A friendly cycling community in the beautiful city of Chicago.

Welp it happened (again) bike was stolen through parking complex. Second time this year though this time I locked in to itself and another bike. Black Iridescent State Co with 2 cages one and larger cage on the fork. Stolen November 1st sometime between 10:50 pm and 12 pm. Stolen near Kedzie and Montrose. Thanks for reading and sorry for the dark picture

Surprisingly, the couple shops I've gone to including Comrade do not have 26" tanwall slicks/city tires, preferably tanwall but I can also get behind an all black look. Comrade had some hookworms, but 2.5" is too big for my frame and i'm looking for something a bit lighter, like DTHs or billy bonkers (typical, I know lol). Any suggestions before I order something online? I'd prefer to support something local. Also down to buy direct from a fellow chicagoan. Thanks!

Was my worst accident this year on Wednesday 10/30 @ 8:05am at 3804 W. Addison St. on Addison Street. While bicycling west on Addison I hit a disastrous crater that send me down hard. Traffic was backed up heading east to 90. No cars behind me exactly as the accident happened. Cars passed me heading west as I stumbled back up collecting my bike. Someone asked if I was okay. Tall yellow bike. Six foot tall (when not slouching) human. I rocked the city with this wreck.

Do you like bikes, bison, an/or beers? Join us this Saturday (11/2) for a legendary ride. There’s 3 distance groups to welcome all cyclists. 🦬 🚲 🚲 🚲 More details: http://bit.ly/obstinacy2024

Hello, everyone

Also posting this on r/chicago.

I'm thinking about joining a bike advocacy organization. I believe Chicago has a great potential to become a more bike friendly and safe city and that will benefit everyone, yes, even the drivers. I'm particularly interested in better bike infrastructures.

I did a quick Google search and it looks like there are four major bike advocacy organizations in Chicago.

1. Better Streets Chicago (https://www.betterstreetschicago.org/)
2. Active Transportation Alliance (https://activetrans.org/)
3. Bike Grid Now (https://bikegridnow.org/)
4. Chicago Family Biking (https://www.chicagofamilybiking.org/advocacy)

I'm not super familiar with what their focuses are, how they are different, and what relationship they have with each other. Just checking if anyone has experience with any of those organizations and could educate me.

Thank you--

I was in an accident 3 weeks ago when a driver came into the bike lane from a parking garage and didn’t see me. It was a hit and run. Parking garage footage shared with police doesn’t have the license plate so driver has yet to be identified. CPD isn’t really being proactive in the investigation.

I was taken to the ER via ambulance and the bills have started to be mailed in… am I out of luck with any legal recourse? Am I just suppose to suck it up and have my health insurance deal with it and absorb whatever cost comes from that?

I’m feeling pretty defeated. Bike needs repair, my injuries are hard to manage right now - there was a crime and I’m here bearing the cost. Any guidance on how to proceed?

Had to drop gears several times during this AM commute. Call me a baby but it hasn't been this windy in a few months.

On the plus side, I just realized it's from the south, so I'll get a nice push on my way back north later. Hell yah.

Even though I had a cover for my bike while stored outside, the chain and cassette have major rust. Trying to avoid replacing parts and just wondering if anyone offers the cleaning as a service? Is it even worth it or cheaper to replace? Sorry if dumb question, this is literally my first attempt to begin thinking about fixing the problem.. I haven't even called the few shops around here I've been to before. Yes, some of us prefer to pay for a maintenance rather than diy like many enthusiasts might insist. Any help is appreciated

There are fences up from the east and west sides of the underpass. This has not been open all year and it looks like it won't be opening soon. I snick through in June. Today there was heavy equipment moving around on the west side. I opted to not try to get to the underpass.

Salt Creek Trail System - Forest Preserves of Cook County

Hi all, thought I'd throw a nice word out about the Katy Trail since many are looking for touring getaways from Chicago.

Last week I took the Amtrak from Union Station to Sedalia, MO, which is on the trail. The start in Clinton was almost 40 miles away, there are shuttles or you can just ride it (which I did). It's a 240 mile ride from Clinton to Machens, the longest rail-to-trail in the country.

Most people know about it, but I just wanted to share what AMAZING condition it was in. I didn't see a single piece of garbage, the trail was beautiful with crushed stone (easy on the 1 1/4" tires of my touring bike), and the craziest thing I noticed was that at every road and bridge crossing there wasn't a massive bump to get up and down. Someone thought to make it so the cyclists weren't getting slammed in the crotch...that's love. The trail was protected from cars getting on, but I frequently came across the trucks of the MO dept that maintains the trail, checking on any downed branches, etc.

I always heard that camping was a problem, and I heard wrong. You can't camp along the trail wherever you want, but the small towns let you camp in their city parks, frequently for free. It was tougher on the eastern end, but I was advised by people in St Charles (super cute historic town), where bikepackers/bike tourers usually set up camp and aren't bothered.

I chose to cycle out to Alton to catch the train back home, and I'm glad I did, the homes of the town are gorgeous.

There were a ton of e-bikes on the trail, but they were all class 1, with older people pedaling away, very respectful. Lots of people were shuttling and staying in hotels, but I met people from all over the country who were camping.

There were pretty easy food options, another cute town (Hermann an old German town), as a side trip, Columbia is another side trip with a trail. Lots of beer, many breweries.

A few of the towns have Amtrak stations, so it is easy to do from Chicago. Bikes were roll-on, no bike box needed.

I do lots of bike touring off the Amtrak (and Metra) and am kicking myself for waiting so long to do this one.

Thought I'd just throw this out as a recommendation, something to put in your brains for next year.

Just stopped here cause there’s just no where else to park but the bike lane… don’t worry, he’s just stopped here to pollute the public way with these pink signs.

Seems like this trial system is about 40 miles of paved+unpaved roads. Is all of this rideable on a road bike?

just had my road bike stolen from a third floor walk up, be careful out there

Edit: found at swap-o-rama. I took it and told them to call the police if they wanted it back

Any junior racing leagues, cyclocross, crit, etc in northside chicago? I've done some poking around but this seems more like a suburban phenomenon. I see these young racers and my kids think it looks cool... but how to start?

Can someone share? Thanks.

Saw this and wanted to share! Will be plenty of parts bin clean outs and deals from people selling their own stuff (me included). Come hang and shop!

Not affiliated with Mack’s just sharing