I have not been on an outdoor bike ride in 2023 and I miss it! After our big bike trip in France in September I have taken it easy as baby girl has continued to grow. And if you had asked me ten years ago if I would be writing a post about how I missed exercising in fresh air I would have laughed at you. However, as someone who grew up hating the outdoors it only took a few months of an office job in New York city to begin to really crave fresh air again.
When Mark and I visited Chicago for my cousin’s wedding two Summer’s ago we arrived two days early to both adjust to the timezone and to see a bit of the city. I had been twice before on work trips during Winter and Mark had driven through many years before so it was nice to explore somewhere almost new together. I looked into bike tours of the Windy City but did not find any that fit exactly what we were looking for so instead opted to rent hybrid bikes for the day and map out our own route.
You can see the exact route we took on my Strava profile but essentially we just went North and South along the beautiful waterfront Chicago Lakefront Trail.
As you can see it was not particularly speedy but that was not the point – we stopped to take in the view and if you continue scrolling, you will see we stopped for more than a few photos:
I don’t have any plans to go back to Chicago but if I did, I would definitely ride the Chicago Lakefront Trail again!
Marjorie says
So much fun and looks like you had the perfect weather. So smart that the city has planned the waterfront usage so well.