CHICAGO SUMMER RIDE/GATHERING

[nealsky]

CHICAGO SUMMER RIDE/GATHERING ~ RIDING THE SCENIC CHICAGO LAKEFRONT

 

 

WHEN: SATURDAY JULY 10TH at 12:00 noon until whenever

 

THE PLAN:

We will all meet up in the huge parking lot near Montrose Beach at Noon, check out each other’s bikes, do some tricks and get ready to ride. Then we will take a ride along Chicago’s scenic lakefront. The end of our ride will return us to our meeting place, where we can hang out and BBQ. (I will also be looking into food and drink establishments in the area as an alternative.)

 

THE ROUTE:

We will start cruising near Montrose beach and head south, passing by North Avenue Beach and Navy Pier, and ending up at Buckingham Fountain. We’ll stop along the way for some tricks, snacks and photo ops. We will then head back up the lakefront, ending up at the starting point.

 

YOUR BIKES:

Any BMX bike that you can ride is good for this gathering. Let‘s do our best to bring out as many old school bikes as possible! Keep in mind that we will be riding a good distance, so make sure your bike can handle it.

 

WHO:

Anyone is welcome. Bring your friends, significant others, families (just make sure kids are old enough to handle a long ride), etc. The more the merrier!

 

THE MEETING PLACE:

The Wilson Avenue parking lot (near Montrose Beach). This is a huge free parking lot. As you pull in off of Wilson Ave, the Skate Park will be immediately on your left. Drive past the Skate Park to the Northwest corner of the lot. (Yellow Circle at top of photo)

 

 

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING POINT:

 

I suggest you double check the directions from your specific starting point. NOTE: the meeting point does not have an address (since it is a parking lot) so when using Mapquest use the following address for the destination:

Weiss Memorial Hospital 4646 N. Marine Drive Chicago, IL 60640. (Yellow circle with the Star/B in it)

The hospital is just on the other side of US-41, with it's parking lot at the corner of Wilson Ave.

From the North (I-94)

Take I-94 E/ EDENS EXPY E toward Chicago

Take the EAST TOUHY AVE Exit (EXIT 39B)

Turn slight RIGHT onto TOUHY AVE.

Turn Slight RIGHT onto N. LINCOLN AVE/US-41

Turn LEFT onto W. FOSTER AVE/US-41

Merge onto US-41/N. LAKE SHORE DR.

Take the WILSON AVE EXIT

Turn LEFT onto WILSON AVE.

Turn LEFT into parking lot.

 

From the North (I-90)

Take I-90 E/Jane Addams Memorial Tollway toward Chicago

Keep RIGHT at the fork to go on I-90 E

Take the LAWRENCE AVE Exit (EXIT 84)

Turn slight LEFT onto W. LAWRENCE AVE.

Turn RIGHT onto N. MARINE DRIVE

Turn LEFT onto WILSON AVE.

Turn LEFT into parking lot.

 

From the West (I-290)

Take I-290E/Eisenhower EXPY E

Merge onto I-90W/I-94W KENNEDY EXPY W (Toward Wisconsin)

Take the EAST OHIO ST Exit, EXIT 50B

Stay STRAIGHT to go on to W. OHIO ST.

Turn LEFT onto N. MICHIGAN AVE.

Turn SLIGHT RIGHT to stay on N. MICHIGAN AVE.

Stay STRAIGHT to go on ramp

Merge onto US-41N/ N LAKE SHORE DRIVE

Take the WILSON AVE exit ramp

Turn RIGHT on WILSON AVE

Take immediate LEFT into parking lot.

 

From the South (I-55)

Take I-55N/STEVENSON EXPY N

Merge onto S. LAKE SHORE DR/US-41 N. via the exit on the LEFT

Take the WILSON AVE exit ramp

Turn RIGHT on WILSON AVE

Take immediate LEFT into parking lot.

 

From the South (I-57)

Take I-57N

Merge onto I-94W/DAN RYAN EXPY W. via exit on left toward Chicago loop

Keep LEFT to take DAN RYAN EXPRESS LN W/I-94 EXPRESS LN W (toward Pershing Rd.)

Take EXIT 53C toward I-55 N/STEVENSON EXPY/LAKE SHORE DRIVE/22nd ST.

Merge onto I-55 N/STEVENSON EXPY N. toward LAKE SHORE DRIVE

Merge onto S. LAKE SHORE DR/US-41 N. via the exit on the LEFT

Take the WILSON AVE exit ramp

Turn RIGHT on WILSON AVE

Take immediate LEFT into parking lot.

 

BY TRAIN:

Here's a map of the downtown Metra locations. Ride east to the lakefront path from your stop and then ride North. Stay on the bike path all the way up. It's about a six mile ride to the Wilson Ave lot.

 

 

 

This ride is just about meeting up with fellow riders, taking in some of the awesome Chicago scenery, and checking out each other’s bikes. If all goes well, we can expand on this for next year. So please tell all of your friends, and let me know if you can make it! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

 

Thanks,

Neal

[superpink]

Not to be the bearer of bad news but, Saturday July 10th is the L.A.T.E. ride which many of the Old School gang attends. Having this gathering earlier in the day would make for a long one for sure or may even result in a low turnout. Just an FYI.

[nealsky]

Not to be the bearer of bad news but, Saturday July 10th is the L.A.T.E. ride which many of the Old School gang attends. Having this gathering earlier in the day would make for a long one for sure or may even result in a low turnout. Just an FYI.

Personally, I don't see too much of a conflict. Especially since I've been getting a lot of positive feedback. Besides, there's plenty of time for a nap in between!

Thanks for the heads up though,

Neal

[nealsky]

Hmm, I thought there would be a bit more action here. Well, so far we have at least a couple dozen riders that plan on attending.

Hope to see you all there!

Neal

[nealsky]

Hmm, I thought there would be a bit more action here. Well, so far we have at least a couple dozen riders that plan on attending.

Hope to see you all there!

Neal

So we now have a few people pitching in on food. alainmagana is bringing his grille, and so far we have enough basic supplies to feed 30-40. I'm doing a Roll Call this weekend to see if we need to bring more food & drinks.

 

Please let us know if you can make it out. Hope to see some of you there,

Neal

[nealsky]

A big thanks to everyone who made it out. It was nice to finally meet all of you, do some riding and talk bikes. The day went by so fast, I wish I had more time to talk with everyone.

 

Thanks to everyone for bringing food & drinks. A special thanks to alainmagana for bringing the grille and meats. I really appreciate it guys.

 

 

We'll have to do this again,

 

Neal