Out Our Front Door Newsletter - May 2023

Welcome to Bike Camping Season
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​Happy Spring and official OOFD bike camping season y'all! We are flying high off of a hugely successful and fun Hootenanny fundraiser. We have sold out our first 3 bike camping trips of the year (more than a month in advance) with the others very likely going to fill up as well! 

We're kicking off our free overnight ride series next month with a bike camping trip to give thanks to our Essential Workers. The partners that continue to support OOFD have some great events coming up. Battle to the Dunes is right around the corner and the epic SWMI ride ride in July already has more registered this year than registered total for last year!

Free Bike Camping Trip for Essential Workers 

A 2-Day Bike Camping Adventure from Chicago to Camp Shabbona Woods on June 24-25

This ride is to acknowledge and appreciate our Essential Workers. The Covid19 pandemic placed an unprecedented strain on folks across industries. 

This one night local bike camping adventure is offered as a way to say 'thank you' to our Essential Workers community and as an opportunity to have us serve them in return. Camping spots, dinner, and breakfast will be provided by our OOFD guides at no cost to the participants. 

We will provide transport to haul the riders' gear in case their bike is not set up to haul camping gear. 

Please spread the word to any essential workers you know that may be interested. Anyone that identifies as an essential worker either during or after the pandemic can sign up. There are only 12 spots available so please only sign up if you very much intend to come. More details and registration here. 

Hootenanny Fundraiser Recap

There’s no denying there was magic in the air at this year's Hootenanny. We sold out the 100 online tickets and had more folks show up at the door! 

From the dedicated planning committee, to the day-of volunteer crew complete with homemade chili mac delivery by bicycle, to the friends, family, and loved ones coming out to support, the Hootenanny Vol. 3 was a smashing success! 

Once all of the dust settled, we actually just surpassed our goal to net $6000 by $13! 

We were able to keep our costs low with extra special thanks to our volunteer cooks and Metropolitan Brewing helping so much with donating beers and a discounted rate on the beautiful space! And the over $4000 in raffle prizes donated by all of our amazing donors (listed here) no doubt helped bring out so many great folks to the event. 

Thank you to everyone who came out kick off the ride season in style. 

Volunteer Spotlight: Rachel Shultz

New Adult Overnights Program Assistant Director, Lead Guide for Battle to the Dunes, vegan chili cook extraordinaire, reused material bag making wizard, and so much more!

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! Check out the blog she wrote about becoming an OOFD volunteer last year here. 

She is taking on the lead role for one of our biggest rides of the year, Battle to the Dunes, on June 3-4 which she will be heading up the guide crew of 9 plus 50 participants on the weekend ride to Indiana Dunes National Park to camp! Learn more about that ride and grab one of the final remaining slots here. 

Where the Wild Things Grow Recap: Earth Day

We celebrated Earth Day by partnering with The Major Taylor Trail Keepers for a Where The Wild Things Grow ride and trail cleanup.This year marked 5 years that we’ve kept this tradition going strong helping to clean up this wonderful trail. Guides Will, Maura, and Matt Weiss led a crew of about 20 folks down to the service day from Palmisano Park in Bridgeport to the service sites mainly in West Pullman. The crew even had a celebratory glass of mead at Wild Blossom Meadery which is right on the trail afterward the service.

Bike Camping Clinic Recap: Cosmic Bikes

​We are so grateful to have partnered with THE bike camping bike shop of Chicago, Cosmic Bikes, for an Intro to Bike Camping Clinic last week. There was incredible turnout with over 30 folks in the audience. Lots of new folks that haven't bike camped before. Check out this blog with a recap of what lead guide Rachel Shultz and Cosmic's owner, Justyna, covered so you know how and what to pack for your bike camping adventures this year!

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​Upcoming Events

1. Saturday/Sunday, May 13-14 - Patagonia 50 Year Anniversary Party at their Mag Mile Store (48 E. Walton). OOFD will be tabling on Saturday May 13 from 3-7pm and celebrating with one of our most supportive partners - Patagonia Chicago. There will be a variety of activities and other orgs out to spread the word about the work they do on the environmental and biking front in Chicago. Tailwind Cycles will even be there providing bike tune-ups!
2. Saturday, May 20 - Bike Out Negativity Event from 11:30pm - 3pm in North Lawndale (3147 W. Douglas Blvd in the boulevard across from St. Agatha Church). A super fun event for kids to get out and ride their bikes in a safe environment. OOFD likely will have some volunteers tabling and demonstrating how to set up tents. Let us know if you would like to volunteer for OOFD for this event. The Community ride starts at 3PM. More deets and registration here. 
3. Wednesday, May 24 - Bike Camping and Rack Installation Workshop at West Town Bikes (2459 W Division St.) from 630-830pm. We are pumped to partner with West Town Bikes to help folks get racks on their bikes in preparation for the bike camping season. There will be affordable used and new racks and OOFD & WTB volunteers will be helping to install the racks on your bike. We'll be sharing some ideas and best practices on how to load gear for a bike camping trip as well. Limited spots available. Register for free here. 
4. Tuesday, May 30 - Mappy Hour Monthly Mixer from 6-8pm at Bitter Pops (3357 N. Lincoln). Mappy Hour is a great friend of OOFD. Come meet other adventurers and have a beers. OOFD will give a brief spiel about Chicagoland bike adventures in honor of Bike Month.
5. Saturday/Sunday, June 3-4 - Battle to the Dunes Adult Bike Camping Trip. The next OOFD overnight with a few tickets left. Ride to and camp at Indian Dunes National Park. Learn about the fight to conserve the dunes and the industrial history of The Region. Ride out with 50 other riders and crew of OOFD guides. Only 10 tickets left! 
6. Tuesday, June 6 - OOFD Monthly Hang (Bonfire) from 7:30-late at Meditation Point in Edgewater. Everyone is welcome every first Tuesday of each month to hang with the OOFD community. These have been so much fun especially lately with 20 to 40 folks at the last few Monthly Hangs! Backup location: Barrelman Tavern
7. Thursday, June 15th - OOFD Book Club from 6:30-8pm at a volunteers house near Ravenswood. We are reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 
8. July 13-17 - SWMI ride - 5 day bike camping trip from Chicago to SW Michigan. We already filled more slots so far as we did all of last year! This is one of the best rides of the year! Check out this blog that gives an overview of each day. You can learn more about this year's ride and register here. 
   
   

Y'all! This year is off to a high flying start. We just had our first bike camping trip of the season this last weekend to Camp Blackwell led by Ashely Lyons, and it was a resounding success. You can see the pics from the ride here. So many great adventures ahead this year. Can't wait to ride with ya!

Much love,
Glenn and the whole OOFD crew