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Greetings
With Thanksgiving less than two weeks out, we'll take this opportunity to wish you the best as the holidays draw nearer. 🦃
We're excited to share that planning is underway for two important events: the 2025 Illinois Bike & Walk Summit on May 7-8 (a key advocacy event) and the 2025 Grand Illinois Bike Tour on June 8-13 (our largest annual fundraiser). Here's hoping you can join us at one or both!
Year-end Membership Appeal
During our year-end membership appeal, people from across Illinois are invited to support our important work. Annual memberships begin at just $10. Generous contributions fund our advocacy, education, and awareness efforts. Not a member yet? Click here to join today!
Generosity
Affiliated Clubs & Community Organizations
Ride Illinois is grateful to the bicycle clubs and community organizations that make financial contributions. Their efforts are critical to our mission and engagement at the local level. Many thanks to
Springfield Bicycle Club is a 380 member club made up of riders from all over the Springfield and the surrounding area.
Joliet Bicycle Club has about 200 members from the Northern Illinois area. Both clubs have supported statewide bike advocacy for many years, which is appreciated.
Corporate Members
Civiltech Engineering recently renewed their Ride Illinois Corporate Membership. Civiltech is a leader in innovative planning, design, and construction solutions. Click here to learn more about our generous Corporate Members from a variety of industries.
Education & Safety
Request for Proposals for 2025 Illinois Bike & Walk Summit
Proposals are being accepted for breakout sessions, on-site workshops, and mobile workshops at the 2025 Illinois Bike & Walk Summit. Submitted topics must be relevant to the theme (Creating Connected, Livable, Thriving Communities) and enhance attendees’ collective understanding of ways to improve conditions and increase safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Click here to learn more and submit a proposal.
Pointz Plus discount for Ride Illinois Members
Pointz is a safety-focused mapping app that helps people on bikes, scooters, and other micromobility vehicles find better ways around cities. Crowdsourcing is used to improve the map and reflect real-time conditions. For a limited time, Ride Illinois members can get a $5 discount on a Pointz Plus subscription. Click here to learn more and subscribe using the discount code PLUS5FALL. You won't be disa-point-ed!
Environment & Awareness
Central Illinois Trail Meeting
Advocates for improved, connected trails in central Illinois recently met in Normal to discuss opportunities and challenges and identify ways to collaborate on their ongoing efforts. Ride Illinois was pleased to attend and offer some insight. The conversation will continue at the 2025 Illinois Bike & Walk Summit with trails-focused sessions on both days. Make plans to join us in Springfield on May 7-8, 2025.
Countywide Safety Action Plans in NE Illinois
NE Illinois is experiencing a traffic safety crisis. Residents of the region can make a difference! Safe Travel for All is a regionwide initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries in NE Illinois. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the Illinois Department of Transportation, and six counties in northeastern Illinois (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will) were awarded nearly $4 million to develop a first-of-its-kind traffic safety framework for NE Illinois. Click here to learn more and get involved.
Advocacy & Legislation
First Take: 2024 Election Results
The results of the 2024 election will impact efforts to improve biking and walking in communities across Illinois and the country. Advocacy at all levels of government will be key in 2025 and beyond. With this article, we’re offering a brief recap of the election and what the future may hold. Click here to learn our initial reactions to the recent election.
Transit Funding Fiscal Cliff
Reliable transit is an important component of a wholistic transportation system. For some Illinois residents, a bus or train is the only option. Experts say 30% of the population can't drive, leaving many people with unsafe and inadequate options to get them where they need to go. The state is facing a $730 million fiscal cliff and this shortfall could have major implications statewide. Two Ride Illinois board members recently testified at a Senate Transportation committee meeting in Springfield to voice their support for solving the fiscal cliff and supporting transit downstate.
Grants & Other Opportunities
Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative
The Asphalt Art Initiative grant program is designed to fund visual art on roadways, pedestrian spaces, and public infrastructure in cities with the following primary goals
Improving street and pedestrian safety
Revitalizing and activating underutilized public space
Promoting collaboration and civic engagement in local communities
The current round of the Asphalt Art Initiative grant application is open to cities with populations of 50,000 or more. The deadline to apply is January 31, 2025. Click here to learn more.
Community
Book Suggestion
Looking for a book about bicycling to read? Check out The Eurotandem Tales series by Neil Gander. Neil and Kathryn arrive in Norway with a tandem bicycle, a pair of sub-standard sleeping bags and a vague plan to ride to Malta. Hitch a lift in the saddlebag as they grind out a trail across Scandinavia, meeting reindeer herders on quad bikes, senile caravanners and a long-distance skateboarder.
What bike-related books do you recommend? From epic adventures to practical advice, to the benefits of biking, there are lots of books about bikes out there! Send your suggestions to info@rideIllinois.org.
Events Calendar
Ride Illinois helps to promote the organized rides of affiliated bike clubs and supporting organizations. Below are some events we think you will appreciate:
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