Chicago to Bourbanais – By bike, bus & train

An update from Footprints Coach Mary Lynn Wilson:

Back in the “day” when I worked in advertising, when an ad came in that we didn’t sell, we said it came in over the transom. Well, I got an interesting Footprints route request “over the transom”. It came through Active Trans from Aimee. She’s going to travel from Chicago to Bourbonnais via Metra/bus/bike.

I remember seeing a bus at the University Park Metra station for the River Valley Metro when I went out to the Plum Creek Nature Center in Will County. It turns out you can catch the bus in University Park and it will take you to several locations in Bourbonnais, Manteno and Kankakee.

I took a look at riding from the station. It’s not that long of a ride but it’s a desolate one. I remember riding to Plum Creek in Beecher. What I thought it would be a quick 45 minute ride turned into 2 hours because of an incredible headwind. I ran out of water and had no food. I kept thinking I’d hit a gas station at the next intersection but there never was one! For a direct route to Bourbonnais there are a lot of country roads but you don’t hit many of the towns.

The same goes for taking the Wauponsee Glacial Trail from Joliet. It will take you down to Kankakee State Park but I’ve read some blogs that warn you to have plenty of food and water because there isn’t much after Manhattan.

Aimee and I talked a lot about lights, gear and how to carry books and a laptop. I admire Amiee’s determination to use a train and bike for commuting. It will be interesting to hear how it goes. Maybe her desire to be car-free will get more people thinking about doing the same for their much shorter commute. I’ll think of her next time I get one of those “but a car would be so much faster” thoughts.

Mary-Lynn Wilson
footprints@activetrans.org