About us
Anyone interested in bike riding is welcome to join this group. This group is for people age 40+ who love to ride, see the sites of Chicago and its suburbs, and socialize. We also do rides in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Indiana. Our group consists of casual, intermediate, and advanced cyclists. We currently host at least 3 rides every week. We have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday after work rides and always have a Saturday ride. We also often do Sunday rides.
Worried about being too slow, or not experienced enough? We usually break our rides up into groups, with the fast riders going first, then medium speed riders, then the slower folks.
Past rides included trips to the Botanic Gardens, the Bahai Temple, Navy Pier, Promontory Point, Northerly Island, plus exploring the Greenbay Trail, North Branch Trail, Great Western Trail, 606 Trail, Des Plains River Trail, and the North Shore Trail. We also do muti-day rides like a Lake Geneva group tour, Ragbrai, and Pedal Across Wisconsin!
Want to learn more about bikes, equipment, and clothing- come to one of our rides. Bring any type of bike and we'll help you get the most from it! We will bike together on area trails and roads throughout Chicago and the suburbs at a casual to moderate pace (10-16 mph) for 15-50 miles at a time. We start out at a slower pace and shorter distances at the beginning of the year and increase the distance and pace as we get more riding in. We never leave anyone behind. Many rides include both beginner and intermediate riding options. Choose what's best for you.
This coming year some of our riders are training for a bike tour from Spain to Portugal!
By joining the Let's Ride meetup group you agree to all of the following:
1. Your profile must include at least your first name and a picture of YOU.
2. Helmets are required.
3. No head phones or music.
4. No guns or weapons of any kind may be carried or in your vehicle.
5. Everyone rides at their own risk.
6. Bring the following on every ride- helmet, water, lock, cash, ID, emergency contact name & number, and insurance.
7. If you RSVP for a ride and can not come, please CANCEL your RSVP. Everyone has to wait for no shows! Ride leaders determine how long to wait for people who are late, typically no more than 10 minutes. If you have more than 2 no shows (without cancelling your RSVP) you will be removed from the group.
You should also bring the normal accouterments (ID, emergency contact name & number, and Insurance cards, spare inner tube, pump, etc.), proper attire based on the weather forecast, facemask, hand sanitizer, water, sunscreen, sunglasses, money for food and/or beverage, a bicycle lock and a good attitude!
Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lets.ride.40plus/
Upcoming events
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We're Riding RAGBRAI!
A.Y. McDonald Park, 1200 Hawthorne St, Dubuque, IA, USI have done RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) 2 times. Recently, I have been doing other rides, I said the only way I would do RAGBRAI again is if it ends in Dubuque. Well, they have chosen the route and it will end in Dubuque this year!
RAGBRAI is the largest annual bike ride in America. This is the 53rd year for the ride! You start by dipping your rear tire in the Missouri River on the west side of Iowa (Onawa, IA) and finish a week later by dipping your front tire in the Mississippi River on the west side (Dubuque, IA). You ride for a solid week and camp every night. The ride length this year is 391.4 miles (the shortest in RAGBRAI history). There will be from 15,000 to 30,000 people riding each day. (The roads are mostly closed.)
This year the actual ride starts on Sunday July 19 and ends on Saturday July 25. For reasons I'll explain later you start the trip on the afternoon of Friday July 17, and get home Saturday night, July 25. Now is the time to put together a team and organize registration for the ride. Our team name will be Let's Ride. There is (maybe) a lottery to enter RAGBRAI, but all members of a team always get accepted together. However, previous riders always seemed to get in. Finally, I use the charter service OOS (Out of Staters) Bicycle Club, who will transport you & your bike across the state, hall your luggage from town to town, and have private camping areas and showers which costs from $625 to $1365 (depending on the amenities you desire), NOTE: This is in addition to the fee to RAGBRAI which ranges from $250 (if you register by February 28) to $400 (if you sign up in July). You really want to sign up ASAP to make sure you have everything you need from OOS. They have limited tents and other amenities.
For those of us in the Chicago area, we will park our cars in Dubuque and then our charter service hauls us and our bikes Onawa. We then bike ride across the whole state back to Dubuque. There we hop in our cars and drive home. While the ride always starts on a Sunday, the charter service picks up our bikes in Dubuque on Friday, July 17. We will camp overnight and the buses will leave at 8 am on Saturday morning. It will take a good 6 - 7 hours to get across the state where you meet up with your bike at our campsite.
If you have questions, feel free to reach out to me. You should sign up for RAGBRAI and OOS as soon as possible. PLEASE let me know when you have signed up. I will have some organizational meetings, a suggested training program, and packing list for all who participate. Here are the links you need to sign up:
RAGBRAI Registration (Our team is Let's Ride)
OOS Registration (Let them know that you are with Let's Ride. Hopefully, we will all get on the same bus)1 attendee
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