Out Our Front Door Newsletter - April 2020

OOFD, COVID-19, and the Official Release of Our 2020 Ride Line-Up

OOFD and the COVID-19. Not good friends. Not friends at all. Hurting all of us in so many ways that expand well beyond missing the simple joys of riding bikes together outside. We send lots of love and positive vibes out to everyone as we all fight to persevere through this pandemic. We're doing our best to stay optimistic. So we're releasing our 2020 Ride Line-up today. Something to look forward to, and we'll certainly be adjusting on the fly as the rides approach.

As an organization, we spend about 6 months each year working towards “the ride season.” Always excited and motivated by that first ride of the year. This year, it was going to be a 25 person jaunt, south down the lakefront as the spring breeze tickled our faces and the green buds of leaves popped out again on those barren branches. Some warm food and cold beers at 18th Street and on for the first night slept outside in 2020 at Camp Shabonna. On April 25. We were gonna be training the newest members of our crew. It was gonna be great. But it is canceled. So is The Good Land ride to Milwaukee in mid-May. 

CANCELED. That word been messing with me. So. Many. Things. Canceled. And yet, we all know it is for the best. And honestly, I know many of us are excited to get some solo riding in. Explore new routes while keeping a safe distance and clean existence. 

And that leads me to what COVID-19 means to OOFD as an organization in a more general sense. This will slow us down, but not stop us at all. We had an incredible year last year with so many successful rides including that big one to the Dunes, Sun Harvest to IL Beach, and even the Hootenanny shindig. We brought on a really special crew of volunteers who have made us so much better during this “off-season”.  And with the 501c3 last year, we were able to raise enough money to keep us ok through these rough times. And so all in all, we are set up to weather this virus storm. And once it is safe to get together with you all to immerse and educate in our local history and nature, we will be ready to do so. We will ride our bikes more enthusiastically than ever! 

That said, in the meantime, we will be sharpening our programs and processes. This hiatus gives us more time/head space to really make things even better. So get ready for the best OOFD seasons you've ever seen!

As for registrations for this ride season, what the heck, we are going to officially open them now. Just so we can all dream and pour hopeful optimism onto our current situation, using our will to ride to motivate us to stay smart and healthy during this lock-down. SO SIGN-UP FOR A RIDE HERE.  If health professionals, the government, the parks tell us it is not safe to do that ride, then we will refund you 100% asap. We are so much hoping to kick off the season with The Battle to the Dunes ride on June 6. We have a whole loop at the Dunewood Campground this time, and it promises to be as epic or even more so than last year! This very well may be wishful thinking. We shall see how our COVID situation is doing at that point. Stay tuned to our facebook, website, and/or our COVID-19 document for updates.

Obviously, our in-person monthly hang is not happening this month, but we miss you all! So we are going to have a virtual hang on Tuesday, April 7, from 7-9pm. So let's connect over a virtual beer, and we'll fill you in a bit more on what is in store for this season. Join in here. 

As always, let us know if you want to get involved as a volunteer here. With all of this time ahead to ride solo or hang around the house, we have all kinds of cool routes, research, and organizational things we can use your help on for sure!

Much love,
Glenn and the entire OOFD team

Something Major This Year:
​The Ride to Valhalla

A FOUR NIGHT BIKE CAMPING LOOP OF DOOR COUNTY!
Last year, we were focused on honing our existing programs and processes. Did not let ourselves get carried away with big, crazy ideas. Well, after a year of holding a ton of cool ideas in, this year we are letting some of that creativity soar! You will see some new aspects of OOFD this year, but nothing as major as our 4 night loop of Door County Wisconsin.

We are calling it the Ride to Valhalla, inspired by Icelandic-American inventor, Chester Thordarson's quest to build a Valhalla in America on Rock Island (off the tip of the Door County peninsula). This region is filled with so much beauty and incredible history, we couldn't not do this ride. Learn about Jens Jensen, the landscape architect responsible for Chicago landmarks such as Humboldt and Garfield Parks. This ride will cruise through his intellectual commune and natural retreat called The Clearing. Natural highlights include the splendor and glaciated cliffs of Door County looking out onto Green Bay and Lake Michigan. And in usual OOFD fashion, we will be dropping knowledge about all of this throughout the ride!

The ride leaves from Sturgeon Bay, WI on Friday, September 11 and returns to Sturgeon Bay on Monday, September 14. Total mileage is about 175 (days of 30, 45, 25, 75 miles). We will be able to haul some of your gear to make the riding a bit more easy. Plus, we will be camping on the remote island of Rock Island with an off day to explore both Rock and Washington Islands. 

Food, beverages, snacks, and entertainment provided throughout. Seriously, not something to be missed. Early bird tickets available until July 15 ($325) and regular tickets available after that ($375).  Check out more details and register here. 

Other Good Stuff on the Horizon

Summer. Nice weather. An improved collective bill of health. All of those things are on the horizon. In addition, once we are all assured that it is safe to come out and play with others, we will have not only 8ish Adult Bike camping overnights, 3-4ish Family Bike Camping Overnights, a few Youth Bike Camping Overnights, but also some other cool day/evening events. 

We will be meeting once a month at various breweries/dive bars to have some beers and talk bike camping. So if you are a new volunteer, interested volunteer, or an OOFD OG, come to hang out with us. Learn more about what we do and how you can contribute. To do so, check out the Monthly Hangs schedule HERE. 

We also plan to do our Where the Wild Things Grow rides to do environmental service more frequently and we will cover a wider variety of service types as well as sections of the city/burbs. So stay tuned to our Where the Wild Things Grow page as well as our facebook page  to catch the next ride to do service. 

In addition, we are developing some possible day rides and even an adaptive cycling ride series, so keep an eye out for more details on those fronts. 

The As Always Section

Join us for our Monthly Hang on April 7. Not at Cardinal Liquors as planned but instead virtually. We will be hanging out at this link from 7-9pm. Pop in and have a beer. Connect, catch-up, and contribute some ideas for this eventual ride season. Here is the ZOOM link. 

Wanna volunteer? You totally should. Especially now that we are a nonprofit organization, the potential to really do some extra special things has increased exponentially. Don’t you want to be a part of that? Our community is very much open and welcoming to all that want to join. See who currently makes us up here. Join our team here. Or if you haven't already, join our newsletter here. We are especially looking for a couple of experienced board members as well as some solid guides to train for next ride season.
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Help spread the word. If you know us and like what we do, help connect others that you think don’t know us but would dig what we do.