Much of the trail isn’t on Route 66 for safety reasons, but shadows it. Roger Kramer of Roger Kramer’s Favorite Cycling Tours reports:
One of the old alignments of Route 66 used Chain of Rocks Road from the Mississippi River to the present Illinois Route 157, took Route 157 through Edwardsville and Hamel, then continued north. While for historical accuracy’s sake, it would be better that the trail used that alignment, those roads simply aren’t very well suited for bicycle touring because of high traffic or inadequate lane width.
As you might imagine, the trail also strays off the alignments of Route 66 in the Chicago area, again because of heavy traffic on the streets that were part of Route 66. Through the rest of the state. the trail often does stray from the Route 66 alignments, but the map gives advanced cyclists the option of using the actual alignments.
The trail, by LIB’s own admission, is a work in progress. As more off-road routes and road improvements are made, the trail will change. But at least this is a start, and we should appreciate the efforts of LIB and DNR in putting this ambitious project together.
Maps of the bicycle trail can be downloaded from this page here. I’ve looked over the 14-page map, and it’s really well done. It contains a list of bicycle repair shops, lodging options, many of our favorite Mother Road restaurants, and Route 66 attractions. It’s yet another way for tourists to “get their kicks.”