Ride Report - Chicago-Milwaukee-Chicago

Ride up the Lake Michigan coast. Take a picture. Turn around and go back.

I’m pretty stupidly excited about the next couple months. Nearly every weekend, there’s a new adventure by bike on the docket. Starting with this past weekend, I have five big rides scheduled in seven weekends, with options for the other weekends if my schedule (and my body) happens to let me get out then, too.

Can we call it a high volume block?

No, that’s not necessary, because it isn’t a bunch of rote training. It really is a whole bunch of adventure by bike, maybe more bike than I’ve ever fit into a month and a half. It’s exciting.

It all kicked off this past Saturday with Chicago Randonneurs’ Chicago-Milwaukee-Chicago brevet.

Time Crunch

Left entirely to my own devices, I might have taken a leisurely pace to this ride. With more strenuous rides ahead, spending an entire day spinning in my endurance zone could have been fun. I certainly would have make an additional stop or two.

But I was not fully on my own schedule. I say this not the least bit resentfully, to be clear, but I did have other commitments Saturday evening, and that meant that the ride to Milwaukee and back was a bit more in push mode. Still wholly enjoyable, just a slightly different sort of riding.

From the jump, it was clear that the wind was going to be a character in this story, it just wasn’t entirely clear what role it would play. As we headed north on the Chicago lakefront trail, strong gusts were coming in from the west.

A Special Sort of Riding

Before I get into the route, or how it went, or anything like that, I want to shout out a few riders who I spent at least part of the day with.

On the way to Milwaukee I spent a significant amount of time with John Cooper and Sam McCoy, who were out on their very first Chicago Randonneurs ride (or, I think, their first of any randonneuring event) after getting roped in by a friend, Paul Espiritu, who was ALSO doing his first rando ride. John and Sam beat me to the turnaround point, and they both set personal bests for single-day distance in the course of completing the ride.

Likewise Chris Futtner, who I’ve gotten to ride with several times in and around Chicago this spring, absolutely smashed his longest ride ever, finishing in the lead group with myself and Henry Liang. Chris was doing monster pulls all day, and as we came back into the north side of Chicago he rode me right off his wheel holding 40kph (with a cross-tailwind that was blowing us around at least as much as it was helping). Again: THIS WAS HIS LONGEST RIDE!! Ridiculous.

While allowing that Chris, Henry, and I were pushing the pace pretty hard on the way back, one of the things I most love about Chicago Randonneurs is that it shakes up the cycling culture around Chicago a bit. That’s not to say there aren’t great clubs and great rides for cyclists of all different sorts of abilities (look no further than local legends like Out Our Front Door, not to mention any number of social group rides in the city), but for a lot of cycling enthusiasts in the city, the options are “go fast” or “go alone.” Randonneuring, of course, is about “go long, go together.” That’s unique!

So how was the route?

Pretty good!

I’ve ridden to Milwaukee a handful of times now, but this was a different route than I’ve typically taken, opting for more residential roads in lieu of bike paths. The run into Milwaukee, though, was pretty much the same; there’s only so many ways to ride the lakefront trail. But it’s a great section, one that gives you a good look at the city waterfront before you even get there.

I also appreciated the turn through a few slightly commercial blocks just on the south side of the city. After the turnaround, a number of Chi Randos took a longer-than-normal break at the Honey Pie Cafe, a place I’d love to go back to when I have more time to enjoy it. Still, a coke and a massive breakfast burrito were great fuel for the way back.

Speaking of, I really did have to hurry – plans in the evening meant I was hoping to do the 332km route in under 14 hours, and getting as close to 13 as I possibly could. I might have liked to take my time a bit more, but it was a great day out and I made it back, with breaks, in 13:37. That’ll do!

Gear Highlights

While I don’t have any specific pieces of equipment to shout out from the ride alone, I do have to sing the praises of my frame and wheelset. I started off by talking about the back-to-back adventures I’ve got planned for the next several weeks.

Well, this was 200+ miles on tarmac – stay comfy, stay fast, go long.

Check.

Next week, the mission is to do the Ten Thousand ride; and not only that, to bikepack to and from the ride over Memorial day weekend. That means going from 32mm slicks to 47mm gravel tires, and throwing a bunch of bags on the bike for my tent and such.

Changing tires may be a minor pain, but this is exactly what I got this bike to do: move almost seamlessly from fast road to chunky gravel and everything in between.

Good Weather, Good Vibes

There’s not much else to say about the ride, really. The Chicago-Milwaukee-Chicago route is so fun because it feels local the whole time. You’re never in the middle of nowhere. You’re never that far from roads you might normally be on for any other reason.

Aside from the pushy wind (that stayed thankfully a crosswind most of the way out north, and cross-tail most of the way back), the weather was gorgeous! Could it have been a bit warmer? Sure. But sunny skies for the majority of the day made for happy riding.

If you’re subscribed, you’ll keep getting new newsletters every Wednesday, and maybe a handful of extra missives as we get into the busy summer.

If you aren’t subscribed yet, it’s free! Much more adventure ahead.