Bike Commuting in Chicago: A Beginner's Guide

Chicago rewards the commuter who chooses a route and sticks to it. The network is large, the rules are short, and the gear list is smaller than most beginners fear.

Know the network

Chicago’s cycling network now covers over 500 miles of bikeways, and 42% of it is low-stress.¹ Protected bike lanes, physically separated from vehicles on higher-traffic streets, total nearly 70 miles, over 15% of the on-street network.¹ Neighborhood greenways total 85 miles, low-stress alternatives to busier arterial streets.¹

The city built over 100 of those miles in the last three years.¹ Milwaukee Avenue, known as the busiest cycling street in the city, is becoming a protected corridor in sections.⁷

Use the trails when they fit your route. The city lists the Lakefront, North Branch, Burnham Greenway, Major Taylor, North Shore Channel and Sauganash trails as paved paths for all users.² The Chicago bike lanes guide covers the street network in detail.

Choose by stress, not by distance. A route on a greenway or a protected lane a few blocks out of the way beats a shorter ride on an arterial.

Where to ride

A bike lane is a five- to six-foot striped lane marked with a large white bicycle.² Three habits matter.

• You are not required to use it. A bicyclist may use the adjacent lane when moving at the speed of traffic, to pass, or to prepare for a turn.²
• Dotted stripes mean cars will cross. Where the line turns dotted, motorists can cross the lane to turn. Hold your position and slow down for drivers who fail to yield.²
• Stay out of the door zone. Beside parked cars, ride on the left side of the bike lane.² In the street, keep 4 feet from the mirrors of parked cars.⁶

Ride with traffic, never against it, obey signals as a vehicle would, and stay off the sidewalk.⁶

On roads without a lane, Illinois sets the baseline:

Any person operating a bicycle … upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic … shall ride as close as practicable and safe to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway.³

The exceptions include passing, preparing for a left turn, and avoiding fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles and other hazards.³

Lights and brakes

Illinois law sets the minimum equipment:

Every bicycle when in use at nighttime shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front⁴

The rear needs a red reflector, or a steady or flashing red light visible from 500 feet, which may be used in addition to or instead of the reflector.⁴ Every bicycle must also have a brake that can control, stop and hold it.⁴ For dark winter rides, see winter cycling in Chicago.

Before you leave

Active Trans offers a short check, the ABC check.⁶

1. Air. Tires should feel firm.⁶
2. Brakes. They must be tight enough to stop the bike.⁶
3. Chain. It should move freely, free of rust and slightly oiled.⁶

Carry a spare tube, a mini pump, a patch kit, a lock and a transit fare or Ventra card.⁶ Pack work clothes or an extra outfit.⁶

Add the CTA

The bike and the train work together. Bikes ride the L outside weekday rush periods, 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., and all day on weekends and holidays. Two bikes fit per railcar.⁵ Buses carry bikes on front racks, and crowding restrictions do not apply to those racks.⁵ The details: bikes on CTA trains and bikes on CTA buses.

Park it, and bring your employer along

Racks stand outside most L stations.⁵ For the Loop and downtown, read bike parking downtown Chicago. If you want your employer behind you, point them to why employers should promote bike commuting. Everything else is in the commuting hub.