Summer biking offers riders, spectators a variety of fun events
Chicago area biking offers an exciting, varied summer menu: Racing, race spectating, club rides and unique community events.
Mountain bike racing
Carpentersville’s July 28 Raceway Rally kicked off the 2024 CAMBr Chicagoland Race Series, three mountain bike races hosted by the Chicago Area Mountain Bike Riders. The Paul Douglas Pursuit (Hoffman Estates) follows on Aug. 11 and the Palos Meltdown (Willow Springs) on Aug. 25.
Each venue schedules 13 race categories, including short/long course adaptive cycling events for those restricted by mobility impairments. They are open to riders of all ages, genders, and skill levels. E-bikes are allowed in adaptive events, but not in other race categories.
Adaptive events originated at the 2022 Palos Meltdown when a local rider requested them, according to Mike Lenz, a CAMBr regional director.
“In CAMBr’s 2023 race series, all three sites had an adaptive category. For 2024, we’ve expanded to include both short and long courses.”
While the venues weren’t originally designed for adaptive riders, CAMBr volunteers will make course accommodations such as additional brush trimming and rerouting around narrow tree choke points.
Skokie biking creativity
The Skokie Bike Network, with support from the village’s Fine Arts Commission, reprised its inaugural 2023 Tales from the Trails at Sketchbook Taproom & Brewery July 14. Storytellers regaled the enthusiastic audience with eight stories, an original song and poems of “Bike Intelligence — What I’ve learned (or not) while riding a bike.”
Charlie Saxe, year-round bike commuter to the Loop and a Skokie Bike Network founder, explained that the storytelling idea bubbled up while network members, sipping at Sketchbook two years ago, were brainstorming off-season activities.
Per Saxe, network co-founder Ben Harris was so excited about the idea he scheduled it for July. More than 130 cyclists and fellow travelers from Skokie and eight neighboring communities relished the free, two-hour event, packing Sketchbook’s parking lot and bike racks.
In July, Tour de Skokie, a joint village-library initiative, led readers on a casual self-guided storybook tour of 26 “stages.” For each “stage,” a downtown storefront window displayed a colorful illustration from Chicago-area author Lucy Knisley’s 2024 children’s book titled “Ride Beside Me.”
Also adorning downtown sidewalks were bikes festively decorated by businesses and organizations.
Starting at the Skokie Public Library, bikers and walkers read the rhyming narration of a toddler’s adventure perched on mom’s bike. Cruising through town, they greet a diverse group of friends, neighbors and community helpers also riding a variety of bicycles. Spoiler alert — the final pages yield a cyclist’s fantasy — no motorized vehicles in sight.
Tour de Skokie ended at Al's Cycle Shop, celebrating 80 years in business. Per Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen’s anniversary proclamation, Al Koch opened Al’s Auto Parts in 1944. Current owner Larry Binder began working there 50 years ago.
Community Engagement Director Nancy Kim Phillips explained that the library worked with the village’s Economic Vitality Division to involve businesses in the summer reading program. Knisley’s story theme of diverse people coming together through biking aligns with the library’s goal of cultivating connectedness and belonging in the community.
Book Bike giveaways
Regarding that goal, Skokie Library’s book bike has been rolling to community events and local parks with free books for Skokie residents to keep and enjoy. In its fifth season, this reconfigured tricycle carries a variety of up to 150 books, even more if headed to a kid-centric event/location.
Community Engagement staff, plus other library employees, pedal June-October, depending on the weather.
“It’s a great way for our colleagues to also learn more about the community,” said Melody Sok, Community Engagement liaison.
“As a major component of our community engagement work, the book bike makes it easy to meet people who aren’t regular library users,” added Kim Phillips. “We try to reach neighborhoods with fewer economic resources to make residents more aware of library services.”
A librarian brought back the concept from a 2018 professional conference. Ordered from Philadelphia’s Haley Tricycles and received in April 2019, the bike’s first summer of full operation was 2021.
In 2023, over 700 books were given away, 450 of them at regular destinations like Winnebago, Peccia and Tecumseh parks. Community event attendees were gifted the rest.
Book bike team members select the books for specific audiences. Books regularly culled from the library collection provide a regular source of free books.
The bike’s smaller size and pleasing bright colors make it approachable for residents who may not frequent the library. Skokie artist Jay Ryan, creator of the bookmobile’s motif, also designed the book bike.
Sok noted, “Sometimes our riders get flagged down on their way to a location. They’ll stop and have a conversation. The design lures them over.”
With three wheels, heavier frame and 150 books, staffers undoubtedly appreciate any chance to pause and talk. The tricycle is not an e-bike.
Cycling shorts
The 2024 Ride Guide published by Ride Illinois lists the following August Chicago area rides and sponsors:
Aug. 3-4: Respiratory Health Association, CowaLUNGa Charity Bike Tour, Gurnee.
Aug. 11: Naperville Rotary Ride, Naperville.
Aug. 16: Out Our Front Door, three-day, two-night bike camping in Blackwell Forest Preserve near Warrenville.
Aug. 24: Friends of Cycling Elk Grove, Busse Woods Night Ride, Elk Grove Village.
• Join the ride. Contact Ralph Banasiak at alongfortheridemail@gmail.com.