Biking from Oak Park/River Forest to The Loop? (Chicago: roughest, neighborhoods)

[CityLife!]

Hi, I'm going to college in the River Forest/Oak Park area and am deciding to bring a bike, instead of a car.
Of course when I am completely free, I would like to go biking for pleasure, not commuting, to downtown. I understand it's about 9-11.2 miles from my location to The Loop, and that Humboldt Park and Austin are sketchy neighborhoods. I just want to ask, what is the safest routes to go through? I understand there's no way of completely avoiding bad parts of the west side or bad roads, but what's recommended?

[CCrest182]

Originally Posted by CityLife!

Hi, I'm going to college in the River Forest/Oak Park area and am deciding to bring a bike, instead of a car.
Of course when I am completely free, I would like to go biking for pleasure, not commuting, to downtown. I understand it's about 9-11.2 miles from my location to The Loop, and that Humboldt Park and Austin are sketchy neighborhoods. I just want to ask, what is the safest routes to go through? I understand there's no way of completely avoiding bad parts of the west side or bad roads, but what's recommended?

Tough question, Oak Park is directly west of the Loop, and there's no way to get their directly without going through some of the roughest neighborhoods in the entire city (Austin probably being the most horrific, but West Garfield Park and west Humboldt Park are also pretty bad). I'd definitely not bike through those neighborhoods at night or even in the early evening. You may be fine during the day, but still, I wouldn't risk the hastle, despite you being on a bike (at least you aren't walking through those neighborhoods, even worse). Perhaps riding along the Eisenhower expressway would keep you closer to large sums of traffic and activity, that's probably your safest bet without going through the trouble of riding all the way north and then making a "U" into Oak Park. Unfortunately, OP is barricaded with bad West Side neighborhoods, and you will want to avoid those like the plague, especially the side streets of these places.

Also, that is a VERY long ride, unless you are a "cyclist" and bike dozens of miles per day, this is a very long and excruciating commute. Hardly anybody from the suburbs, even close ones like Oak Park ride their bikes into the loop. If it was efficient, more people would do it, but like I said, hardly anybody, and you'd have to be willing to give up 3 to 4 hours at least of your day for biking, which on top of college you probably won't like, again unless biking is your thing. It would be a different story if you were in Bucktown or Lincoln Park, but seriously. That's quite a long ride. It must be at least an hour or two to get there, vs. probably 20 to 30 minutes by car or by train to the loop.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by CityLife!

Hi, I'm going to college in the River Forest/Oak Park area and am deciding to bring a bike, instead of a car.
Of course when I am completely free, I would like to go biking for pleasure, not commuting, to downtown. I understand it's about 9-11.2 miles from my location to The Loop, and that Humboldt Park and Austin are sketchy neighborhoods. I just want to ask, what is the safest routes to go through? I understand there's no way of completely avoiding bad parts of the west side or bad roads, but what's recommended?

Don't.

[Drover]

There is no "best way." You'd be riding through some of the roughest neighborhoods that urban America has to offer unless you take a very circuitous route to downtown. If you're unwilling to accept the risks of riding through some very crime- and gang-ridden neighborhoods, change your recreational biking plans.

[Drover]

On second thought you'd really only have to go up to North Avenue to avoid most of the really, really bad parts of the west side. You'd just be pedaling through some "pretty bad" parts.

[chet everett]

While agree that there is no route that will be a "ride in the park" the fact is there have been numerous articles chronicling the various Oak Parkers that ride to Loop offices daily. It is possible and not a "certain death sentence" but the OP would be wise to find the bicyclists in Oak Park that understand the safer routes and are willing to share...

[jdiddy]

You already asked this question.

//www.city-data.com/forum/chica...er-forest.html

[emathias]

Originally Posted by CCrest182

...
Also, that is a VERY long ride, unless you are a "cyclist" and bike dozens of miles per day, this is a very long and excruciating commute. Hardly anybody from the suburbs, even close ones like Oak Park ride their bikes into the loop. If it was efficient, more people would do it, but like I said, hardly anybody, and you'd have to be willing to give up 3 to 4 hours at least of your day for biking, which on top of college you probably won't like, again unless biking is your thing. It would be a different story if you were in Bucktown or Lincoln Park, but seriously. That's quite a long ride. It must be at least an hour or two to get there, vs. probably 20 to 30 minutes by car or by train to the loop.

It's not a "very" long ride except for fat, out-of-shape Americans. It's not short, but it's hardly some monumental ride. I've ridden from River North to Berwyn, which is just south of Oak Park, many times. It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour.

Lake Street is the most common route for cyclists going between Oak Park and the Loop and most of it has pretty good pavement and part of it has a dedicated bike lane. You will see other cyclists along the way. Yes, it goes through some sketchy patches, but keep your eyes open and try not to ride past groups of people (especially on hot days) and you'll be fine. If you're going slow enough that a runner could catch up to you, be aware of your rear side, too. In the winter you will want to take the Green Line when it's snowy. Also be aware that Oak Park and Berwyn police strictly enforce bicycle lighting requirements so always have front and rear lights if you're out after dark.

If you wanted to ride further and go around the worst parts of the West Side, you could ride up to Fullerton (along, say, Milwaukee Ave) and then take Fullerton west, but that adds several miles to your route and, personally, Fullerton is a lot more car-centric as you get west and feels more dangerous from a vehicle safety standpoint. I'd rather risk the West Side sketchiness than high-speed car corridors.

In cooler weather if you wanted to mix it up a bit, I like riding along Jackson Street from the Loop. I've never ridden it back from Berwyn to the Loop, though, so I'm not sure about how partial one-way-ness affects that route. It's more neighborhoody, so I don't ride it during warm weather because the streets are more crowded with dealers and, how shall I say it, "people of the street." I strongly recommend using "Idaho rules" when it comes to streets to avoid sitting in any one spot too long - stop for red lights but proceed when it clear, and slow for stop signs only enough to be sure there's no traffic. Most Chicago riders ride that way anyway, and as long as you don't inconvenience drivers and watch carefully it's probably safer and definitely faster. I've never seen police care in Chicago itself - Oak Park police are more enforcement-minded, though, so be aware of that.

Good luck, and have fun.

P.S. if you don't already have better-than-average tires, consider getting Gatorskins or similar bike tires designed to resist the traumas of the road (especially glass).

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by CCrest182

Also, that is a VERY long ride, unless you are a "cyclist" and bike dozens of miles per day, this is a very long and excruciating commute. Hardly anybody from the suburbs, even close ones like Oak Park ride their bikes into the loop. If it was efficient, more people would do it, but like I said, hardly anybody, and you'd have to be willing to give up 3 to 4 hours at least of your day for biking, which on top of college you probably won't like, again unless biking is your thing. It would be a different story if you were in Bucktown or Lincoln Park, but seriously. That's quite a long ride. It must be at least an hour or two to get there, vs. probably 20 to 30 minutes by car or by train to the loop.

If you don't know what you are talking about, you don't have to offer your opinion. Most of Oak Park is 8-10 miles from the loop. That's a 35-45 minute bike ride for most people, not that different from door to door times on transit if you factor in walking and waiting, except now you don't have to find time for the gym.

[chet everett]

I beleive the poster above that recommends Lake St actually lives in River North. Back when I had friends in Oak Park that were acid cyclists they had club rides out of Lickton's Cyclery and similar shops. I would advise the OP to find some similar locally knowledgeable riders.