need a zip code for destination.

I live just N/W of Chi. and often zip up to Lake Geneva....several routes available.

Rob

Anywhere in Southern Wisconsin, preferably further west than Janesville. I'm trying to connect to La Crosse and on towards the Twin Cities.

[Robbie]

Give me a bit.....sounds like my kind of trip....

Rob

[Robbie]

OK, see what you think,
Go ahead and run LSD so you can say you did it.....LSD ends at Ridge, North of downtown.....you can only go W. on Ridge...2 blocks to Sheridan Rd.....you'll love it...follow the Sheridan Rd. signs....it makes many turns and runs through the real high $$$ area of N/E Il......CAUTION, many switchbacks, decreasing radius turns, lost drivers, and the 50..Follow N. to Rt.22, Half Day Rd. go West to Rt.45 and go N. 1 light to Gilmer Rd....West on Gilmer and follow to end at Hwy 120. Go W. on 120.....past Il 47 to Alden Rd.....Go N into Wisconsin....Alden ends @ Lakeview Rd. Go West....it will become Wi 67 and then becomes Stateline Rd./Manchester / Broad St....follow to 4th St. go North to Wi 81 (Liberty St.) and then W.
Liberty will become Wi 81...continue W.....81 will connect with Wi 11....continue 11/81....11 will split off, stay with 81....it will tie in with 151 so it'll be 81/151 till Plattville Wi.....continue with 81 West to 61...head North....it'll connect with Wi 14 just before Reedstown......stay with 14/61 to Wi 35 North....follow into LaCrosse Wi.

Looks like a good run.....majority of the route is 2 lane....should be scenic.

Rob

[Rob]

BootScoot -

I'm out of town this weekend so I'll take a look at this a little more when I get home.

But, I can definitely say I would encourage you to do the Indianapolis Blvd to LSD (41) route up through Chicago. Once you get near the downtown area, this is very scenic .... not so nice up until that point though.

I live in Munster, IN, the town just south of Hammond. You really don't have to worry much about going through Gary, as long as you do so during the day light hours. I'm not sure of your route to get to NW Indiana, but if you end up towards the Indiana/Michigan border, 12/20 offers a few scenic miles. But you'll also go through miles of industrial steel areas closer to Gary and East Chicago.

Anyway, I often make the ride up 41 and LSD to visit my daughter up on the north side of Chicago. As with most major cities, plan around rush hour and you should be fine.

Rob

[TVB]

I'd turn right at Fort Wayne IN and take the ferry from Muskegon MI to Milwaukee WI, but that's just me.

[illnoise]

LSD is 150cc and over, and pretty fast, I've done it on 150cc vintage vespas in a group, and a few times solo on the 150 Blur but the last time I did it on the blur I hit a frost heave on an onramp at 50mph and was airborne for what felt like ten seconds. I actually test drove the prototype blur 220i on LSD and it was pretty fun.

I mean, you could get away with it, but it's usually either insane fast or backed up with crazy people changing lanes all over.

Gary's not any scarier than a lot of other parts of the city, and none of it is so bad. I mean, sure there are some pretty creepy corners here and there, but I've never been as scared of pedestrians as I am of distracted drivers, and outright aggressive city drivers. The whole city is trying to kill you. If you stay alert and just go with the flow you'll be fine. You'll get 20 people yelling 'hey, how much for that bike?" and you just smile and say "not for sale, man," and you're fine. I've never heard of anyone being scooter-jacked or attacked, and I've never been physically threatened in 15 years of riding in the city, aside from situations where someone accidentally almost killed me first, then i got hotheaded and confronted them that ended up getting me shot at once, and driven off the road twice. If I'd kept my cool, they wouldn't even have noticed they almost hit me.

If you like strip malls and walmarts and want to see our beautiful suburbs and make sure to avoid anything interesting whatsoever, stay west and maybe try Kingery Highway (Route 83) to bypass most of the city. It's mostly divided limited-access road with a 55 speed limit (people drive 65) but it's not an official interstate (you need a 150 on the real highway and I wouldn't wanna do it under 200cc) and there's an occasional big intersection or exit/on ramp, but not strip mall parking lots all along it.

or try 45/20 from the Tinley Park area, which splits off to Lake Street out to Rockford, or Mannheim towards the airport, both have patches where they're practically interstate, and other patches where they're slower and broken up with intersections.

[Throwback7R]

i'm with 2 stroke on this one. The state park out in west is really nice " starved rock is really pretty to drive through.

just my worthless 2 cents

[SYMbionic Duo]

I've taken pretty much all the roads going west out of Chicago on my way back to the Twin Cities. I'm usually starting out by the Des Plaines river, so i can't comment on getting through Chicago as much.

Avoid US20, it stretches on forever with never ending strip malls and annoying lights.

US12 isn't too bad, but i don't like the stretch by Lake Geneva, too fast.

US45 was nice, taking it all the way to Oshkosh, but the parts around Milwaukee are Interstate and it isn't as direct.

US14 is probably you're best bet. It's nice once you get a bit NW of the sprawl, and it will take you up to Madison.


I would take LSD to 14, follow US14 to Madison then take US12 north to Baraboo and take WI33 to La Crosse. WI33 will be the best part of your day, don't miss it!

-duo

[BootScootin'FireFighter]

OK, see what you think,
Go ahead and run LSD so you can say you did it.....LSD ends at Ridge, North of downtown.....you can only go W. on Ridge...2 blocks to Sheridan Rd.....you'll love it...follow the Sheridan Rd. signs....it makes many turns and runs through the real high $$$ area of N/E Il......CAUTION, many switchbacks, decreasing radius turns, lost drivers, and the 50..Follow N. to Rt.22, Half Day Rd. go West to Rt.45 and go N. 1 light to Gilmer Rd....West on Gilmer and follow to end at Hwy 120. Go W. on 120.....past Il 47 to Alden Rd.....Go N into Wisconsin....Alden ends @ Lakeview Rd. Go West....it will become Wi 67 and then becomes Stateline Rd./Manchester / Broad St....follow to 4th St. go North to Wi 81 (Liberty St.) and then W.
Liberty will become Wi 81...continue W.....81 will connect with Wi 11....continue 11/81....11 will split off, stay with 81....it will tie in with 151 so it'll be 81/151 till Plattville Wi.....continue with 81 West to 61...head North....it'll connect with Wi 14 just before Reedstown......stay with 14/61 to Wi 35 North....follow into LaCrosse Wi.

Looks like a good run.....majority of the route is 2 lane....should be scenic.

Rob

Lots of turns, but I think I like it. I'll check it out and see how much time it estimates, but looks like a nice ride.

As for Gary, I'm not really concerned, I just didn't want to end up in a real crap hole with hoodrats stepping out in the street trying to grab me as I ride past... happened in Richmond and Baltimore. Plan is to camp at Indiana Dunes for the second night, sleep in a little later, hit up a diner near Michigan City or Portage, then cruise into town after the bulk of the rush. Probably stop off at scooterworks / Genuine for a little bit, which is conveniently at the north terminus of LSD. I'm then planning to stay over at Governor Dodge state park, a little west of Madison. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

[Syd]

Riding to the start of CB14?

[Rob]

Plan is to camp at Indiana Dunes for the second night, sleep in a little later, hit up a diner near Michigan City or Portage, then cruise into town after the bulk of the rush.

Well, I can definitely help you out with a dining suggestion. I'd wholeheartedly recommend Bartlett's. http://eatatbartletts.com/
Right on 12, probably less than 10 minutes from the Indiana Dunes.

This doesn't look like much from the outside, but is much nicer inside. Great food and unique food/beer menus. This is actually upscale food at reasonable prices. I eat here frequently and love it.

And you can't miss it. Just look for the the sign on the south side of 12 ... a large deer sucking down a beer.




Rob

[BootScootin'FireFighter]

Riding to the start of CB14?

something like that

and thanks for the Bartletts suggestion, I'll have to check it out!