RIDE
ACROSS ILLINOIS (RAIL) NORTH
Updates
General Company Wide Updates
RAIL North Specific Updates for the 2024
Season
12/19/23
- Our opening meeting on the day before the event
will now be held at 7:30 pm in order to better
accomodate participants driving from Chicago or
arriving on the Greyhound bus schedule 4567 that
is scheduled to arrive in Moline from Chicago at
7:15 pm. Click
Here for more information.
12/16/23
- Registration is now open for RAIL North 2024! Click
Here to register!
12/15/23
- If you will not be able to check in and attend
the opening meeting at the supported hotel on
Saturday evening before the event we will also
give you your registration materials at the opening
meeting at 4:30 am the next morning and no longer
leave them at the front desk of the hotel for
you to pick up when you check in.
- The price of the event has increased by $10.00. Click
Here for more information about
our pricing schedule.
- We now directly accept credit card payments
but will charge a 3.6% surcharge to cover credit
card processing fees. If you do not want to pay
this surcharge you may submit your payment to
us through Zelle or
check or money order instead.
- The price of the transportation service for
your bicycle from Chicago to Moline before the
start of the event has increased by $10.00 from
$59.99 to $69.99.
- The price of the Mechanical Support Plan has
increased by $10.00 if you register during
regular registration, $16.00 if you register
during
late registration, and $20.00 if you
register the day of the event.
- Web site updated with 2024 dates.
- RAIL North will occur on Sun. June 16,
2024.
- Room block
information for the Moline hotel updated for
2024. Click
Here for more information.
- The
brand of our supported hotel and starting
location in Moline has changed from Radisson
to Wyndham.
Major Previous RAIL North Specific Updates
Arrival In and Departure From Moline
- Our opening meeting on the day before the event
will now be held at 7:30 pm in order to better
accomodate participants driving from Chicago
or arriving on the Greyhound bus schedule 4567
that is scheduled to arrive in Moline from Chicago
at 7:15 pm. Click
Here for more information.
Arrival In Chicago
- The ending location in Chicago is now at the
Diversey Driving Range in Chicago right off Lake
Michigan. Click
Here for more information.
- From the ending location, you can ride about
a quarter mile under Lake Shore Drive to get
to Lake Michigan to truly say you rode across
the entire state!
- A bar and restaurant is located directly
at our ending location for you to replenish
yourself with food, drinks, and ice cream after
the end of your ride! Click
Here for more information.
Route and Riding
- Rest stop 4 is now in Warrenville and rest
stop 5 is now in Berkeley (previously Aurora
and Glen Ellyn) in order to better even out the
lengths of ride segments 4, 5, and 6. Rest stop
4 is immediately off the on path route and rest
stop 5 is immediately off both the on road and
on path routes. Click
Here for more information.
- Metra Train Stations are now available
from Wheaton and Berkeley (previously Aurora
and Glen Ellyn). The Wheaton Metra train
station is located directly on the route
between rest stops 4 and 5, and the Berkeley
Metra train station is only 1.3 miles from
rest stop 5. Click
Here for more information.
- We now continue on the Illinois Prairie Path
until ends in Forest Park and follow an improved
route through the west side of Chicago primarily
following low traffic residential streets to
the start of the 606 Trail.
- A supported lunch stop is now 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
at 5:30 am and 8:30 pm ("about" sunrise & sunset)
for year after year consistency purposes
and
to make the route opening and closing times
easier
to remember for participants on the road.
- Rest stop
3 is now in Hinckley and the route into and out
of Hinckley primarily follows paved county
back roads.
- The route now directly follows the fully paved
Great River Trail immediately out of the supported
hotel
in Moline.
- Based on participant feedback we no longer
ride on Galena Ave. in Aurora.
- 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.
Transportation Services
- We have added "e-bike" as an additional
option for the type of bike you will be transporting.
There will be an additional $30.00 fee to transport
e-bikes on our transportation service each way.
This is because e-bikes generally require special
handling and care since they are are typically
heavier and/or take up more room in our vehicles
than standard upright bicycles and therefore cannot
be transported on any outside roof racks and must
be transported inside a support vehicle.
- There will be an additional $30.00 fee to transport
bicycles that require special handing and care
(recumbents, e-bikes, tandems, etc.) on our transportation
services. However a tandem bicycle will not incur
an additional fee if both people riding it register
for the same transportation service.
- For both transportation services, all Greyhound
bus schedules arrive in Davenport, not directly
in Moline. You will need to take a taxicab yourself
from the Davenport Greyhound bus station to the
supported hotel. A taxicab will be less expensive
if you split the ride with your fellow participants.
- We will have two separate transportation staging
points in Chicago for our transportation service
from Chicago to Moline before the start of the
event - both at the ending location and at the
Greyhound bus station. Doing this allows us to
best accomodate people who will and will not
be parking their car in Chicago during the event.
When you register you will indicte which location
is most convenient for you to drop off your bike
at. Click
Here for more information.
Other Event Services
- If you register using a paper registration
form:
- You can now submit your payment through Zelle.
- We no longer have incoming fax service
so you can't send us a copy of your completed
form this way any more.
- The late
registration fee has increased by $5.00 from
$25.00 to $30.00.
- If you sign up for the Mechanical
Support
Plan, you will need to specifically request
the pre-ride inspection yourself as we will
not be able to search out each participant
individually to provide it.
- Registration procedures for postponed 2020
participants posted. Unfortunately, we can
only allow postponed 2020 participants to register
for an event at the original 2020 pricing schedule
one time. Click
Here for more information.
- No refunds will be issued in the event we
are unable to run an event due to circumstances
beyond our control. These circumstances include
but are not limited to disasters (natural
and/or manmade), pandemics, war, acts of terrorism,
government regulations, strikes, civil disorder,
curtailment of transportation facilities,
or
acts of God. (Force Majure)
- Only online registration will be available after
regular registration closes four weeks before the
start of the tour in order to assure that we receive
all of your information and payment in a timely
manner due to laspes in mail service. This deadline
also corresponds to the regular registration deadline. Click
Here for more information.
- We have implemented an increasing price schedule. Click
Here for more information.
- 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.
- In order to accommodate our 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.
- The regular registration deadline is now two
weeks before the start of the event which is the
same cut-off date as the one for our room block
at our supported hotel in Moline.
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