 1. The Spot - Metropolitan BreweryThe Out Our Front Door annual Hootenanny Fundraiser is happening at one of best breweries in town. Metropolitan Brewery has been around since 2008, and it has a simply gorgeous taproom with a floor to ceiling windows and patio looking out on a peaceful bend of the Chicago River on Chicago's Northwest Side.
They make all kinds of delicious German style lagers and are being so generous with letting us use their huge brewing space for the Hootenanny. Kids and dogs are always welcome @metrobrewing and are welcome at the Hootenanny! Your HOOTENANNY ticket includes a BEER!
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What Do I Need to Bike Camp With OOFD?
The Bike. Tent. Sleeping Bag. Sleeping Pad. And the Rest. You, yes you, can do this. You can figure out a way to get your camping gear onto your bike and ride with it. And you do not need to spend a ton of money to do so. Attitude towards gear as sustainability and learning Honestly, whatever works for your budget. You can go to Target today and buy a tent for $50 that will be on the lighter side and definitely will work for bike camping. And ain’t no one at OOFD gonna look at you funny. This isn’t a place where that happens. If anything, you’ll be applauded for simply making it happen. And that is how we learn. We start with some gear, whatever we can afford. Don’t start with the cheapest of the cheap ideally. Because that thing is only gonna last you maybe one year before it ends up in the landfill. And don’t buy the most expensive because you might try it out and realize, oh shoot, actually, I now realize I would have bought something different with all that money. Read more for suggestions and attitudes for each piece of gear needed to bike camp from your bike to tent to mug.  “I like to bike and I like nature. But I can’t bike like you guys.”
We exist to reach a person that says this. Because we believe in adventure. Our programs are built to break down the barriers to adventure. And we believe in the profound level of growth inherent. And we don’t just believe that everyone can go on a bike camping adventure, we know it. And we have built our programs and a fleet of adaptive bikes. Trained guides and made the partnerships. We more than believe you, yes you, can go bike camping. The invitation to adventure awaits. You, yes you, can access a night out in nature. You, yes you, can ride 25 (or more) miles through the beauty of Chicagoland. You, yes you, can feel the joy of huddling around a campfire with other adventure seekers in community. In a meal well earned. In a celebratory beverage for having accomplished those miles. For having pedaled here, under your own power. No car. No plane ticket. No gas necessary (besides the water and snacks you ate along the way - that was the only gas needed to power that distance).  What tools should I consider bringing on a bike camping trip?
When embarking on a multi day bike camping trip one can often spend too much time worrying about what tools to pack. Too many items and you end up schlepping too much bulky weight, not enough and you can find yourself on the side of the road with your thumb out. To make your kit decision easier, I’ve compiled a list of essentials that I carry. That’s not to say that what works for me also works for you but I hope this can serve as a guide and inspire you to build your own, better kit. A note: my kit is much different when I embark alone compared to when I act as a guide. I will explain what I always carry, and then what I add when traveling with a larger group. The holy trinity of repair kits: Multi-tool, Pump, 2 Tubes.  Annual Hootenanny Fundraiser Come out and help us celebrate the coming bike camping season and one of the coolest non-profits in the city!
Tuesday, April 11 from 6-9pm Metropolitan Brewing in Avondale (3057 N Rockwell St, Chicago) is our incredibly generous host this year. Tickets include:
Out Our Front Door is hosting our 2023 in-person fundraiser - The Hootenanny Vol 3! Come out and help us celebrate the coming bike camping season. Tickets include a beer, all-you-can-eat-chili mac (with veggie and vegan options), and a DJ. Cheaper early bird tickets are on Eventbrite (tickets here). Tickets available at the door for $40. Kids are free! We’ll be raffling some sweet prizes as well. All ticket and raffle proceeds go to supporting OOFD’s mission of immersing and educating in local history and nature via bike adventures.
Metropolitan Brewing in Avondale (3057 N Rockwell St, Chicago) is our incredibly generous host this year. Tuesday, April 11 from 6-9pm is when its happening. We'll have activities for kids (both young and old), and the raffle will be going all night long. Metropolitan is dog friendly so please feel welcome to bring your pup! The Party With the entry fee, you get:
The Raffle During the event, we will have raffle prizes from super generous businesses around the city, many of which are our beloved local bike shops who always show up huge for OOFD and our mission. Raffle Prizes will include
More and Important Reasons to Come Yes. It is to party with excellent people and kick off the season in fine fashion. But the real deep why is to support the OOFD mission to lead bike adventures to immerse and educate in local nature and history. The proceeds of the event will go towards us improving all of our programming including our Youth and Adaptive Programs this year and into the future which will help us become an even more excellent local bike camping non-profit here in very own City in a Garden, Chicago. We can’t wait to see y'all there! Tickets available in advance here.  Poetic Letter from the PresidentJust as the scarce winter sunlight is starting to linger later into our evenings, Out Our Front Door is saddling up to embark on a myriad of new adventures in this upcoming season. I’ve heard echoed by many in our community that Chicago summer is a treasured season unparalleled in other cities. Maybe it’s in part due to the idea that we’ve ‘earned’ a summer that serves as a break from the harsh cold. We remained, watching the migrating birds depart for warmer climates, while we dawned bar-mitts and ski-goggles to continue our commutes in the snow.
Towards the end of our Youth Unbound program in August of 2022, we got a call from our partners at Working Bikes that a family would like to donate an adaptive bike. Jody and David Wolfe asked for our help in finding a family that could benefit from an adaptive tandem trike that David would ride with their late son Ethan, who tragically passed away much too soon at the age of 12.  Out Our Front Door was nominated and won the Circle of Excellence Award from the Illinois Park and Recreation Association's (IPRA )Therapeutic Recreation Section for the work we did with our Youth Unbound Program in the summer of 2022.  Out Our Front Door (OOFD) is thrilled to announce that we are now a helper site for Charlotte’s Tandems US (CTUS), a wonderful organization that provides free loans of tandems and other adaptive cycles to “to anyone with a disability or additional need, so that they can ride wherever, whenever and with whoever they like.”
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"To immerse , educate, preserve & advance the history, culture, trails and native habitats of the Lower Lake Michigan Basin Area" Trail Series
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A Bike Camping + Nature Community for Chicago and the Lake Michigan Area
Founded in 2015. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
www.oofd.org
Founded in 2015. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
www.oofd.org