Chicago is a perennially underappreciated city. I lived there while I was in college and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a great city to be young and stupid, and it's not a bad city to try to raise a young family in after you're done being young and stupid. That being said, there's attitude differences between the Midwest and the west coast that I would miss. The food scene, the running scene, the outdoorsy scene are things that really appeal to me in Portland. Chicago has outlets for all of these things but not as rich as Portland. I think after a few years of living in the Midwest I felt like I wanted to be somewhere where people are a little more adventurous. Midwesterners are great, but they're a little too comfortable with the familiar, and there's only so many conversations about The Bears, the Packers, cheese curds, or watery beers you can have before you want to strike out someplace else. Anyway, thanks for the run down memory lane. I once ran up that waterfront trail from downtown Chicago to the northwestern campus after dropping off a friend at a train station. Good times.
I love biking in Chicago! But we have a 40 mile bike trail in Los Angeles, San Gabriel River Trail. And there are more longer bike trails. But the Chicago lakefront is more beautiful.
If I had a goddamned dollar for every time I've heard some ignoramus from the Midwest mispronounce "Oregon" I could quit my day job and spend the extra time figuring out exactly how to talk about every part of your city without making you scoff. FFS, dude, I wasn't trying to name a neighborhood, just a general area. No one from outside Chicago knows where the hell Lincoln Park is. Get over yourself.
Cool video, man. I'm a year-round cyclist in Chicago and I'm glad you were able to enjoy this town. What you said is true. If anyone plans on visiting here to bike around, a road bike will do just fine. And yeah, we're rife with bike lanes throughout the city! If you come around again, I highly recommend checking out the various neighborhoods. Looks like you were able to see a bit of Lincoln Park, Old Town, and the Loop. I laughed at what you said about Michigan Ave. I love riding that shit and the chaotic traffic. But I used to be a bike messenger, so maybe those urges will never really leave me. Also, too bad you weren't able to ride the north end of the trail. It gets super mellow and the scenery is fantastic. And be sure to check out the North Branch Trail if you're ever in town again. Take care, buddy.
Nice! Yeah, I used to ride pretty aggressively in Portland back in college, but the streets are narrower and the blocks are shorter here. Anyhow, Chicago is a pretty neat city! I’m not sure I’d be intrepid enough to bike there year round, though!
I live in Portland but spend my summers in Chicago. Palos Forest preserve has 20+ miles of wonderful single track and isn’t far from downtown. Of course the urban biking and Lakefront trail is incredible too!
Another thing- the biking infrastructure is wonderful in Chicago. I also feel comfortable riding 24 hrs a day here. Night time is the best time to ride here. The lakefront trail is lit well and beautiful at night. I wouldn’t ride after dark in the Portland suburbs!
I was really hoping to get farther out of the downtown, but ran out of time. Good to hear there’s single track as well! And I agree about Portland after dark. It’s gotten scary! I used to ride around Portland in the middle of the night without thinking twice, but not anymore. 😞
Nice video. I lived in Portland for 3 years, moved to Chicago (Wicker Park area) for 3 and back to Portland for 6 or 7. On the daily as a bike commuter the big thing I notice is that the rules are clearer for cyclists and cars, there is less ambiguity and maybe because of the bike messenger culture that is / was? still there. Cars seemed to know what to do as did cyclists and they co existed without being d8cks. I did find that to be expected it's hard to escape the city for a long roadie ride and also difficult for good trail riding that we are so used to close to Portland / Hood River / Mount Hood area.
Glad I spent 20 minutes watching this. Your commentary is honest and enjoyable to listen to. As someone who grew up somewhere else, I was very happy to discover how bikeable most of Chicagoland is. As someone else mentioned we have plenty of hilly singletrack outside the city. No mountains but enough to get your heart rate up. Chicago in the spring, summer and fall might be the best city of them all. Winter, oooof no... But if the singletrack is frozen solid, it's bearable.
It's crazy to me that you went to Chicago and rode on the sidewalk in areas. I took a right when I was there, went up a hill and was surrounded by cars on the highway, to get to the park.
Nice job. Chicago also has a couple hundred miles of trails in the forest preserves that are all accessible by Metra train. I would rate Chicago almost up there with Minneapolis and perhaps Portland for both leisure and commuter biking. It doesn’t get the recognition that it deserves.
I felt like everything but Michigan Avenue was bike friendly. In some ways, it's actually more bike friendly than my hometown of Portland, OR because there aren't any hills!
@VoiceOverTrailReviews There is no such law or ordinance and plenty of people ride bicycles on Michigan Avenue. The speed limit is 30 mph. I was a bike messenger in Chicago for 3 years. I quit in 2007. I still ride downtown to visit with messenger friends.
As a Chicagoan, this it's very funny seeing this stuff from an outsider's perspective :)
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it! I had fun in your city!
Chicago is a perennially underappreciated city. I lived there while I was in college and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a great city to be young and stupid, and it's not a bad city to try to raise a young family in after you're done being young and stupid.
That being said, there's attitude differences between the Midwest and the west coast that I would miss. The food scene, the running scene, the outdoorsy scene are things that really appeal to me in Portland. Chicago has outlets for all of these things but not as rich as Portland. I think after a few years of living in the Midwest I felt like I wanted to be somewhere where people are a little more adventurous. Midwesterners are great, but they're a little too comfortable with the familiar, and there's only so many conversations about The Bears, the Packers, cheese curds, or watery beers you can have before you want to strike out someplace else.
Anyway, thanks for the run down memory lane. I once ran up that waterfront trail from downtown Chicago to the northwestern campus after dropping off a friend at a train station. Good times.
Thanks for the comment! I love hearing from people who've actually lived in the city!
I couldn't not comment. You made me kind of miss it!
I have a car, but have biked in the city for well over a decadde and just purchased my first new bike in well over 10 years.
I love biking in Chicago! But we have a 40 mile bike trail in Los Angeles, San Gabriel River Trail. And there are more longer bike trails. But the Chicago lakefront is more beautiful.
Awesome video!
Thanks!
Love it
Thank You!
The Playboy mansion was a few blocks from Oak St Beach. In the 80-90's it was THE place to see attractive people FYI
Lol, that was Lincoln Park not Mid-North. Never even heard of that name.
If I had a goddamned dollar for every time I've heard some ignoramus from the Midwest mispronounce "Oregon" I could quit my day job and spend the extra time figuring out exactly how to talk about every part of your city without making you scoff. FFS, dude, I wasn't trying to name a neighborhood, just a general area. No one from outside Chicago knows where the hell Lincoln Park is. Get over yourself.
I usually go from the north part into the city. The north side is the better than the south side.
Next time I’m there I’ll do it that way!
Cool video, man. I'm a year-round cyclist in Chicago and I'm glad you were able to enjoy this town. What you said is true. If anyone plans on visiting here to bike around, a road bike will do just fine. And yeah, we're rife with bike lanes throughout the city! If you come around again, I highly recommend checking out the various neighborhoods. Looks like you were able to see a bit of Lincoln Park, Old Town, and the Loop. I laughed at what you said about Michigan Ave. I love riding that shit and the chaotic traffic. But I used to be a bike messenger, so maybe those urges will never really leave me. Also, too bad you weren't able to ride the north end of the trail. It gets super mellow and the scenery is fantastic. And be sure to check out the North Branch Trail if you're ever in town again. Take care, buddy.
Nice! Yeah, I used to ride pretty aggressively in Portland back in college, but the streets are narrower and the blocks are shorter here. Anyhow, Chicago is a pretty neat city! I’m not sure I’d be intrepid enough to bike there year round, though!
I live in Portland but spend my summers in Chicago. Palos Forest preserve has 20+ miles of wonderful single track and isn’t far from downtown. Of course the urban biking and Lakefront trail is incredible too!
Another thing- the biking infrastructure is wonderful in Chicago. I also feel comfortable riding 24 hrs a day here. Night time is the best time to ride here. The lakefront trail is lit well and beautiful at night. I wouldn’t ride after dark in the Portland suburbs!
I was really hoping to get farther out of the downtown, but ran out of time. Good to hear there’s single track as well! And I agree about Portland after dark. It’s gotten scary! I used to ride around Portland in the middle of the night without thinking twice, but not anymore. 😞
You did an excellent job summarizing Chicago’s lakefront.
Thank You! 😊
Nice video. I lived in Portland for 3 years, moved to Chicago (Wicker Park area) for 3 and back to Portland for 6 or 7. On the daily as a bike commuter the big thing I notice is that the rules are clearer for cyclists and cars, there is less ambiguity and maybe because of the bike messenger culture that is / was? still there. Cars seemed to know what to do as did cyclists and they co existed without being d8cks. I did find that to be expected it's hard to escape the city for a long roadie ride and also difficult for good trail riding that we are so used to close to Portland / Hood River / Mount Hood area.
Glad I spent 20 minutes watching this. Your commentary is honest and enjoyable to listen to.
As someone who grew up somewhere else, I was very happy to discover how bikeable most of Chicagoland is. As someone else mentioned we have plenty of hilly singletrack outside the city. No mountains but enough to get your heart rate up.
Chicago in the spring, summer and fall might be the best city of them all. Winter, oooof no... But if the singletrack is frozen solid, it's bearable.
I looooove riding frozen single track!
This monument is called "Agora" by Polish sculptor and has nothing to do with American-African history!
It's crazy to me that you went to Chicago and rode on the sidewalk in areas.
I took a right when I was there, went up a hill and was surrounded by cars on the highway, to get to the park.
It actually seems safer than PDX now. Now in PDX it's "don't go anywhere after dark and don't go south of Burnside even during the day"
That was my feeling. It wasn’t nearly as skeezy as Portland has become.
Nice job. Chicago also has a couple hundred miles of trails in the forest preserves that are all accessible by Metra train. I would rate Chicago almost up there with Minneapolis and perhaps Portland for both leisure and commuter biking. It doesn’t get the recognition that it deserves.
Good info! I'd agree that Chicago does not get the recognition it deserves.
Chicago has a naked bike ride too
Yet another reason to love Chicago!
Great video! Loved the map, but please point out that you stopped halfway north on the bike path. It goes for miles! Come visit and try it!
I thought I mentioned that… I’ll have to come back some time and ride the rest of it. I also want to try the jetski rental.
The place where the "party boats" were located is called The Playpen. The boats line up next to each other people party and jump from boat to boat.
That’s awesome.
I ride this lakeshore in the early 2000’s when I live there ❤️ Chicago still I do have the paper bicycle map of the city 😊
Cool! Chicago was a lot of fun!
there is also a bike Rental shop at Navy Peir and a number of bike rental stations thru out the city ( those 2 blue bikes at 8:38)
Buckingham Foutain
🤔
Is downtown Chicago bike friendly?
I felt like everything but Michigan Avenue was bike friendly. In some ways, it's actually more bike friendly than my hometown of Portland, OR because there aren't any hills!
That's amazing, because I visited Portland and I thought it was very bike friendly already. @@VoiceOverTrailReviews
@@CheongYinChu For sure! Now, keep in mind I've never seen Chicago in the Winter, so I only saw the good side.
just like being on an exprewssway, bikes are NOT permitted on michigan ave.
I didn't realize it was an actual statute, but I don't know why anyone who values their life would even want to try.
@VoiceOverTrailReviews
There is no such law or ordinance and plenty of people ride bicycles on Michigan Avenue. The speed limit is 30 mph.
I was a bike messenger in Chicago for 3 years. I quit in 2007.
I still ride downtown to visit with messenger friends.