August 7, 2026 Thrill and chill? What it’s like to ride in Sicily traffic (vs. Chicago, New York, Munich …) The reputation of Italian drivers precedes them: fast, wild, no rules. Could they also possibly be … relaxed? And could bicycling in Italian traffic really be … fun?
July 29, 2026 Destination roads: What’s worth the ride to find in the suburbs, and southern Illinois Some great roads are kind of a secret; they may take a while to find on a bike. But they’re so worth it. There’s a good one in southern Illinois, but there are plenty in our suburbs, too.
June 30, 2026 Dress for the weather: How to choose the right bicycling gear at the right time So much of the bicycling experience is the gear — including and especially what to wear at any given time. I’ve got my clothing lineup broken down by temperature.
June 18, 2026 E-bike laws town by town: Where there are age, other limits New, sometimes strict e-bike laws emerged across the suburbs in 2025 after concern about the safety of e-bikes and “e-motos.” Here’s a town-by-town breakdown.
May 2, 2026 On the road in greater Atlanta: Stick to the trails, like the 61-mile Silver Comet I discovered the sprawl of suburban Atlanta and its bike-unfriendly roads. But the area makes up for it with incredible trails like the Big Creek Greenway and Silver Comet Trail.
April 7, 2026 Post No. 100: How to ride a century, 100 miles in a day, in the suburbs We’ve reached 100 posts on this website! What better topic for the 100th post than riding 100 miles in one day? Here’s where and how you can do it in the suburbs.
February 10, 2026 Great winter getaway ride: Gulf Blvd. and the bridges around Clearwater, Florida While scouting routes during my visits to the Clearwater area, I quickly discovered Gulf Blvd. on the map. It’s on a thin strip of land, really a few islands, providing Gulf and Tampa Bay views.
December 27, 2025 Top suburban Chicago bicycling news in 2025: E-bikes, roundabouts, bridges and more In the first year of this website, I found even more suburban Chicago bicycling news than I imagined I would. E-bike laws, new bridges and roundabouts were among the most read topics.
December 22, 2025 How suburban Chicago e-bike laws evolved in 2025: Strict, then loose, then mixed E-bike use in the suburbs continued growing in 2025, and so did that of “e-motos.” That generated a rollercoaster of e-bike laws, from strict to loose, then to mixed.
November 21, 2025 Arlington Heights’ unique new e-bike law: Avoid age limit by taking this quiz on road riding Arlington Heights trustees amended its e-bike law to require a minimum age of 16 after they rejected the concept of age limits just two months earlier. But at the last minute, they offered a unique caveat.
November 6, 2025 Our best fall colors of 2025: Less the preserves and more the neighborhoods It seemed like we waited longer this year for the fall colors, didn’t it? And what we’ve seen while riding around has been more muted. That means we just had to look a little harder.
September 24, 2025 Ticks in the news again: What it means for bicyclists in the forests, prairies We in the Chicago area are already having one of the “tickier” tick seasons this year. With that comes advice like cover your legs and arms. But there’s some nuance for bicyclists.
September 18, 2025 Creative differences on e-bike laws: What suburbs have come up with for new rules Suburbs one by one are enacting laws to regulate e-bike use, and they’ve gotten creative in coming up with them. Even when there’s overlap, each town might throw in a little something different.
September 6, 2025 How I rode all 31 days and nearly 1,400 miles in August After traveling a lot in July, I knew August would be a chance to do a lot of riding around home. Then the weather app kept showing good forecasts for bicycling, and suddenly I was on a quest to ride every day in August.
August 12, 2025 Cicada season: Searching by bike for the shrill of 17-year cicadas in 2024 It’s time for the “dog-day” summer cicadas to sing, if you haven’t noticed. That had me thinking of my adventure last year to bike in search of those 17-year cicadas. Remember them and the spaceship sound? Here’s a recap.
August 8, 2025 Dog days of summer: How bicyclists should confront the canines If you ride your bike enough, you’ll encounter dogs, even in suburban neighborhoods. But maybe your instincts, notably to outride a chasing dog, are not what work best.
July 29, 2025 Summer road trip: Endless options in the Northwoods of Wisconsin Riding in the Northwoods of Wisconsin is like entering a different world. Up there is an endless supply of peaceful roads amid tall trees and small lakes, perfect for unwinding.
July 15, 2025 Vacation surprise: Great roads in Maryland southeast of D.C. On a visit to a peninsula in eastern Maryland, I thought I would struggle to find comfortable roads to bicycle. It turns out the land southeast of Washington off Chesapeake Bay is full of pretty roads, whether you see water or not.
July 1, 2025 When I got to ride Tour de France routes (and another amazing one) For my 50th birthday I got to ride a couple of the famous climbs of the Tour de France plus another neighboring mountain. Here’s what Tourmalet, Peyragudes and Tentes were like.
May 9, 2025 ‘Paths to the paths,’ be patient and keep going: Bike summit takeaways I attended the Illinois Bike & Walk Summit in Springfield, and not surprisingly, I found scores of like-minded people with common messages on making bicycling safer and persevering.
