Bicycle Illinois - Illinois' Bicycle Touring Company

Web site updated with 2019 dates.
- RAIL North will occur on Sun. June 16th, 2019.
WE NO LONGER ISSUE ANY REFUNDS AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON. If you do not participate and would like a refund you MUST purchase an individual travel insurance plan, which will reimburse you according to the plan coverage. Click Here for more information about our refund policy.

Major Previous RAIL North Specific Updates

In order to accommodate our new Bike Wisconsin events, RAIL North will be held on the Sunday on or before June 21st (the longest day of the year) on a recurring basis. Click Here for the dates of the future RAIL North events.
- The biggest benefit to riding on Sunday will be much less stress since you will have more time on Saturday to travel to the start of the event and prepare for the ride. You won’t have to rush after work on Friday or attend our opening meeting so early at 4:30 am on Saturday before what is already an incredibly long day. People who normally work on Saturdays will also have the opportunity to participate now.
- The biggest drawback to riding on Sunday is that you will have much less time to rest and recover from the ride before work/school on Monday. Also our transportation service after the end of the event that will now occur on Monday instead of Sunday.
Our main transportation staging point in Chicago before the start of the event is now directly at the bike shop which is also the ending location of the event.
- If you are planning on having your bike boxed and shipped to the start and/or from the end of the event, you will be able to pick it up and/or drop it off directly there yourself. As a result we will no longer need to offer bicycle shipment pick up and delivery service in Chicago and all registration forms have been updated. Click Here for more information about the bike shop and Click Here for more information about our transportation service from Chicago to Moline before the start of the event.
Based on participant feedback we will not longer be riding on Galena Ave. in Aurora. All related route information has been updated.
A supported lunch stop will be available directly on the route at the Subway restaurant in Hinckley, only 0.5 miles after rest stop 3. Click Here for more information.
The route opening and closing times will be "around" sunrise & sunset at 5:30 am CDT and 8:30 pm CDT (9:30 pm EDT) for year after year consistency purposes and to make the route opening and closing times easier to remember for participants on the road.
Ice cream stores have been added to list of in town facilities for all stopping towns!
The regular registration deadline is now two weeks before the start of the event which is the same as the cut-off date for our room block at our supported hotel in Moline.
A personalized Certificate of Completion will no longer be available.
Late registration will only be available online and not through paper registration.
Information has been added about Return Metra train service to downtown Chicago from Aurora and Glen Ellyn. Click Here for more information.
Rest stop 3 is now in Hinckley and the route into and out of Hinckley primarily follows county back roads.
The route now directly follows the Great River Trail immediately out of the supported hotel in Moline.
We now allow trikes (any bicycle with three or more wheels) to participate in our events. However, all participants riding trikes must provide their own on road support for them at all times because we cannot guarantee that we will be able to easily or quickly transport them off the road in any support vehicle in case of mechanical breakdown. In addition, we still cannot accomodate any trikes on any of our transportation services. Click Here for more information.
As part of registration you can now specify whether you would you like us to give you your t-shirt and any other merchandise items at the starting or ending location. No more worrying about where to put your new stuff during the ride!

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