New DGBC Ride with GPS Cub Account and Route Library: DGBC RwGPS

Annual

• Downers Grove Founders Day Family Bike Ride, an organized tour passing 11 points of historical interest.

Road (by distance)

• Wednesday Night Frontage Road Ride, a 25 mile classic. (remote start)

• Honey Badger, a 52 mile classic through Homer Glen with 7 mile Bluff Road option.

• We Go to Oswego, a 57 mile classic to Village Grind.

Commute (by destination)

• Downtown to Waterfall Glen (mile 0) & Argonne National Lab (north)

• Downtown to Lifetime Fitness & Burr Ridge Village Center

• Downtown to Morton Arboretum & College of DuPage

• Downtown to Tate Woods, Warrenville & Fermilab

• Downtown to Wheaton & Illinois Praire Path (mile 0)

• Downtown to Whalon Lake & Knoch Knolls Nature Center

Local Routes

• Ride with GPS (search results) has over 100 routes from 20 to 60 miles within 5 miles of Downers Grove, ordered by ascending distance. (no sign-in required)

• Ride with GPS Heatmap highlights roads used by RwGPS riders.

• Strava Global Heatmap highlights roads used by Strava riders in our area. Typically, white & red indicate the most activity.

Note: riders should exercise caution whenever they are on public roads and use good judgement to determine the suitability of any route to their own comfort level and safety.

Bike-Friendly Roads & Trails

• Bike-Friendly Roads and Trails on Google Maps.

• Bolingbrook Park District Multiuse Trail Map (pdf), existing and planned bikeways along the DuPage River and throughout the area.

• Busse Woods/Ned Brown Forest Preserve Trail, a 7.3 mile paved trail with several side loops.

• Cal Sag Trail, a 13 mile paved trail along the Calumet Sag Channel from Route 83 to Alsip.

• Centennial Trail, a 12 mile paved trail along the Des Plaines river from Willow Springs to the I & M Canal (Lockport) Trail in Romeoville.

• Chicago Bike Map (pdf), detailed on and off-street bicycle facilities from the Chicago Department of Transportation.

• Chicago Lakefront Path, a popular 18 mile mixed-use paved trail from 7100 South to 5800  North.

• Cook County Forest Preserve Trails, comprehensive list with detailed interactive maps.

• DuPage County Bike (pdf), county-wide trails and bicycle level of service ratings for collectors and arterial roads.

• DuPage County Map of Bikeways and Roads Suitable for Bicycle Travel (pdf), county-wide trails and networks of local roads.

• DuPage County Forest Preserve Trails Guide, comprehensive, including: Blackwell, Danada, Greene Valley, Herrick Lake, McDowell Grove, Springbrook Praire, Waterfall Glen, West Branch & other FP trails.

• DuPage County Trail Map (pdf), county-wide trail system overview with regional and local trail surfaces.

• DuPage County Trails App, current information and maps of the county's regional trail system.

• DuPage River Trail (pdf), southern trail system from Naperville to Joliet

• Fermilab Bike Path and Roads (jpg) shows public access areas and roads.

• Fox River Bicycle Trail System (pdf) from Aurora to Algonquin; includes Virgil Gilman and western Great Western trail.

• Great Western Trail - Kane Co., an 18 mile limestone trail from St. Charles  to Sycamore.

• Great Western Trail - DuPage Co., an 11.6 mile limestone trail from the Illinois Prairie Path in West Chicago to Villa Park.

• I&M Canal Trail - John Husar(pdf), a 5.4 mile paved trail section between Route 83 and Willow Springs Rd.

• I&M Canal Trail - Lockport, a 7.55 mile limestone/paved trail from Romeoville to the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site.

• I&M Canal Trail - west, a 61.5 mile limestone/paved trail from Rockdale to Peru.

• Kane Kendall Council of Mayors Bike & Pedestrian App shows bike trails, bike level of service, parks & transportation throughout Kane & Kendall counties

• Kane & Northern Kendall County Bike Map (45 MB pdf), county-wide trails and bicycle level of service ratings for collectors, arterial & local roads.

• Illinois Bike Trails (pdf), comprehensive statewide trail index.

• Illinois County Bike Maps with bicycle level of service (BLOS) rating.

• Illinois Prairie Path, scalable and pdf maps for the five trail segments.

• Naperville Bike Map & Guide (pdf) to bike-friendly streets and trails.

• Old Plank Road Trail, a 22-mile recreation and nature trail from Joliet to Park Forest.

• Palos Trail System, a popular and extensive trail system winding through the 15,000 acre Palos Preserves.

• Prairie Trail (pdf) extends the Fox River Trail 26 miles through McHenry County to Genoa City, Wi. Includes Hebron Trail.

• Salt Creek Greenway Trail (pdf), 27 miles mixed-surface following Salt Creek  from the Brookfield Zoo to Busse Woods Forest Preserve.

• Southern DuPage County Regional Trail (pdf), from Aurora to Hinsdale with spurs to Green Valley FP and Waterfall Glen FP.

• Virgil Gilman Trail (pdf), an 11.4 mile paved trail from Waubonsee Community College to Montgomery.

• Waterfall Glen Trail (pdf), a popular 9.5 mile circular limestone trail around Argonne National Laboratory.

• Wisconsin Bike Trails, a searchable list of road and mountain bike routes.

• Wisconsin State Bike Trails, a searchable list of state bike trails. 

St. John Ambulance: First Aid for Cyclists (free)

This app is targeted at cyclists and aims to give them the skills to assist with common cycling emergencies and injuries, including head injuries, cuts and grazes, and muscle injuries. Probably a home screen app for ride leaders.

Note: The first aid advice is based upon UK protocols & UK emergency service numbers are shown.

Android App on Google Play

 iOS App on the App Store

DuPage County Trails Web App (free)

This web-based trail mapping application enables users to actively navigate the County's trail system.  It provides the locations of various amenities such as other regional trails and bikeways, restrooms, parking, and much more.

Trail Map Web App

Google Calendar (free)

DGBC uses the Google Calendar for club rides & events.

Android App on Google Play

 iOS App on the App Store

Google Maps (free)

This app supports cycling routes with turn-by-turn navigation and offline maps to get directions and navigate without an internet connection.  Google Maps is pre-installed on most Android devices.

Android App on Google Play

 iOS App on the App Store

Weather

Weather Underground: Forecasts (free w. ads & in-app purchases)

This app provides hyper-local forecasts, current conditions, interactive radar, satellite maps, air quality, alerts and customizable Smart Forecasting for cycling.

Android App on Google Play

 iOS App on the App Store

Utilities

Clinometer + bubble level (free w. ads & in-app purchases)

Used for measuring angles of slope, tilt and elevation, this app is handy for setting up and adjusting saddles, handlebars, stems, shift levers, etc.

Android App on Google Play

 iOS App on the App Store

Garmin Connect Mobile (free)

This app pairs many recent Garmin fitness/wellness devices with your compatible smartphone for access to a wide range of Bluetooth® wireless connectivity features, including weather alerts, call and text notifications, and automatic data uploads for online sharing .

Android App on Google Play

 iOS App on the App Store

Our Air, Climate and Weather

• AirNow shows hourly regional and national particulate and ozone air quality from the EPA.

• PurpleAir displays real-time crowd-sourced regional and national particulate matter air quality.

• Citizens' Climate Lobby empowers people to work together on climate change solutions.

• IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  - reports from the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change.

• National Resources Defense Council - works to defend our air, water, communities, and climate from abuse.

• NWS Enhanced Radar Image  - regional and national Next Generation Radar displayed by the College of DuPage.

• NWS Hourly Weather Forecast Graph for Naperville  - local National Weather Service forecast.

Local Resources

• RTT Cycle Shop offers a 10% discount to club members.

• Active Transportation Bike & Pedestrian Crash Support Services 

• CAMBR Current Trail Conditions at Palos, Waterfall Glen, and others.

• Du Page County Trail Status reports closures, detours and maintenance activity.

• Downers Grove Bicycle Registration enables you to register your serial number with the village.

• Downers Grove 2013 Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan (pdf) 

• METRA Bikes on Trains service is available on the BNSF line through Downers Grove.

• Spinlister, rent your bike or find one to rent.

• Working Bikes Cooperative has local and club contacts for donated bikes, parts and accessories.

Local Organizations & Advocacy

• Active Transportation Alliance works to make biking, walking and transit safe and easy options for getting around Chicagoland.

• DuPage Connects, long range transportation plan and crowdsource map.

• East Branch Trail works to support the East Branch DuPage River Trail (EBDRT)

• Go Pedal Power accepts donations of working kids bikes in Elmhurst.

• Illinois Prairie Path works to preserve, enhance, and advocate on behalf of the Illinois Prairie Path.

• League of American Bicyclists works to create safer roads, stronger communities and a bicycle friendly America.

• Ride Illinois (aka: League of Illinois Bicyclists) is a nonprofit working statewide for better cycling conditions.

• Ride of Silence, honors bicyclists killed by motorists, promotes sharing the road, and provides awareness of bicycling safety.

• Share the Road License Plates to benefit Ride Illinois.

• Will County 2016 Bikeway Plan (17 MB pdf)

Route Navigation, Mapping and Devices

• GPS Visualizer, map & gpx file generation from a wide variety of sources, including Google Maps.

• GPS Babel (web gateway), popular gps data conversion utility hosted by GPS Visualizer.

• DC Rainmaker, the most thorough bicycle electronics reviews online.

• Open Street Maps for Garmin devices - free download.

• Open Street Maps instructions for Garmin Edge devices.

• Golden Cheetah - you want to see power metrics? we got power metrics!

Fitting & Repair

• Bike Fit Calculator at Competitive Cyclist is a comprehensive fitting system that calculates values for multiple riding styles.

• MadeGood.bikes has the most comprehensive collection of bike maintenance and repair videos online.

• Bicycle Gear Calculator has charts & graphs for gear inches, speed, rollout, etc.

• Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Information - the highest signal to noise ratio on the web.

• Jim Langley - Bicycle Aficionado and longtime mechanic shares his repair, maintenance, and riding tips.

• Park Tool Repair Help offers extensive bike repair articles & videos.

• Bike Tools Etc. is a source of hard-to-find tools.

• McMaster-Carr, a source of nuts and bolts in our area.

General Information

• 529 Garage/National Bike Registry & Bike Index, offer online bike registration and recovery.

• Bicycle Safe - detailed information on common car-bike collisions and how to avoid them.

• Bike Law, legal resources for cyclists.

• How to deal with aggressive dogs, from Bicycling Magazine.

• The Chainlink hosts a variety of forums serving Chicago area cyclists.

• Illinois Statutes Regarding Bicycles (pdf) hosted by Active Transportation Alliance.

• Illinois Bicycle Safety Quiz explores useful strategies for sharing the road successfully.

• Mike's Mega Bicycle Links - a large collection of links to local and national cycling resources.

Non-Doping Cyclists Finish TdF, a humorous view of pro cycling's doping era. 

File download notes:

• Save gps file to: Garmin / NewFiles

•  (Firefox) Options > General / Downloads: Always ask where to save files

File selection guidelines:

We provide route maps in two file formats, TCX and GPX.  In general, TCX is recommended for turn by turn directions on Garmin Edge 500/510. TCX is capable of providing custom cues on Edge 800, 810, 820, 1000 & Touring devices however these entries are truncated at 10 characters which can reduce their usefulness. For most routes, DGBC TCX files use computer-generated cues for upcoming turns. Our TCX files are created with 50 meters advance turn notification and are not available to free users at RwGPS.

DGBC GPX files show Points of Interest (POI) as waypoints but are not routed to them. They contain no cue sheet (custom cue) information and should be compatible with any GPS device.  They can provide turn by turn directions (true navigation) on the Edge 705/800/810/1000/Touring and are not available to free users at RwGPS.

Feature summary:

• GPX / TG off[3]: no turn notification, shows POI

• TCX / TG off[1]:custom cue notification

• GPX / TG on[4]: unit-generated turn notification, shows POI

• TCX / TG on[2]: unit-generated & custom cue notification

Representative screen captures of the two formats are shown below. For all images:

• blue arrow = current rider position

• blue line = route traveled

• purple line = route

• gray arrow = position of Virtual Partner  // VP is native to DGBC TCX & GPX files and can not be disabled on some units.

1. File type: TCX, created with cue notification 50 meters before turn

• Unit: Garmin 820 with Turn Guidance: Off

• Map screen:  upcoming road names, custom cue notification (max. 10 characters)

• Data screen: custom cue notification

• Note: cue notification appears ~50 meters before intersection but Dist. to Next shows distance to next cue

2. File type: TCX, created with cue notification 50 meters before turn

• Unit: Garmin 820 with Turn Guidance: On

• Map screen: turn direction arrow, distance to turn, road name, route arrow, custom cue notification

• Data screens: turn notification followed by custom cue notification

• Note: cue notification appears ~50 meters before intersection

GPX files will provide turn by turn directions on the Edge 705/800/810/1000/Touring, but will not have any custom cues.

3. File type: GPX created with POI included as waypoints

• Unit: Garmin 820 with Turn Guidance: Off  // Navigation > Courses > Saved Courses > E > Turn Guidance: off

• Map screen: upcoming road names, POI markers

• Data screen: no turn notification

4. File type: GPX created with POI included as waypoints

• Unit: Garmin 820 with Turn Guidance: On  // Navigation > Courses > Saved Courses > E > Turn Guidance: on

• Map screen: turn direction arrow, distance to turn, road name, route arrow, POI markers

• Data screen: turn notification

• Note: unit displays superfluous cues along route, e.g. at road name change

Device-Specific Instructions:

• Garmin Edge 200

• Garmin Edge 205/305

• Garmin Edge 500

• Garmin Edge 510

• Garmin Edge 520

• Garmin Edge 605/705

• Garmin Edge 800

• Garmin Edge 810

• Garmin Edge 820

• Garmin Edge 1000

• Garmin Edge Touring

• Wahoo Elemnt & Bolt

Basemaps for Garmin Edge devices: 

• Open Street Maps for Garmin devices

Open Street Maps instructions for Garmin Edge devices.