 By OOFD Guide Will Haley
A refreshing cup of coffee is a great way to start the day, or so I’m told. In our case, a camp-mug shot of beer helped get our bikepacking riders hyped up to visit the Good Land. With its rich history of brewing, each Milwaukee beer sample we served set the scene for our northern destination. We got on our bikes and departed from The Perfect Cup in Ravenswood under sunny skies. We rolled out towards the North Shore Channel Trail which would bring us most of the way to Gillson Park. The Gillson Park amphitheater was a perfect venue to reflect on the North Shore and its fraught history with alcohol. From dry campuses to a lively speakeasy scene the neighboring area had a love-hate relationship with beer for well over a hundred years.
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 Cheers to an awesome April and Hootenanny Vol. 4 Photo by Amy Terkelsen WelcomeHope y’all are getting hyped for some consistent good weather and lots of being outside and biking. We just wrapped up our best Hootenanny Fundraiser party ever! We had a number of fun day rides and social hangs in April. And now, we are full force towards the ride season filled with all kinds of bike adventures! We have a couple of adult overnights this month that are sold out, but definitely lots of rides to look forward to including some great Family Overnights.
 The first bike camping crew of 2024, camped out at Camp Sullivan after marching in the South Side St. Paddy's Day Parade WelcomeHappy Spring y’all. And officially welcome to bike camping season! We have our big Hootenanny fundraiser party happening on Thursday, April 11th. We have had huge turn outs to our Month of March Guide Trainings. With the first couple Adult Bike camping trips sold out, we are getting hyped for the big Battle to the Dunes in early June and the 5 day SWMI ride in mid-July. Tons of awesome adaptive rides, Where the Wild Thing Grow, and Day Rides happening in the next couple months.
 Image from: https://news.wherefrom.org/permaculture-design-ethics-principles/ Written by OOFD Board President and Adult Program Director Breanna Bertacchi
A few years ago, I took part in a conversation facilitated by a local permaculture education group – in which folks were invited to reflect on which roles and responsibilities we felt most aligned to from the graphic above. As a cyclist, I feel a natural inclination towards decomposition. Beyond just a personal inspiration from mycology sciences, this stance is justified by observation of a scrappiness in cyclists that seems to be a common personality trait within our community. We take inspiration from mushrooms in multiple ways, pulling resources together, responding to a new need with an old product, shooting out inspiration to each other in a grassroots fashion like mycelium underground. In this post I hope to bring your attention to the ways you decompose and reuse elements in your surroundings as a cyclist too.  WelcomeThe hype persists. After selling out nearly every ride last year, we got our rides open for registration earlier than ever for 2024, and we already have 3 rides sold out! One of which is in late June.
We have what promises to be the best Hootenanny Fundraiser party we have ever thrown scheduled for Thursday, April 11 at Midwest Coast Brewery. A big month of Volunteer Training coming in March as well as our first every March bike camping trip and parade march on St. Paddy’s Day Southside Style. Read on for more deets and some heaping gratitude for the best of the best of our volunteers - the Directors and Assistant Directors of our 6 programs.  The New 2024 Ride Flyer By OOFD Volunteer Mimi Stocker WelcomeHope January has treated you well. Things keep rocking over here at OOFD during our “offseason”. We have a lot of super smart and caring volunteers putting in the behind the scenes work to make sure the 2024 ride season is amazing. Our first bike camping trip of the year, the St. Paddy’s Day Parade and Overnight, is just a month and a half away! One overnight has already sold out and another one only has a few spots left.
 Day 2 of Decemberg - Ready to Roll Photo by Glenn Welcome to OOFD DecemberI thought it was the “off-season” but somehow we have all kinds of exciting things to share with ya. We have some recaps of a few great December events including the Volunteer Appreciation Party and Decemberg. We get to intro you to our 3 Star New Volunteers of 2023, and fill you in on some of the new rides we’re trying in 2024. And we even have an end of the year fundraiser with a bunch of cool Patagonia gear to raffle off to generous donors.
 This year, we focused to better integrate riders with adaptive needs into our existing family program, and it was a huge success as we made all of the Family Overnight Rides accessible to families with a youth with an adaptive need. There were 3 such families on each of the 4 rides!
 This year, we had unprecedented success for our Family program. All 4 rides sold out far in advance. That is 107 family riders this year who went on a local adventure vacation via bicycle this summer! Up from only 66 riders in this program last year.
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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