Northern Illinois Question

Will S. said:

I want to connect from the I & M Canal trail in or near Ottawa to the Fox River Trail in Aurora.
Have any of you ridden these roads? Any route suggestions? Thanks.

The most direct route would be Rt. 71 up to the Fox River Trail in Oswego. Unfortunately, I wouldn't
recommend this route since it has heavy traffic and not a lot of room. Rt. 71 follows the Fox River
from Ottawa to Oswego and heads northeast. All of the other routes, which would be less traveled,
are going to north or east. So, any other route will be longer than Rt. 71.

I'd suggest getting a copy of the Illinois DOT bicycle maps covering the area you are going to
travel. These maps color code each road based on its suitability for bicycling. I don't always agree
with their recommendations, but it's certainly a good start.

If nothing else, once you get north of I-80, you can just head out on some back country roads. They
mostly follow a grid, and there will be a road every mile. Some sections might be gravel, but they
aren't bad and you can likely go around most of them.

Todd Kuzma Heron Bicycles Tullio's Big Dog Cyclery LaSalle, IL 815-223-1776
heronbicycles.comheronbicycles.comOpen ↗ tullios.comtullios.comOpen ↗

Thanks. I definitely don't want to ride along route 71. I was wondering if anyone had experience
riding the backroads that seem to follow the countours of the river fairly closely. Thanks again.

Quoted message said:

From: Will S. [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I want to connect from the I & M Canal trail in or near Ottawa to the Fox River Trail in Aurora.

Not even the Grand Illinois Trail shows a connection.

However, the following roads rated suitable (except where noted) on the ILL Bicycle Map 3 will get
you to Oswego: County 4 (off Rt 71 just west of town) east to County 25 North to US Rt 52 East (may
be North?) to County 2 North to IL 126 East to County 16 North into Oswego.

First half mile of County 4 is rated Caution as is US Rt 52 east of IL Rt 47 for three quarter
miles. Also IL 126 for one eight mile to County 16, which is also a caution for the last half mile
into Oswego.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Sig Chicago

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From: Will S. [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I want to connect from the I & M Canal trail in or near Ottawa to the Fox River Trail in Aurora.

Not even the Grand Illinois Trail shows a connection.

However, the following roads rated suitable (except where noted) on the ILL Bicycle Map 3 will get
you to Oswego: County 4 (off Rt 71 just west of town) east to County 25 North to US Rt 52 East
(may be North?) to County 2 North to IL 126 East to County 16 North into Oswego.

First half mile of County 4 is rated Caution as is US Rt 52 east of IL Rt 47 for three quarter
miles. Also IL 126 for one eight mile to County 16, which is also a caution for the last half mile
into Oswego.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Sig Chicago

Thank you VERY much Sig. I don't know why I didn't think to look at my collection of Illinois Bike
Maps (of course now that I am, I see that I have 1,2,4,5,6 and 7!) My original plan was to ride the
Grand Illinois Trail in 10 days, but as I find myself limited to six days, I am considering a
shorter route that includes aspects of the GIT (I seriously doubt that I'm up for the 90 miles per
day that the GIT would require to finish in six days). I was trying to at least check out the
portion of the trail that heads south out of Chicago and ride on part of the I & M (and then connect
to the Fox River Trail at Aurora). Maybe I'll do that, but hell, maybe I'll just take a pleasure
jaunt on the prairie path to the Fox River Trail and catch the Northern leg of the GIT at McHenry.
Probably more than enough riding for my out of shape old butt. By the way, any good motel
recommendations would be also be appreciated. Thanks again! Will S.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From: Will S. [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

By the way, any good motel recommendations would be also be appreciated.

Just pick 2 or 3 chains, Google your way to their web sites, plug in Illinois and see either a map
or list of locations. Or, Google your way to the town you want to stay in or near, click on
Chamber of Commerce to see list of all motels there.

Sig Chicago

Thanks again Sig. I should have been more specific. Finding motels is no problem. I have Microsoft
Streets and Trips and it shows most of them along my route(s). I was wondering if anyone had any
experience based recommondations along the line of "I stayed at Mom's Motel. It was only $20 and Mom
wakes you up with breakfast in bed"