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Suburban Chicago Bicycling

After 31 days in August, is it summer or fall? Plus, new e-bike law extremes

Published 3 months ago • 2 min read

There it is, my first fall color of the year. I caught it Tuesday on Klein Road, west of DuPage County's West Branch Forest Preserve. (It's a favorite road of mine.) We were coming off a cool several days — but now this week it seems to be summer again. Well, so, about the end of summer ...

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This suburban Chicagoan, and I'm sure hundreds if not thousands of others, took to a DuSable Lake Shore Drive free of cars on Aug. 31 for Bike the Drive in Chicago. The weather was fantastic — summerish and shockingly lacking wind. It made for zippy riding and fantastic views. Plus I got to ride 12 miles with a prominent Chicago cycling club. Read my report and see some of the scenery.​

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That Aug. 31 in the city concluded my month of riding every single day, 31 days in a row, and nearly every one of them in our suburbs. Yes, that got tiring. How did I get through the tougher days? By riding easier routes like the Deer Grove Forest Preserve east trail, above, a classic trail that I've finally figured out is gorgeous.

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Now back to some business in September: Suburban leaders are deciding and proposing things. Schaumburg is proposing to replace more bike lanes with an off-street path on Braintree Drive. Rolling Meadows' city council rejected a lane reduction and bike lanes on some of Kirchoff Road. This and more in local news.​

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And in e-bike news, I found extremes in new laws. Orland Park's outright ban of all e-bikes in any public places escaped local media attention. But Rolling Meadows just decided to allow broad use of e-bikes, simply reiterating state law. City leaders followed the advice of Ride Illinois, which is campaigning to specify legal e-bikes vs. "e-motos" and get state law updated accordingly. It's all in my e-bike law round-up.​

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The next big ride on the organized/charity ride list is the North Shore Century, starting in Wilmette this year instead of Evanston, on Sept. 21. But "Let's Ride, Illinois" community rides are going on now through Sept. 21. And on Sunday morning, Libertyville is hosting its 9th annual Community Bike Ride starting at Adler Park. There are 2.5- and 5-mile rides. Today is the final day to sign up online.

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September too serious? Enjoy the summer weather before fall colors come. — Neil

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Suburban Chicago Bicycling

Neil Holdway

A source for the great trails and roads to ride a bicycle in Chicago's suburbs, and to learn about efforts to make bicycling easier there.

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