Social Ride: Champagne Ride - Season Opener

START: Clock Tower at Waveland and Lake Shore Dr. (3700N)

10:00 AM

30 miles, 12 to 14 mph

Yep, its back again, like the season opener at the friendly confines, the Champagne Ride led by Steve Kramer. We'll meander to the Northern suburbs of Evanston and Wilmette to the Plaza De Lago, and toast to the coming of Spring and or Easter, if you prefer. For those looking for a shorter ride, the 15 miles option will be included again this year.  

Contact Steve Kramer
[Click Here to contact Steve Kramer via email]

Touring Ride: Tax Deadline Ride

START: Clock Tower at Waveland and Lake Shore Dr. (3700N)

9:00 AM

35 miles, 12 to 14 mph

13th Annual Tax deadline Ride (This one got cancelled last year due to unseasonably cold weather). The plan is to do a 35 mile ride up through the north side of the city and into the northern suburbs with a lunch stop in Glencoe. Ride may be shortened if weather turns inclement or is exceptionally cool. We should return to the clock tower not later than 2-2:30.  

Contact Rick Pavia at (773) 206-5282
[Click Here to contact Rick Pavia via email]

Touring Ride: Let's See . . . Income Taxes or a Bike Ride to Oak Brook?

START: Clock Tower at Waveland and Lake Shore Dr. (3700N)

8:00 AM

60 miles, 15 to 18 mph

You've got better things to do with your weekend than your income tax filings. So come out and ride points west and south past historic Graue Mill to the Fullersburg Nature Preserve in trendy bucolic Oak Brook - conveniently located west of the I-294 Curtain. Come out with your fully-functioning road bike and grind out a grainy 60-mile coarse ride and find out the answer to the question "How far west does the Salt Creek Bike Path run?". Think three rest stops - Oak Park for coffee en route, midstop at the Nature Preserve and Tasty Dog in Oak Park en return.  

Contact Brian Bird at 773 354-8056
[Click Here to contact Brian Bird via email]

Social Ride: Bike Handlings Skills Ride

START: Clock Tower at Waveland and Lake Shore Dr. (3700N)

9:30 AM

30 miles, 12 to 15 mph

Are you all rusty from the Winter Blues? Not sure how to ride in a group? Let alone ride in traffic? Has your bike riding been limited to riding on the bike path? Do you want to know the skills required to ride safely on or off the road? Are your cycling skills a little rusty after the winter? Whether you are a novice bike rider or a hard-core commuter in any weather type, this ride is for you. Join Jim 'Tech-Tip' Kreps on this educational ride and sharpen your bicycling skills. Jim will demonstrate proper bike handling techniques and best practices. Participants will have a chance to practice these skills along the way. Pace will be as slow (or fast) as the slowest rider. This is a great way to get ready for all of the riding you'll be doing this summer!  

Contact Jim Kreps at (773) 862-9879

Training Ride: Wednesday Evening Training - Season Opener

REMOTE START: Roadies - Dunkin' Donuts, Lincoln & California

6:30 PM

25-35 miles, 19 to 25 mph

Take your cycling skills and performance to a higher level. Join us for a fast-paced training ride aimed at increasing your speed and improving your group riding skills. Practice rotating pace lines, close proximity riding and advanced bike handling while building fitness at a riding pace in excess of 18 m.p.h. Due to the need to ride in a tight pack, the fast pace and training specific nature of this ride, use of traditional style road bikes is strongly recommended. Recumbent, hybrid and mountain bikes are discouraged. A certain level of experience and fitness is expected. The actual pace of the ride will be determined by the ride participants.  

Contact Tom MacNeill-Zimmerman at 773 571 8087
[Click Here to contact Tom MacNeill-Zimmerman via email]

Touring Ride: Dark Lord Ride

START: Clock Tower at Waveland and Lake Shore Dr. (3700N)

8:30 AM

70 miles, 16 to 20 mph

Dark Lord Day (http://www.darklordday.com) is the only day of the year to buy Three Floyds (http://www.3floyds.com) Dark Lord Russian imperial stout. DLD is a festival where participants can meet other beer enthusiasts, sample beers from all over the world, buy Dark Lord, try Oak Aged Dark Lord, eat BBQ, listen to live music, and generally have a great time. We'll leave the clock tower at 8:30, pick up South Siders at the 31st Street beach house at 9:15, take a short break at Wolf Lake, partake of Dark Lord Day, and return. Going, we'll take the Daniel Burnham Centennial Century route (http://burnhamplan100.uchicago.edu/events/id/956), coming back, the traditional winter route (http://bigempire.com/mark/beer_run/beer_run_map.pdf). This will be a "TOUR ride" with few stops. We won't necessarily stay together. Faster riders may go ahead, and slower riders may drop back. Bring money, a lock, snacks to have en route, and panniers for Dark Lord you don't finish there. Anyone interested is more than welcome to meet us at the brew pub if they don't care to participate in the bike ride.  

Contact Robert Hsiung at (773) 726-3227
[Click Here to contact Robert Hsiung via email]

Social Ride: Growing Season Kickoff Ride

START: Clock Tower at Waveland and Lake Shore Dr. (3700N)

9 AM

22 miles, 10 to 12 mph

Kick off the growing season and celebrate Earth Day by using sustainable transportation to get to the annual Green & Growing Fair at the Garfield Park Conservatory. We'll take a scenic route to the conservatory where there will be vendors, workshops, food, music and demos on topics such as heirloom seeds, composting, native plants, and community gardens. Visit http://www.greennetchicago.org/fair.htm for the full schedule. There is no charge for the fair, but bring cash for workshops, seeds, and food.  

Contact Sharon Kaminecki at (773) 442-2549
[Click Here to contact Sharon Kaminecki via email]

Social Ride: Tour of the Lower West Side

REMOTE START: Harrison Park, 1824 S Wood Street

1:00 PM

15 miles, 10 to 15 mph

This is a joint ride with Chicago Cycling Club, the Chainlink.org, the Active Transportation Alliance, and Big Shoulders Realty. Led by Lee Diamond, the ride will start on the near West Side, just south of the Eisenhower and downtown. Community Area #31, the Lower West Side, is 3 miles southwest of the loop. It is bounded on the south and east by the South branch of the Chicago River and on the north and west by the Burlington Northern Railroad. The tour will include the neighborhood of Pilsen, named for the city in Bohemia, where many of the earliest settlers to the area immigrated from. The initial popularity of the area was as a place for Bohemians to rebuild after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The tour will also include the area west of Pilsen known as the Heart of Chicago. In the late 19th century, this area became as popular as Pilsen for immigrants arriving from different countries to settle in Chicago. Some of the scheduled stops will include visits to the Daniel Burnham-designed Fisk Power Plant, the Pond and Pond-designed Gad’s Hill Center, the William Carbys Zimmerman-designed Dvorak Park Fieldhouse and the Schmidt and Garden-designed Schoenhofen Brewery. The tour is at a casual pace, between 14 and 18 miles, 3 to 4 hours in length and open to all levels of rider. The ride leader requests that all riders wear a helmet. Please note the remote start location.  

Contact Lee Diamond at 773-255-6347
[Click Here to contact Lee Diamond via email]

Training Ride: Wednesday Evening Training

REMOTE START: Roadies - Dunkin' Donuts, Lincoln & California

6:30 PM

25-35 miles, 19 to 25 mph

Take your cycling skills and performance to a higher level. Join us for a fast-paced training ride aimed at increasing your speed and improving your group riding skills. Practice rotating pace lines, close proximity riding and advanced bike handling while building fitness at a riding pace in excess of 18 m.p.h. Due to the need to ride in a tight pack, the fast pace and training specific nature of this ride, use of traditional style road bikes is strongly recommended. Recumbent, hybrid and mountain bikes are discouraged. A certain level of experience and fitness is expected. The actual pace of the ride will be determined by the ride participants.  

Contact Bevan Brookfield at 312 446 1737

Social Ride: Weekly Gentlemen (and Ladies) of Leisure Rides (Cycling Seniors)

REMOTE START: North Avenue Beach House

10:30 AM

10-20 miles, 10 to 12 mph

This is standing weekly ride of the Cycling Seniors and Gourmet Club. Why ride alone? Come make some new friends who bicycle. Our rides start (the last Thursday in April and run to the last Thursday in September) at 10:30 A.M at the North Avenue Beach house, and we go for lunch at the end of the ride. Join Mitch Gold for a weekly social ride along the lake front. This ride affords an opportunity for active gentlemen and ladies, 55 years and older to meet, ride and perhaps have lunch. ALL RIDERS ARE WELCOME.  

Contact Mitch Gold at 1-312-642-1988
[Click Here to contact Mitch Gold via email]