All participants must have arrived at the Chicago hotel by 8:00 am Saturday morning
unless you are arriving on several specific Metra train lines (see below)

We will not have a set departure time from Chicago. Instead, we have a set arrival deadline time when all participants must have arrived at the Chicago hotel. If you have not arrived by the time we are ready to leave (as quickly or as long as that is after the arrival deadline time) we cannot wait for you. Click Here for more information about the coach bus and premium bicycle transportation service staging point at the Chicago hotel. Click Here for the overall policies and procedures that will apply to our RAGBRAI transportation service from Chicago to the start of RAGBRAI.

If you dropped off your bicycle with us as part of our standard bicycle transportation service pre-event drop off on Friday or are not travelling with a bicycle the only thing you will need to do on Saturday morning in Chicago is load your baggage into the appropriate compartment underneath the coach busses and board the bus!

If you arrive at the Chicago hotel before the coach busses arrive, we do not recommend leaving your baggage with us unattended before you can load it onto one of the busses because our staff will be very busy and unable to watch it.

Arrival Using Local Public Transportation
You will be able to arrive at the Chicago hotel before the arrival deadline time (including the walking time to the Chicago hotel from any train station) if you take any CTA L train or bus.

If you will be arriving in Chicago on most (but not all) Metra trains, you will be able to arrive at the Chicago hotel before our arrival deadline time (including the walking time from the train station). However, the following Metra trains could or definitely will arrive in Chicago after our arrival deadline time:

• Metra Union Pacific West (Elburn to Chicago)
• Metra Union Pacific Northwest (Harvard to Chicago)
• Metra Rock Island District (Joliet to Chicago)

We can still accommodate you if you will be arriving on some of these train lines since we will still be busy checking people in and loading bikes and baggage, but you must inform us you will be doing so when you register so that we will expecting you to arrive late. If you do not specifically inform us that you will be arriving on one of these trains we will not wait for you.

• Click Here for more information about the CTA L trains serving the Chicago hotel.
• Click Here for more information about the CTA busses.
• Click Here for more information about the Metra train stations serving the Chicago hotel.
• Click Here for the earliest arrival and latest departure times in downtown Chicago for all CTA L and Metra train lines.

Premium Bicycle Transportation Service
If you are transporting your bicycle as part of our premium bicycle transportation service on Saturday morning, you must drop off your bicycle with us at the Chicago hotel at 6:30 am in order to give us enough time to get you checked in and your bike loaded onto our bicycle moving truck.

The only way to definitely avoid waiting for your bicycle to arrive and be able to pick it up immediately when you arrive at the RAGBRAI starting town is to drop it off with us as part of our standard bicycle transportation service pre-event drop off on the Friday before the start of RAGBRAI.

• Click Here for more information about our bicycle transportation services.

Long Term Parking
If you will be parking your car long term in Chicago during the week of RAGBRAI you will need to transport yourself back to the the Chicago hotel after you park your car at the parking garage and there are plenty of options to do so quickly and easily. By far the best option is to split a taxicab or ride share with your fellow participants and we estimate this would cost approximately $12.00 (plus $1.50 per additional passenger) and is only about a 10 minute ride. Otherwise you could also take a #20 Madison CTA bus back from the parking garage or walk about 15 minutes the 0.8 miles between the parking garage and Chicago hotel.

We do not recommend leaving your baggage with us unattended at the Chicago hotel while you park your car because our staff will be very busy and unable to watch it. Instead, we strongly recommend taking your baggage with you in your car to the parking garage and transporting it back with you to the Chicago hotel so it is not unattended at any time.

It is critically important that you arrive back at the Chicago hotel by our arrival deadline time and we strongly recommend parking your car as early as possible to give yourself the longest possible amount of time to do so.

• Click Here for more information about the Chicago Parking Garage