All my fretting about disability or death by automobile and bike contact on the streets of Chicago was wasted energy. Neither occurred. Our last pedaling day on this segment of Route 66 remains in my memory a delightful experience.
This tranquil rather not-what-you'd-expect-when-you-think-of-Chicago photo says it all. But you'll want to continue on and read the whole story. But first, the stats:
June 25, 2017 Sunday
Day 6 Route 66: Joliet to Chicago
Distance: 74.7 km (46.3 mi)
Average Speed: 18.8 kph (11.7 mph)
Time on Bike: 4 hours
Trip Time: 5 hours
Start Time: 6 am
End Time: 11 am
Two significant factors contributed to the pleasantness of our ride today. We got on the road respectfully early at 6 am. The sun was still creeping its way over buildings and trees, not yet striking pavement.
We enjoyed a high carb breakfast of donuts, etc before the sun was even peaking over the buildings. This placed us riding in the as-cool-as-it's-going-to-get part of the day.
And in addition to getting on the move early, it is also a Sunday morning. Chicago was sleepy. More people home in bed, or sipping their morning coffee while reading their newspaper, meant low traffic, more room on the road shoulder, and relative quiet for us.
It also helped that we will actually complete our ride today at 11 am.
Unless you read and study a lot, or have been there before, you may not be aware that once upon a time Chicago utilized a state of the art Canal System.
Built to handle flood waters, sewage sanitation, and shipping needs, the Chicago Canal Waterways now, among other things, host a great network of multi-purpose trails alongside its banks.
We enjoyed these trails for almost half of our five hour ride.
Mark and Laura cruising the canal bike path before the sun peeks over the tree tops.
This portion of the travel is smooth hard packed gravel.
Other sections offer a paved "divided highway."
The concrete barrier on the right is part of the flood control measures.
This webbed fence along the trail prevents invasive fish specifics of the Great Lakes from sneaking through the Chicago canals into the Des Plaines River and then many waterways to the south and west of the USA. "We will build a wall, a really big wall, the biggest wall ever, to keep them out."
After a great second breakfast at the historic Route 66 Steak & Egger Diner on Joliet Road, we left the natural environments of the bike trails and began sharing the road with the cars as we head towards our downtown destination.
Look over the top of Mark's helmet and you'll see the downtown skyline. Also note his very cool Adventure Cycling Association Route 66 Jersey.
If you're not familiar with the awesomeness of the ACA, check it out: https://www.adventurecycling.org/
Joliet Road, formerly Route 66 once upon a time, proved to be a reasonably safe and pleasant ride. But it ended. Abruptly. A chain link fence cuts right across the road with signs saying "Keep Out."
The view beyond the fence reminds me of a dystopia scene from the movie "Divergent" (Also "filmed" in the mostly digitally imagined post apocalyptic future city of Chicago).
Jungle-like growth pushes right up to the curbs on both sides of the street. Bushes and trees force their way out of cracks in the pavement.
I don't know all the politics behind this scene, but apparently this section of Route 66 Chicago became a target for urban renewal. But there seems to some disagreement among and between the government downtown and citizen residents nearby as to exactly how such urban renewal should proceed and what it should look like.
I get the impression, in the meantime, this temporarily abandoned limbo zone might be home and haunt of some "interesting" persons and activities.
At any rate, we must detour on an alternative route towards downtown.
We are getting closer.
And we arrive.
If you are traveling east, as we are, this is the end of Route 66.
If you are heading west, this is the beginning of Route 66.
Just across the street from our "This Is The End of Route 66" sign is the Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park, right along the shores of Lake Michigan. A truly classy end, or beginning, for iconic Route 66.
Just across the street from Buckingham Fountain you see our hotel. Not motel. Hotel. Stepping into the lobby, one can almost feel the nostalgic presence of days gone by when movie stars, industrial giants, and leaders of state roamed the halls.
The rooms are reasonably upgraded and comfortable. I noticed, walking down the hallways and discretely glancing into open room doors, that almost every room seems slightly different. Definitely not a cookie cutter room motel.
Our room is a little over half way up the shady right side of the building.
One of Chicago's Canals very near Lake Michigan. Lots of tour boats and recreational craft.
Classic downtown view. The name on the glass building reminds me of a notable political figure.
Chicago's famous "EL"evated transit system.
After arriving at trail's end around noon, we cleaned up and ate lunch and then toured our part of town by foot. Navy Pier was full of life. Supper was delicious.
Kent, Laura, and Mark end their day standing in front of Chicago's landmark "Bean." Because it is shaped like a bean.
But it's really the "Cloud Gate," because this sculpture actually reflects 80% of the sky. Good place to get a really distorted view of oneself. Here's a tidbit to drop at your next dinner party: It takes 15 gallons of Windex to clean the Bean!
So now our trip comes near to its end. Tomorrow morning Laura and Mark and their bikes board the Amtrak train south to Lincoln.
Tomorrow evening, I will board an Amtrak train around supper time without my bike. This is an irritating story of how Amtrak called me a few days ago in the middle of Illinois and informed me that they decided not to allow me to take my bike on the train to Port Huron even though I paid for it and reserved it, and how they refunded my $10 but I had to pay FedEx $75 USA (Over $100 CDN) to ship my bike to Port Huron and had to spend an extra night in Port Huron to pick it up the next day. True story. Enough said.
I swore I would never ride Amtrak again. But I probably will. But I still swear about it.
EPILOGUE
Here's a few post-trip reflections:
Hot. The temp and humidity, especially at the beginning of the trip, were way high. Challenging but doable riding conditions. Uncomfortable, almost painful at the time, but the stuff memory are made of.
Civilization. In great contrast with much of Route 66 in the Southwest between Los Angeles and Gallup, this trip provided a small town about every hour, about every 5-10 miles (8-16 km). This means an almost guaranteed air conditioned stop at a Dairy Queen, McDonald's, Harvey's, etc in every town. A much appreciated oasis in the brutal heat of the day.
This became a necessity for me. Once or twice I pulled into such an Oasis,(You gotta do what you gotta do) and Mark and Laura had to come back to find me.They didn't complain too much, and usually decided to partake in the coolness and refueling. I or we stopped at almost every opportunity just for an iced tea and hamburger and/or ice cream just to lower core body temperature.
Flat. No perceived elevation changes. Only a few small inclines during the entire ride. A contrast with the Southwest. Lots of flat there too. But also some substantially long inclines and at least three mountain passes. Not so between St Louis and Chicago.
Excellent bike trails and paths. While we had some long stretches on normal surface roads, we also enjoyed some wonderful, and significantly long bike trails.
History reclaimed and restored. Many historic gas stations restored and vintage restaurants still operational. Illinois gets high marks and praise for its respect for and revitalization of Route 66.
As this trip ends, we begin anticipation of our next trip. And it will be one grand adventure. At this present moment, we are planning a four week 1,300 mile (2,000 km) ride from Gallup, New Mexico to The Arch at St Louis, Missouri. When we complete this segment, we will have pedalled the entire length of Route 66. We hope to ride this segment in Spring 2019.
Some Total Trek Stats:
Total Daily Bike Trip Time: 43.75 hours
Average Daily Bike Trip Time: 7.3 hours
Longest Day: 10 hours; 118 km (73.7 miles)
Shortest Day: 4.5 hours; 68.4 km (42.2 miles)
Best Day: Every Day
Total Distance: 532 km (333.6 miles)
Average Daily Distance: 88.6 km (55.6 miles)
