Out Our Front Door Newsletter - April 2023

Bike Camping, Parties, and More!

Y'all! The Hooteannnay Fundraiser is tomorrow at Metropolitan Brewery and tickets are almost sold out! The first three bike camping rides of the year are sold out too! Sensing a theme here. 

You see that blue sky and sunshine! Spring is here and goodness are we so. freaking. ready. to get some bike camping in. And all other sorts of fun stuff. Read on to learn about upcoming events in April and beyond including a bike camping trip to the Indiana Dunes in June, an Earth Day ride to Major Taylor Trail, and even a bike camping clinic at Cosmic Bikes.

5 Reasons to Attend the Hootenanny Fundraiser Tomorrow, April 11 at Metropolitan Brewery

We already have 94 tickets sold as of writing this so this event is going to sell out! 5 reasons to get your ticket:

1. The Space - Metropolitan Brewery is a gorgeous space on Chicago River with great beer. 1 free Beer ticket with entry.
2. The Raffle Prizes - Over $4000 in raffle prizes from amazing companies like Patagonia, Fjallraven, Avondale Bowl, 12 local bike shops, and so much more. 1 free Raffle ticket with entry.
3. The Music - Lawrence Peters will be DJ. He is a country singer, songwriter, drummer, bandleader, DJ, and America’s preeminent electric washboard player, with a music career spanning thirty-plus years. 

4. The Food - All-you-can-eat chili (with vegan options) thanks to volunteers Steph Reid and Rachel Shultz.
5. The People - One of the best, most welcoming and adventurous community of bicyclists in the city. See old friends. Meet some new friends. And hear a bit about the amazing things OOFD has in line for this year.

Check out our Hootenanny 5 Reasons Blog Article for more details on these 5 reasons including a full list of raffle prizes.
Tickets available here. 
*Limited tickets will be available at the door ($40).

Battle to the Dunes

Adult bike camping to the Indiana Dunes National Park - June 3-4.

This is the next available Adult Overnight Ride that isn't sold out. On this trip, Out Our Front Door will lead you to the Lake Michigan shoreline of Southern Chicago and Northwestern Indiana to reveal the marks of a century-long conflict over land use in the region. Sand dunes, steel mills, power lines, marsh land, and a commercial harbor share a ten-mile stretch along the lakeshore. We'll learn the struggle for a National Park and discover the birthplace of ecology, the rise of steel, and explore one of the finer trail systems in Chicagoland. 

But most important of all, spend an evening enjoying the sand dunes of the Indiana Dunes National Park.

What's Included:
OOFD Guides leading the way
Campsite reservation
Dinner Day 1, Simple Breakfast Day 2
Campfire, snacks, some beverages
Van to carry some of your gear (optional)
New $15 per person entrance fee to the National Park
Guided ride back on Sunday (or an option to take the South Shore Train back)

More details and registration available here. ​

​Bike Camping Clinic at Cosmic Bikes

"Educate" is one of our core values at OOFD. And that doesn't just mean we teach about local history and nature along our rides. We also help build our current and future riders' bike camping skills! 

That is why we are hyped to be partnering with Cosmic Bikes to lead a bike camping clinic on Thursday, April 20 from 630-830pm. 

This will be a free and informal presentation with plenty of time for Q&A. We will have several different bikes set up for touring, so you'll be able to check out different types of camping and carrying gear, as well as a selection of sleeping and cooking gear to consider and compare. And, of course, there will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions and get advice on camping locations, routing and gear selection from riders with many hours of bike camping under their belts. 

Learn more and register for free here. Pizza, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided! Cosmic Bikes address is 4641 N Milwaukee Ave. ​

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

Where the Wild Things Grow Earth Day Ride
Saturday, April 22 8am-1pm-ish
We have been partnering with Friends of the Major Taylor Trail for over 5 years on their annual Earth Day event. We will meet at Palmisano Park in Bridgeport, ride 10ish miles down to the Major Taylor Trail (at 10-12 mph), do service for 2 hours and ride back north. Maybe grab a bite to eat and beverage afterwards. Please register for free here. 

Monthly Hang
Tuesday, May 2 at Palmisano Park in Bridgeport
Everyone is welcome every first Tuesday of each month to hang with the OOFD community and meet new folks that are interested in riding or volunteering with OOFD. It is a fun, chill, casual time to socialize and hangout/have a good time over beverages in our beautiful Chicago parks or bars. These have been so much fun especially lately with 40 and 30 folks at the last two Monthly Hangs! Will meet on top of the hill in Palmisano Park. Back-up location (in case of wet weather) is Maria's Bar. Full year list of Monthly Hangs here. 

Book Club
We will be reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer in late Spring, early Summer. Start reading and more deets to come next newsletter and on social media. 

Flock Off the Block - Save the date
August 12-13 - Big Bike Camping event at Camp Shabonna in South Holland, IL
This will be a huge, inclusive bike camping event with 100 folks! We will have a variety of start points around the city with mileage for super beginners to advanced. There will be tons of activities, live music, beach/waterpark time, and great food. Tickets will include a van to haul your gear. This will be our first event that both families and adults without families will be welcome on the same trip. Both Patagonia and Specialized will be supporting the event as well! Registration and more details coming soon.

OOFD Rides Ragbrai update
We have a solid crew of folks that will be riding with OOFD during Ragbrai. We will get a van to help haul gear during the ride across Iowa. Most folks already bought their Ragbrai tickets and are paying for the charter through Bicycle Illinois to get to and from Iowa.  There are some folks that put their name down as interested in trying to figure out carpooling options on this sheet. No guarantee that all the carpooling options will pan out, but we will do our best to give folks the platform to connect. So feel free to put your name on that list, and we'll be sure to send an email soon to everyone on there to help connect y'all. ​

Specific Volunteer Opportunities

If you are interested in getting more involved with OOFD and haven't already filled out this Volunteer Form, please do, and I will add you to our Volunteer Newsletter which is sent out about every month or so with volunteer specific updates and opportunities. 

But since this main newsletter is getting sent out today, I figured I'd include some upcoming volunteer specific items here. Even if you aren't a volunteer, feel free to reach out if you are interested in any of the following: 

Adaptive Program and Volunteer Sign-up
We are looking to fill the ranks of our Adaptive Guides for our Adaptive Program. These guides will specifically provide support for youth with adaptive needs on our Family Overnight Rides. We likely will have at least 1-3 families with a child with adaptive needs on each of our Family Overnights as we work to make all of our rides more radically inclusive. We will help train the OOFD guides on how to work with these youth and their families as well as how to ride our adaptive, tandem bikes. If you are interested, fill out the form here. To be an Adaptive Guide, you will need to complete First Aid/CPR training, Mandated Reporter Training, Adaptive Sports Abuse Prevention Training, and pass a background check. OOFD will pay for/facilitate these trainings for you. 
  
Youth Program Meeting
Friday, April 14 from 10-1130am at Cafe Mustache in Logan Square
We are working to reignite our Youth Program this year after a Covid hiatus and have some great partnerships rolling (Bikes N' Roses, West Town Bikes, The Recyclery, Equiticity, and Chicago Adventure Therapy). We will be focused on supporting the events hosted by our partner organizations for the first half of this year and will then lead at least 2 youth specific Where the Wild Things Grow Rides and at least one bike camping trip later in the summer. If you are interested in getting involved as a part of the Youth Program team, let me know by replying to this email and consider joining us for our first meeting of the year this Friday at Cafe Mustache form 10-1130am. To be a youth guide, you will need to complete First Aid/CPR training, Mandated Reporter Training, Adaptive Sports Abuse Prevention Training, and pass a background check.OOFD will pay for/facilitate these trainings for you. 

2nd Wednesday Creative Work Session
Wednesday, April 12 from 7-930pm at Beermiscuous in Lakeview
A time for OOFD volunteers to gather to discuss big ideas, work collaboratively on projects, and generally carve some time out each month to get some work done on their OOFD projects. OOFD Executive Director, Glenn, will be present and ready to listen/support at all of these events. 
Come for the whole time or just 30 minutes. Whatever works for you. Usually good to bring a notebook or laptop, if you can. All places have beer and NA/coffee options. This is a monthly event open to all OOFD volunteers. List of meeting points here. 

Phew. I guess we'll end it there. I thought this was gonna be a "Hey, the Hootenanny Fundraiser is tomorrow" newsletter, but goodness, we have so much good stuff going on that we wanted to fill you in. So hope to see you tomorrow or at some these rad events coming up!
Much love,
Glenn and all of your OOFD pals