General Company Wide Updates

• Click Here for 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.