- We are a mainly volunteer-run organization -
Thank you to the passionate lovers of nature and biking, the volunteers and idealists, the constructors and visionists... for making the trails we ride on today a possibility. Go out and Volunteer.
The Board and Directors
Glenn Schneider Jr.
Co-Founder | Executive Director | Board Treasurer & Committee Chair | Guide
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side neighborhood Mt. Greenwood, his first love was literature, studying for a BA, then MA at UIC. He finished a nearly 3 year travel adventure including commercial fishing in Alaska, biking/hiking/hitching California’s Highway 1, and a year teaching/wandering Colombia and Mexico. He returned to his roots in 2015 with an amplified excitement to explore and further recognize the beauty of his home and its surrounding area. He has been on multiple long bike rides; including a 1,000 mile ride through the Canadian and American Pacific Northwest as well as numerous rides up to Indiana and Michigan. Chat him up on a ride about other worldly travels, his favorite local beer, and his hero Walt Whitman.
Started as Co-Founder, Vice President of the Board, and YoutH Program Director in 2015. Started as the first paid employee at OOFD with 10 hours a week in 2022 and 20 hours a week in 2023.
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side neighborhood Mt. Greenwood, his first love was literature, studying for a BA, then MA at UIC. He finished a nearly 3 year travel adventure including commercial fishing in Alaska, biking/hiking/hitching California’s Highway 1, and a year teaching/wandering Colombia and Mexico. He returned to his roots in 2015 with an amplified excitement to explore and further recognize the beauty of his home and its surrounding area. He has been on multiple long bike rides; including a 1,000 mile ride through the Canadian and American Pacific Northwest as well as numerous rides up to Indiana and Michigan. Chat him up on a ride about other worldly travels, his favorite local beer, and his hero Walt Whitman.
Started as Co-Founder, Vice President of the Board, and YoutH Program Director in 2015. Started as the first paid employee at OOFD with 10 hours a week in 2022 and 20 hours a week in 2023.
Breanna Bertacchi
|
Board President & Committee Chair | Adult Program Director | Guide
Originally from California, but raised in the cornfields of Ohio, Breanna now resides on the South Side of Chicago. When they’re not bike-camping, they’re managing clinical trials, volunteering with their neighborhood Chicago Parks & environmental groups, reading or (most likely) swimming. They’ve ventured all over the US for backpacking trips, rock climbing, kayaking and recently rediscovered fossil hunting. If there's an awesome bug or plant on your ride, Breanna will probably be the one googling it with you to find out what it is. Currently they’re focusing on incorporating greener living into their life, including hen-keeping, beekeeping, foraging and seed saving. Ask about their two pet bunnies! Started as a participant in the famous Passage to the Rock overnight bike camping festival weekend in 2018. They became a volunteer, guide, first non-founder director of a program as well as President of the Board of Directors. |
|
Bradley Fisher
|
Adaptive Program Director | Board Member | Guide
Bradley is a lifelong Chicagoan, teacher, husband, and father of two amazing daughters. He's determined to live a life infused with adventure, nature and discovery. Passionate about inclusive bicycle travel, he's never happier than riding with is special needs daughter, whether on a quick errand, a day ride, or a week long tour through the mountains of Idaho on their adaptive tandem, aptly named "Lilia's Wings". |
|
Ashley Lyons
|
Board Vice President | Adult Day Rides Program Director | Guide
Ashley is ecstatic about two-wheeled adventures, no matter how small or how grand. After researching, training for, and leading a ride for a group of friends from Chicago to Milwaukee, she started volunteering with Out Our Front Door in the Where the Wild Things Grow program (day rides to do environmental service in the parks and forest preserves). She now guides two rides a year while participating in many more, including bike-to-brewery rides and the annual, hilarious Chicago Naked Bike Ride. Ashley relishes in the joy and camaraderie of an adventure, just as much as the deep and quiet meditations that a long ride provides. Off the bike, Ashley is a lover of hatha and yin yoga, Italian submarine sandwiches, and Ethiopian jazz |
Anson Moran
|
Board Member & Committee Chair | Guide
Adventure has always been in my blood. Before I moved to Chicago from Huntington Beach California, I grew up obsessively surfing and exploring the west coast searching for waves and wonderful marine creatures. More recently, I found freedom from the coast on a bicycle. During the Summer of 2020, I joined Out Our Front Door’s Water Ways to the West event, and I was captivated by the potential for adventure by bicycle. Since that first experience I have served as a guide on many rides and recently joined the Board of Directors with the task to share adventure with as many folks as possible. I hope to see you on the trail! Started as a participant in 2019, and became a guide, a big ride guide, and eventually a board member in 2022. |
|
Jacob Hannon
|
Board Member | Guide
Jacob, a native of the forested hills of rural Southern Indiana, has loved camping and the outdoors since childhood. Though he’s come to call the city home since moving to Chicago in 2006, he still loves to get out into the woods when he can. Out Our Front Door opened his eyes to the fact that getting to those woods didn’t require an hours-long car trip. Mind: blown! He loves to share the joys of biking and camping with his family and the larger community. He also feels strongly about the importance of active transportation in making cities livable — ask him and he’ll tell you all about it! (You’ve been warned…) |
Jerome Hughes
|
Board Member | Guide
Born on the West Side of Chicago, Jerome moved to Elmhurst when he was 3, where he rode bikes from the get go, delivering papers just South of the then-new Illinois Prairie Path, and learning to wrench on bikes and more from his Dad and Mr. Russell Stemple at Stemple’s Cycle Center, the local Schwinn shop. He’s a lifelong camper whose first bike camping trip was out the IPP to a South Elgin backyard at 13 and featured flying a friend’s uncle’s small plane. He’s been captaining tandems with lots of stokers (blind and sighted) since the early ‘90s, and riding RAGBRAI and BRR in Iowa for about 10 years now. You’ll find him leading from the back of many local group rides while flying a Chicago flag, fixing flats and other bike issues to keep things rolling. Started as a participant in 2019, and became a guide, a big ride guide, and eventually a board member in 2022. |
|
Matt Weiss
|
Board Secretary | Where the Wild Things Grow Program Director | Guide
Matt is an Illinois native and dedicated OOFD volunteer. Currently he is the director of “Where the Wild Things Grow”, the day ride and stewardship program. Matt’s favorite OOFD overnight so far has been attending Valhalla. After riding every street in his hometown of Park Ridge, he’s made it his goal to cycle every street in Chicago. Currently he’s at 77%. Matt works as an architectural designer and enjoys photographing the unique buildings across Chicago and wherever his travels take him. |
Jerome Palliser
|
Board Member
Jerome [he/him] lives in the South Loop with his fiancé and two dogs. He is a 2024 Disability Lead Fellow, and works to make every event he attends (and even those he doesn’t!) as accessible as possible for people with disabilities. He is also a staff writer at the disability-focused satire site The Squeaky Wheel. He’s been to 22 National Parks so far and brings his appreciation of history and nature everywhere he goes. You can probably find him reading a book or watching some birds. |
|
Mika Yacobucci
|
Board Member | Guide
Growing up on the northwest side of Chicago next to the DPRT, she often found herself getting lost on bike with friends in the forest preserve. That passion for adventure on bike never faded. After years of commuting and traveling just about everywhere in the city by bike, she began bikepacking and extending those trips overnight. In the search for interesting and exciting rides in the local region she discovered OOFD. In 2022 she committed to her first ride with OOFD. Always one to jump headfirst into a challenge she signed up for the furthest ride, Waterways to the West. She found herself instantly captivated by the camaraderie, welcoming atmosphere, and fascinating historical narratives the rides offered. Inspired to do more than participate, she now serves on the board and guides rides for OOFD. When she's not cycling, she's typically crafting something—whether it's furniture, art, or food. |
Rachel Shultz
|
Adult Overnights Co-Director | Guide
Rachel Shultz is a recent convert to bikepacking, having re-discovered her childhood love of biking and camping during the annus horribilis of 2020. She lives on the Northside of Chicago and enjoys proximity to the Lake Shore trail as well as the North Branch trail. Having moved from Maryland in 2007, she is excited to finally be learning more about the natural beauty of the lower Lake Michigan area through her involvement with Out Our Front Door. When she's not riding, Rachel enjoys tinkering with her bikes, hanging out with her French bulldog Lula, and vegetarian cooking. She's recently branched out into amateur bike-packing gear construction and would love to learn more! Started as a participant in 2019, and became a guide, a big ride guide, and eventually a board member in 2022. |
|
Hope Williams
|
Family Program Co-Director | Guide
I've had a bike as long as I can remember but didn't ride with much frequency until a friend invited me to a Critical Mass event when I was in my early 20's. These events helped me to feel more comfortable riding on city streets. Years later I discovered OOFD through a friend. At the time my son was only a year old but it felt like a good challenge so I signed up. Similar to my experience with Critical Mass, OOFD helped me develop confidence to continue biking with my child in tow and to also push my endurance for longer distances. OOFD combines a lot of my values of appreciation for nature, getting my child outside, less dependence on fossil fuels, and community. I love supporting other folks in gaining more confidence to ride, particularly families. |
Steph Reid
|
Family Program Co-Director | Guide
Steph caught the bicycle commuting bug in 2016 and since then has been exploring the boundaries of what is possible by bike. She particularly enjoys adventures in which she rides the Metra out to the suburbs and pedals back home to the West Side. As a parent of a tween who rides in the bucket of her cargo bike, Steph is passionate about advocating for safer streets and bicycle infrastructure. In her spare time, Steph enjoys cooking, playing sousaphone, and hanging out with her cats. Please show her photos of your pets! |
Maura Benson
|
Where the Wild Things Grow Assistant Director | Guide
Maura started with OOFD in the non-summer of 2020 and riding 100 miles to Starved Rock was undoubtedly a high point of the year. That first ride and more sparked her love for bike adventuring and heightened her appreciation for the nature that exists within and nearby Chicago. What she loves most about bike camping is the slight* challenge and discomfort of it all and the learning, teamwork, and stories that follow. 2023 will be her first year of guiding and she aims to foster a sense of inclusion and playfulness amongst riders. As of late, she is enjoying slowly overhauling a used mountain bike into her commuter, participating in different group rides in the city, and watching the latest Spanish or French series on Netflix. |
|
Miles Talty
|
Adaptive Program Assistant Director | Guide
Miles is happiest outside! Moving to the city in 2008, cycling steadily became the most enjoyable and accessible way to spend time outdoors. The adventure really started to ramp up when a simple and successful overnighter to Illinois Beach State Park got parlayed into a Lake Michigan circle tour just a few months later. He has been a member of the OOFD community since its inception and guided his first ride in 2017 (The North Branch Loop). In 2024, Miles will be focusing his efforts on the adaptive program and looks forward to getting more folks out and smiling on bicycles. |
Aly Meza
|
Adult Day Ride Program Assistant Director | Guide
Aly [she/her] caught the cycling bug early on when her dad taught her how to ride a bike on the North Branch Trail. There were likely tears and some knee scraps but it was love at first sight. She started riding with Out Our Front Door during the Summer of 2023, got hooked immediately, and now it's her whole personality. When she isn’t on her bike, you can find Aly at the beach, volunteering at Labagh Woods, or baking a ‘snacking cake’ in her kitchen. She lives on the Northwest side with an insane pocket pittie named Mostaccioli. |
|
|
"To put an idea into existence is an absolutely thrilling endeavor; where imaginations can run wild."
|
It takes a Community to build a Community.
We're a mainly volunteer organization and as we continue to grow we will need your support. We are looking for passionate individuals who want to commit to this growth.
