Chicago-area bike tours for families to enjoy fall color

“It’s a different way to see the world,” says Chicago native Greg Borzo, author of Where to Bike: Chicago, published earlier this year. “You get a real feel for a place. You see it up close. You get the wind in your face; you see whether it’s hilly or full of flowers or full of buildings. You have a personal, direct connection with where you are, and I think that’s special on a bike.”

That perspective made this lifelong cyclist the perfect writer for the Chicago edition of the Where to Bike series. The author of the 2007 book The Chicago “L”, about Chicago’s famed rail-transit system, Borzo spent much of last year documenting 72 rides with words and pictures, including 27 kid-friendly ones, for this new book. “I did all 72 rides myself, some two or three times,” he says—cycling more than 2,000 miles last year.

We asked the 57-year-old Borzo, father of a 23-year-old daughter, for recommendations for all-ages rides that would also offer fall-foliage views. Take your pick and get pedaling.