OOFD Newsletter April 2018

Cross section layers of tree roots at the microscopic level - Image smash Andrew St. Paul.

In this Months Newsletter we feature our Earth Day Event, the first release of the Classic Route Series, Roll to Reinberg, up coming events, a new camping trip to Milwaukee, team rider reader thank yous,  plus more.

CLASSIC ROUTES RELEASE 

Illinois Beach State Park Bike Loop
It's here! The first release of major Bike Camping Routes out of Chicago in one place. With maps, cue sheets, resources, things to do, and route highlights. In our first release, we present Illinois Beach State Park. We would like every cyclists to please review the route and its content. If you believe there are items to be included or important places that were missed, please let us know in its comment section. We are also looking for photos for the "Things to Do and See" section.  This what the collective is all about, contributing as a individualistic whole. READ AND VIEW THE ROUTE HERE

NEWS & UPDATES

Bike Winter Art Show Re-Cap
This marked our 3rd year in being a part of the Winter Bike Art Show, put on in coordination with Critical Mass. The Winter Bike Art Show is now in its 21st year.  Largely in part to Steven Lane and Stew. Eric Muller and Justin Santora created this years OOFD submission self titled "Out Our Front Door."  The Prairie Rambler sold his first every piece titled "Chicago- All my favorite pieces" to an unknown buyer. We hope it brings you travel inspirations to further explore Chicagoland. Thank you to everyone who attended! And Special Thank you to Eric for making this years participation a possibility. 

Anna was on the Radio!
OOFD Field Guide and Chainlink member Anna Henshel was on WEBZ 91.5FM radio speaking along with Active Transportation Alliance's advocacy director, Jim Merrell, to the Morning Shift's Tony Sarabia about improvements to the Des Plaines River bike trail.  They even opened the phones to hear listeners’ ideas of the best trails in the city (and even slipped in an OOFD shout out! We on the radio!). Give it a listen, get inspired, and get outside on that bike! LISTEN TO HER WBEZ RADIO INTERVIEW NOW

Chicago Nature Now
Have you ever wondered when to visit a State Park or Preserve to see its beautiful wildflowers in full bloom? A timed and an organized website offers just that at CHICAGO NATURE NOW ALERTS. Get alerts and updates on when the best natural wonders are happening and where. Great for pop up day rides.  

Family Bike Adventures: Sold Out
In the very first week of going "live" the Family Bike tours sold out! This goes to show how the Out Our Front Door is filling a gap, what we aim to solve, which is multi-day camping adventures in/around Chicagoland, that is accessible to everyone in our region, including families with young kids. GO ON PRACTICE DAY TRIP WITH CHICAGO FAMILY BIKING
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Book Club: The Life and Death of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan: Re-Cap
OOFD hosted our first ever book club at Cafe Mustache featuring The Death and Life of the Great Lakes which is an incredible overview of Great Lakes history especially in regards to the destruction wrought by invasive species. There was excellent turn out for an insightful discussion about this pressing issue that faces our lakes. Big thanks to everyone that came out and especial shout out to the impetus and organizer of the book club, Kyle Trebotich. We will have another one in June, so keep you eyes open for the facebook event. 

UP-COMING EVENTS

Earth Day Event on the South Side of Chicago
Saturday April 21st 2018
For this year's Earth Day event we will be travelling to the Major Taylor Trail to explore one of the newest trail links in the regional bike trail network system, the Major Taylor Trail and Cal Sag connection. Be apart of this new trail segment and workday in preparation for summer activities.  After we will have Friends of the Cal-Sag Trail present the new trail connection at Riverside Tap, tacos included.  After OOFD will host a Documentary too. READ THE FULL EARTH DAY EVENT HERE

Roll To Reinberg: All Scout Jamboree Event 
April 28-April 29, 2018
Join us for the first bike camping trip of the season as we roll from Chicago to Camp Reinberg in the very first Forest Preserve of Cook County, Deer Grove. Learn about the history and beginnings of the Forest Preserves and visit the Bakers Lake Rookery.  Great distance and intro to bike camping especially for a beginner. LEARN MORE ABOUT ROLL TO REINBERG GROUP BIKE CAMPING TRIP

Intro To Bike Camping at Trek Bikes
 Thursday May 3, 2018
Trek Bicycle Store in Wicker Park. Join Chicago native Miles Talty from OOFD as he presents different ways to pack and load your bicycle, explore the different regions and routes stemming out of Chicago, and if you're lucky, he'll touch on some of his world bike tours. LEARN MORE GREAT FOR BEGINNERS 

​Bike-Packing Trip To Milwaukee with Beer (21+)
​​May 12-May 13, 2108
Join us on the first official OOFD ride to Milwaukee! Learn about the brilliant history of beer in this region including the foundational role that what some call "crap beer" played in shaping the trajectory of beer in this country and even world. PBR, Heilman's Old Style, Schlitz are just a few of the breweries that will be covered (and drank) on this ride. Camping in Racine, WI and rolling up to MKE for some beer-splorations at Lake Front Brewery and a couple other classic WI taverns followed by an Amtrak ride home.  MILWAUKEE THE GOOD LAND -GREAT FOR BIKE CAMPING CHAMPS

Chicago City Nature Challenge
April 27, 2018 to April 30, 2018
Urban explorers in cities around the world will team up for the Chicago City Nature Challenge.  Help the Chicago Wilderness Region show the world how bio-diverse our area is by making observations of plants, animals, and other creatures between April 27th and April 30th, 2018. Results will be announced Monday, May 7, so be sure to upload your observations by then. You can also help out by identifying species in other people's observations, coming to a bioblitz, or even organizing your own event. Check out all the events at https://habitat2030.org/city-nature-challenge/ 

Illinois Bike Summit
May 7, 2018 8:30am - 5pm
We are proud to be attending and tabling at this years Illinois Bike Summit. Join us as we reveal and raffle off one our tours​. Come out on Monday May 7 to the University of Illinois at Chicago for a day of learning and networking with up to 300 bicycle advocates, planners, engineers, agency staff, government officials, and others from around the state. With a range of session topics – from bikeway design and tips to advocacy and community engagement – the summit offers strategies to help you make progress in your town. MORE DETAILS & REGISTRATION HERE
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Message from the President:
I would like to thank every rider who has been on our trips before, every reader and sharer of  the newsletter, and every contributor to Out Our Front Door. Thank you for believing in its embodiment and most importantly believing in yourself thus far.

​A special thank you to Eric Muller, who's own intuitive drive gave us and produced our newest artwork poster for the organization and submission to the Winter Bike Art Show! A personal thank you to Andrew Berg and Emily Ransom for believing and embodying the OOFD idea to create a stellar series of Family Bike Adventures stemming out of Chicago! A grand thank you to Glenn Schneider, Cat Griem, the Youth Team, and the top Youth Bike Organizations for compiling the beginnings of a youth bike-camping program for the city of Chicago! At Kyke & Miles for  being rad dudes who have been throwing down to create new route trips to the OOFD lineup. 

​It is truly something how when individual accomplishments are completed, play a larger cause into what we have already been doing...and that is to have fun and make a future we believe in.

For all our newsletter community members who have signed up for our online newsletter, we will some  have some goodies for you in our next couple of newsletters. We want to thank you for showing your support and  for playing a vital role in building this community.  So stay tuned.

Now enjoy this fine sunshine we're having and grill up some food. -Much Love

> NEXT Group BIKE CAMPING Trip