(3rd in a series on Chicago's bike-friendly neighborhoods. Previously covered: Roscoe Village.)
No rider can deny that even during its busiest, the streets clogged with cabs and Escalades during the peak bar hours, Wicker Park is a paradise for Chicago's cycling commuters.
Wicker Park is criss-crossed by Chicago's two most-traveled bike routes: Damen Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue; the latter is known as the "Hipster Highway." This diagonal street is so-called for it's direct route from the city's vibrant and gentrifying Northwest neighborhoods to the design studios, architectural firms, and ad agencies in the Loop. On a daily basis there are just as many cyclists occupying the lanes as cars - marked for bikes or not. Suits, spandexed-roadies, skinny-jeans-fixters, and trixies on Townies. They're all here. Headed to work.
The streets are lined with bars, clubs, restaurants, shops, boutiques, and yes, bike shops. Rapid Transit Cycleshop sits at just blocks from the intersection of Damen and Milwaukee, at 1900 W. North Avenue. Always busy and always bright, its walls are filled with mostly commuter sensible bicycles: road bikes, hybrids, and especially recumbants. The shop's manager/owner is a vocal proponent of the low profile machines, telling anyone who remarks about them they should definitely give them a second thought. One look at the $2500 tandem model hanging from the ceiling tells you he is serious.
Down the street about a half-mile west on North Avenue is the Handlebar, an hybrid establishment mixing the egalitarian ethos of the messenger ($1 PBRs on Mondays), cycling's more continental heritage (a large selection of craft and Belgian beers), with the generally upscale trendiness of the rest of neighborhood through its menu which includes some tasty organic and vegetarian selections.
A few blocks further down one can still find the original pioneering spirit of Wicker Park's "settlers" at West Town Bikes, a co-op bike shop offering classes, wrench space, and used or salvaged bikes, frames, and parts.
Streets for cycling
Damen Avenue:
• North to Bucktown, Roscoe Village, North Center, Ravenswood, Uptown, Edgewater and beyond
• South to West Town, West Loop, United Center, Southside
North Avenue:
• West to Humboldt Park, Austin
• East to Lincoln Park, Old Town
Milwaukee Avenue:
• Nothwest to Bucktown, Logan Square, Avondale, Old Irving, Portage/Jefferson/Gladstone Park
• Southeast to Ukrainian Village, West Loop, River North, The Loop
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