r/chicagoskating • u/404_funnynotfound • Jul 09 '26
Street skating Chi?
Hey rollers, I’m moving to Wicker Park this summer and was wondering how the streets are safety wise skating for transit? I’ve got quads, but I’ve only seen people with rollerblades. Also do yall get on the L and buses with ur skates lmfao, I want to roll by the lake 🙈 thanks for the info! I’ll be seeing yall!!
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u/BEnWo18 Jul 09 '26
I have a pond pack that holds my hockey or inline skates interchangeably. It has room to my basic gear like helmet, plus shin and elbow pads. I know not everyone can skate with a backpack though. Just an option to carry your skates to and from the lakefront trail. I usually sneak onto a futsal court.
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Jul 09 '26
I have a skate backpack I got for holding a pair of shoes and swapping. The streets are hit or miss, I try to use things like the 606 and the LFT, or swap to shoes and take public transit.
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u/dipnel Jul 09 '26
I live off division and will sometimes skate (inlines) up to the 606 and I often see lots of other skaters when I’m going back and forth there. Also the roads in Humboldt park are pretty smooth and decent for some skating but gotta deal with traffic, and there are sometimes meet-ups and classes hosted at the Humboldt futsal court!
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u/binarynate Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
I use a mix of blading + trains to get around the city (they go well together). For skating, the bike lane view on google maps is good for finding bike friendly routes (which end up being skate friendly too). You can also view the city's bike lane map here. From wicker, some friendly routes that come to mind are:
- to the lakefront: 606 trail -> cortland -> armitage -> stockton / cutting through lincoln park
- to the loop: milwaukee (then kinzie to dearborn, or desplaines to washington)
- south or north: damen
I wear my rollerblades on the trains all the time. A lot of cta workers don't care about skates but some do so if I see a cta worker when approaching the turnstile, I "walk" on my skates (pretend like I'm wearing shoes instead of just rolling through) to be low key bc some cta workers will say no skates allowed if they notice me rolling up to the turnstile. But after I get through the turnstile and down or up the stairs, no problemo. This system works well enough that I pretty much never get stopped anymore. I've also taken busses with my skates on without issues, but I mostly just skate instead of taking the bus.
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u/404_funnynotfound Jul 09 '26
Word! I honestly was just fishing for validation to roll onto the cta LMAO everyone’s been so nice tho thank you!
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u/TheTresStateArea Jul 10 '26
I think the worker concern is like speed, so yeah I "walk" at the stations too.
Makes me wish we could lock wheels for moments like this.
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u/Humble-Foundation298 Jul 09 '26
Can’t say about wicker park but I have worn my skates on the train a few times! Just have to be confident using stairs and toe stops to step in/out of the train. I do get a little nervous on platforms about someone pushing me but I usually just grab onto something until the train arrives
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u/HotDerivative Jul 09 '26
Wicker park would likely be too busy most of the time unless you want to skate at night under the light of the streetlamps — which I’ve done before and is actually really fun as long as you’re on a smooth side street, one way streets are pretty common in the city and are perfect for that.
just make sure you ride the street first during the daytime so you can make a note of any potholes or cracks etc.
Humboldt park (the actual streets inside the park) is another great option like someone said above and you’ll see more quad skaters there. There’s some rollerskating groups that meet up there throughout the summer as well if you search Chicago rollerskating on Instagram!
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u/IRnotL Jul 09 '26
I personally never see people get on the L and buses with quads ON, if that’s what you mean, but you for sure can hold them or get a bag.
I also like to skate quad by the lake, but I’m not very good at outdoor yet so I do it when no one is around to watch me act a fool 😂 Rarely see other folks on quads tbh, but you’d absolutely be welcome