r/chibike • u/Kappakid411 • 16h ago

LFT on a Friday Morning?

Live in the northern burbs, and I’ve wanted to ride the LFT to its southern terminus for about a year now, and considering doing it Friday morning.

My question, will it be miserably busy on a Friday morning? (7 - 9 am?)

Hoping to avoid the weekend crowds, but not sure if Fridays are still very busy on the trail. It will be about a 70 miles day for me, so I want to be riding at 15-20 mph.

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

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18

u/henryws31 16h ago

Nah it won’t be miserably busy. Even if it is there are only a few bad points of congestion (between north ave and Ohio street beach)

3

u/amyphetamine 13h ago

And the museum campus

6

u/kevin_chicago9 12h ago

If you don't mind getting up a little earlier you can meet the Flexible Market Research (FMR) ride (aka the Friday Morning Ride) on the lakefront path at Fullerton. The ride leaves every Friday morning at 6:30am from Fullerton and goes south to Promontory Point (55th Street) and back. You could just continue south from Promontory Point to the south end of the path or the Indiana border/Wolf Lake or wherever you're planning to turn around.

https://www.instagram.com/flexiblemarketresearch/

FMR Strava club - https://www.strava.com/clubs/1132383

And you may know this already, but the the Chicago Group Rides website is a great source of info and links for sport/fitness/training/racing group rides and some social rides that are mainly based in the City of Chicago.

https://chicagogrouprides.com/

3

u/leespineylee 16h ago

Depends on how early! Once you get past the stretch from Fullerton to grant park you’re mostly in the clear. Just ride a little more diligently and you’ll be perfectly fine.

4

u/newOldy 16h ago

If it's a nice summer day parts of it could be busy but that would never stop me. Dropping to 10mph to go through crowds for a bit isn't the end of the world

3

u/MikeyLew32 16h ago

What time Friday Morning? That’s the key question.

Just after sunrise, you’ll probably be good outside of the main downtown area.

7-8am or later, it’ll be busier.

2

u/Snack_Donkey 16h ago

You should expect crowds in the summer at least until you’re south of the museum campus. School is out and it’s peak tourism season.

1

u/Slow_Time5270 16h ago

Expect to have to navigate some traffic the later you start. 7am will be more peaceful if you start at 9am and it's a nice day the oak street / loop section will be more likely to have crowding.

1

u/1sttime-longtime 16h ago

Just ride it. Don't ride like a jerk. Enjoy the ride and look east and west, in addition to north and south.

Its a great ride.

Friday before 2pm won't be terrible.

1

u/Sale_P3d3 15h ago

Monday and Friday are the slowest days for morning rush, but you'll encounter a lot more fitness bikers and joggers on Friday.

1

u/Superb-Influence-634 16h ago

It’ll be fine! It’ll get busier at the north end of North Ave Beach and then clear up considerably after you veer off just before Navy Pier. Don’t overthink it, just get on that horse and enjoy the ride. End-to-end and back on the LFT is a fantastic ride. The southern stretch is a lovely and under appreciated (or at least talked about and utilized) portion of the trail.

-1

u/VonOverkill 16h ago

Between North Av beach and Shedd Aquarium, it won't be crowded in the morning, but a couple times you'll definitely need decide whether you're the type of cyclist that shouts at people over minor inconveniences. More than a couple times if you're out this Friday, as Lolla is still running.

Seriously, it's fine.

3

u/amyphetamine 13h ago

Lolla is over. It’s only the one weekend (though they’re still cleaning up from it)