Lake Michigan Tour Day 18: Portage, IN to Evanston, IL

July 6, 2022

A better day than yesterday – but not an easy one!

It rained all night, so this morning started just as humid and sticky as last night. Fortunately it wasn’t supposed to get so hot.

Almost the whole day was on trails. The morning ones looked like this. I got rained on because the trees dropped water every time the wind blew.

Just like yesterday, I was wet within a couple minutes of beginning my ride. Evaporation doesn’t work if there is so much water in the air that it doesn’t evaporate off you – you just feel damp. Call that my day!

I found a local brewpub off the trail for lunch about 11:30. Shortly after that the character of the ride changed. I found myself in much more industrial surrounds.

This was crossing Wolf Lake – an area I remember (as a kid) smelling really bad while we crossed on the Indiana Turnpike/Chicago Skyway. I remember a brown cloud you could see before you got there and how bad it smelled.

Good news – this area is now much cleaner than it used to be, and the cloud is no longer present. Maybe the presence of several EPA superfund sites has had an effect!

That’s not to say that there wasn’t a lot of industrial stuff to cross. This is an underpass for I-94. But by and large the trails were surprisingly rideable. I first passed through this area 40 years ago – the difference was pretty dramatic in terms of how clean and safe it seemed.

I don’t know when I crossed into Illinois. I just realized at one point that I had passed a Chicago Police vehicle, so I must be in Chicago, ergo Illinois.

It was still several more miles and about 1:30pm before I hit the south end of Lakeshore Drive and saw the lake again, and started to see high-rises and buildings of Chicago. Unfortunately, a brisk wind was now coming out of the NNE and I was heading north, meaning I had to fight it all the way up the lakefront, where there was nothing to block it at all.

I had forgotten how large Chicago is – the lakeshore runs for 26 miles! This shot is looking at the Loop from several miles south. I wish it had been a clearer day!

What made the day go quickly was that there was so much to see! Once I was in Chicago, there were endless neighborhoods, beaches, and parks to pass by. This picture is of Navy Pier from the south.

As I drew closer, I could make out familiar buildings. Unfortunately, the taller and more famous ones like the Hancock Building and Sears Tower had their heads in the clouds.

Here’s Navy Pier from closer. I wanted to ride out there for more views, but the wind wasn’t cooperating, and I was starting to get tired.

At this distance the rows of building start to resemble canyons. Believe me the cold winds in the winter make them feel like canyons of ice! It’s called the Windy City for good reason.

This is Adler Planeterium, which shares a peninsula with Shedd Aquarium (which you can’t see here).

This is one of seemingly dozens of small beaches Chicago has scattered along the lakeshore. It was a cool day with a lot of wind or this beach would be more crowded.

Just before 4pm, I got to Evanston….the city just north of Chicago along the lakeshore. It’s the home of Northwestern University as well as Rotary International (if you’ve heard of Rotary Clubs) where my father worked for over 20 years. I checked into my hotel, and took a much needed hot shower!

Song for today: Chicago by Sufjan Stevens – I highly recommend the whole album: Illinois. This didn’t cue up by chance….I played it as I cycled up the lakeshore.

Stats: 65.1 miles, 896 vertical feet, 12.6 average mph.

Tomorrow is my last riding day of the tour as I return to Milwaukee, where I started 3 weeks ago!

Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 1,114 miles (1,793 km)

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