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)
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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.
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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
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