Ride Suggestions knoxville, TN -> Chicago

[onecooltngeek]

Hey Gang,

Helping my brother in law move May 18th from knoxville, TN to Chicago, Il.

I'm familiar w/ the slab between the two. boooooooring

Also familiar w/ cutting of 75 on daniel boon pkwy then heading up through cambellsville KY and ending up in louisville, Ky ( less booring, but not exciting)

Just going to be a day ride, and if I can make it a SS1k that would be cool, but not needed...

So what hwys would you recommend along that basic route.

TN, KY, IN, IL

Also, where do you recommend I get a Chicago Hotdog. I've never hung out in the city before (He's moving up on the northside somewhere, near the lakes he said, and has a garage to park the bike in).

 

[wheatonFJR]

Well, do you want to travel on interesting roads or make time for your SS1K?

I'm confused.

I take the back country county roads to make life a little interesting while travelling through hundreds of miles of corn. 'Taint gonna make ya no time though.

Let me know what ya want and I'll try to give you some suggestions...

 

[onecooltngeek]

Primary goals:

Interesting rides w/ as little slab as possible.

Avoid Chicago Rushhour traffic. ( never been in the city before, except to go to the airport)

The SS1k is just something I was going to do if possible, not really important though ...

 

[wheatonFJR]

tngeek,

sorry I haven't posted roads yet. I was on a WI ride this weekend. I will post after work tonight.

I presume you know all the TN/KY roads better than me. I will send some suggestions on some IN/IL roads to get you away from the bottleneck on the south side of Lake Michigan.

-edit-

Also, don't know how much vacation time you have planned, but you oughta head to SW Wisconsin for some riding as long as you are gonna be all the way up here. Good riding starts only about 150 miles (2 hours +/- ) or so from Chicago, and you can ride all day for a couple of days around there if you know the roads. Of course, you gotts plenty of even better roads down by you so... :agent:

 

[wheatonFJR]

tngeek,

my suggestion from Louisville:

I65 N to exit 19

IN 160 west to IN 135 at Salem, IN

IN 135 north to IN 252 at Morgantown, IN Good Road

IN 252 west to IN 44 to IN 39 Rest of roads are generally straight/rural roads

IN 39 north to US 24 at Monticello, IN

US 24 west to Illinois to US 52 (traffic in Kankakee & Joliet)

US 52 north & west to Interstate 55 (Traffic)

I-55 North/East to I-294 (TOLL) (Traffic)

I-294 North TO wherever you need to turnoff (Traffic)

STAY OFF OF I80/94 OR I90 LIKE THE PLAGUE

HOTDOGS - Look in yellow pages for Portillo's restaurant chain.

Best Dogs or Polish sausage or Italian Beef, etc

 

[onecooltngeek]

Wow,

Looks pretty good. Thank you.

I may slab it up 65 in indiana, unless that section 39N to 24W at monticello is worth checking out ( or if the slab is awful right there).

Really thankful for the tip to on roads to avoid in Chicago. I would skipped on the toll road and taken 90/94 if you hadn't said that =).

I wish I had some spare time to ride the area, but just helping a brother in law move, and using that as en excuse for a good day ride, so leaving friday morning and coming home sunday.

tngeek,
my suggestion from Louisville:

I65 N to exit 19

IN 160 west to IN 135 at Salem, IN

IN 135 north to IN 252 at Morgantown, IN Good Road

IN 252 west to IN 44 to IN 39 Rest of roads are generally straight/rural roads

IN 39 north to US 24 at Monticello, IN

US 24 west to Illinois to US 52 (traffic in Kankakee & Joliet)

US 52 north & west to Interstate 55 (Traffic)

I-55 North/East to I-294 (TOLL) (Traffic)

I-294 North TO wherever you need to turnoff (Traffic)

STAY OFF OF I80/94 OR I90 LIKE THE PLAGUE

HOTDOGS - Look in yellow pages for Portillo's restaurant chain.

Best Dogs or Polish sausage or Italian Beef, etc

 

[wheatonFJR]

...US 52 north & west to Interstate 55 (Traffic)I-55 North/East to I-294 (TOLL) (Traffic)

I-294 North TO wherever you need to turnoff (Traffic)...

BTW, taking US 52 all the way to I-55 to avoid that traffic is kind of extreme actually.

For speed, I would take a shorter cut by taking US 52 to I-57 North to I-80 east to I-294 north. Two problems to be aware of going this way:

1) You WILL have a sizeable jammup at the I-80 east to I-294 north ramp as they are reconstructing this ramp.

2) As you are going eastbound on I-80, you MUST be in the far lefthand lane to get onto I-294 northbound. Do not switch out of this lane during the jammup preceding the ramp. You will not be able to get back in. WARNING: If you do not make it onto northbound RAMP, you will continue east stop and go for MILES in the construction zone with no exit ramp in sight. You will truly be in STOP AND GO HELL.

Never the less, I recommend this way over the other. Kinda like going to the Grand Canyon. Go there...just don't fall off the edge of the cliff.

Regarding the Indiana roads. If you have long days already planned, don't do it this time. Maybe do it on the way back-or another trip.