Chicagoland Cycling Meetup now Chicagoland Bicycling Group (CBG)

The Chicagoland Cycling Meetup just changed its name.  I've been a member for many moons, and often mention them under the heading of that there was already another burgeoning system when TheChainLink swept the arena.  The other thing I've mentioned about them was its unfortunate they call themselves CCM, which made it impossible to refer to them by acronym, since CCM is Chicago Critical Mass.  Well now they're CBG.  Strangely, that glaring acronym overlap was not one of their reasons for the change.  Everyone update your links!

 

Forwarding a cross-post:

Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 1:05 PM

Subject: [bike-22] CCM is now "Chicagoland Bicycling Group (CBG)"

 

Hello CBG (formerly CCM),

 Happy New Year!

 The Club / Meetup name for this group is now "Chicagoland Bicycling
Group (CBG)".   Our URL is now   "http://www.meetup.com/chicagoland-bicycling/". 
We were "Chicagoland Cycling Meetup (CCM)".  Let me know if you
want to cross-link this website to your site and vice-verse.

Reasons for the change

1) The term "Cycling" is used to mean "Motorcycling" as
well as "Bicycling".  We have gotten a few people joining the
group hoping for "Motorcycling" events.  (These folks are quite
welcome to be members, but we will be limiting events on this site to anything
"Bicycling" related.)

2) "Group" is more appropriate than "Meetup" since we may
not always be exclusively listed on "Meetup.com".  Meetup is a
nice tool, but shouldn't define the group.

3) This will make this "Group" name more consistent with
"Chicagoland Fun Group (CFG)".


CBG Reaches 1400 Members!

We are a good club and still growing.  We recently reached the 1400 member
mark and have had 542 events since the inception of the club on Meetup. 
We're the 21st largest Meetup in the Chicagoland area and the largest pure
bicycling Meetup.


Want to Help?

We are always looking for help with the leading of bike rides, but you can also
help if you are not comfortable leading a bike ride.  For example, we can
use help with club promotion, t-shirts, site management etc etc.  Let me
know if you're interested.


Feedback

We're always open to feedback.  If you have any ideas or suggestions on
rides or for the club in general, let me know.  Perhaps, there aren't
enough rides in your area, at your speed or distance you like.  (Note: I
might turn the "Ideas" function on after recent changes have been
reviewed.)

Thanks for your participation!
 JD
 Chicagoland Bicycling Group (CBG) Organizer

 

http://www.meetup.com/chicagoland-bicycling/


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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on January 4, 2011 at 2:53am
I never knew this group existed. I joined up. Sadly I don't see anything upcoming on the calendar.
Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on January 4, 2011 at 6:02am
Well, it is winter...why would anyone want to be out biking in this weather?

Adam "Cezar" Jenkins said:
I never knew this group existed. I joined up. Sadly I don't see anything upcoming on the calendar.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on January 4, 2011 at 2:43pm
ha!

jamimaria said:
Well, it is winter...why would anyone want to be out biking in this weather?

Adam "Cezar" Jenkins said:
I never knew this group existed. I joined up. Sadly I don't see anything upcoming on the calendar.
Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on January 5, 2011 at 4:11am

Top of my head recollections...

The meetup was founded in 2003, and already had some 1200 members when TCL started.

 

During peak months, they announces rides almost every day, mostly along the lines of 20+ miles in FoxRiver/SaltCreek/BusseWoods or lakefront path end to end.

meetup.com/chicagoland-bicycling/calendar/past_list

 

I joined years ago pursuant to promoting the World Naked Bike Ride.  I submit that to their calendar annually and they've never deigned to list it or even reply.  So that says something about the demographics, or at least the leadership.  They're more buckled down than for example the WindyCityInline meetup (aliased from ChicagoSkater.org) which now routinely lists Critical Mass (which CBG doesn't), but less strict than some cycling clubs.

 

I heard almost 400 people attended their holiday party at $25 a pop!

 

H3N3 said:

Nice to see that there's an active "mainstream" bike club in Chicago.

There's certainly room . . .

Anyone been to their events? How do they trend demographically?

And how do they handle things like organizational structure, liability, etc.?

Permalink Reply by JDFUN on February 25, 2011 at 1:54pm

Sorry for the late response to this blog...

Chicagoland Bicycling Group (CBG) (formerly Chicagoland Cycling Meetup (CCM) ) was created on Oct 2003 by Cigdem (I think she is in the Cycling Sisters group).  She handed over the group to me in April 2004.  I merged it with "JD's Cycling Adventures" (http://www.jdfun.com )  At the time, it was called "Chicago Cycling Meetup" (I think - don't remember) and I changed it to "Chicagoland Cycling Meetup" to define it as a "regional" group and added the "CCM" acronym (completely unaware of "Chicago Critical Mass" - sorry although certainly aware that "Critical Mass" rides were happening in Chicago.  At the time of Organizer transfer, there might have been about 100 people on the mailing list.  "jd-cycling" probably had around 400-500.  CBG now has 1400.

 

Here's the link to the home group page

http://www.meetup.com/chicagoland-bicycling/

 

Meetup isn't a "ride list blog" per se; so, it's not a place where you can just go to the calendar and enter ride details.  What we have are small group gatherings ("meetups") with specific "Event Hosts" (We call them "Ride Leaders" on the site).  Any member can be a "Ride Leader", you just have to let the Organizer (me) know, and I'll make you one.  There are some basic club guidelines.  Once you become a "Ride Leader", you create an event (a ride / "meetup") by defining the location, time, date and other necessary details for the ride.  Then, you generate an announcement email and then, hopefully, members will sign up for the ride.

 

We like to handle big rides / invitationals a bit differently.  In the past, invitationals have been posted and then members sign up and then arrive and can't find others in the Meetup group.  So, we like to have someone be the focal point for a "gathering within the gathering".

 

Andrew, I apologize if you misunderstood the posting methods.  If you want to post something for "Naked Ride" or any other ride, let me know.

 

The Annual Meetup Holiday Party which was capped at 400 participants (for space reasons) was a joint event for all Chicago area Meetup groups.  This past one was the 4th one in a row held at John Barleycorn, Wrigleyville and was a lot of fun.  Probably, 60 to 70 members of the cycling club were there.  Proceeds from the party go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository primarily, but also some goes to Bike Related Charities / Orgs including ATA, LIB, LAB etc. as well as covering club expenses.

 

In terms of Organizational Structure, we have an Organizer, 4 Assistant Organizers and about 45 different Event Organizers (Ride Leaders).  We are currently working on incorporation, insurance etc.  Our intention is to "non profit" or "not for profit", but might not define ourselves that way for tax purposes.  Its really more about liability.  It's a good chance that this will be part of a larger organization called "Chicagoland Fun Group (CFG)" which is another Meetup group that I run with over 1600 "members".

 

Here is the link to that group.

http://www.meetup.com/chicagoland-fun-group/

 

The general mission is to have fun and bring people together.  Currently, membership is free for now, but once incorporation fees and insurance are considered, there may be "tiered" membership (or sponsorship) to cover those expenses.  I am hoping that we can keep membership fees low and still have a "free" mailing list.

 

I hope that answers all your questions.  Thanks for your support!

 

JD

CBG Organizer

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on February 26, 2011 at 8:09am

Great stuff JD!  Thanks for the details on the history and holiday party.  Sorry I sounded testy about calendar posting, I've gotta get the hang of that on meetup.  I appreciate your structure, and CBG is clearly a major local bicycling powerhouse.

I've been meaning to suggest, do check out MassUp.us.  I'd like to give CBG a channel there.

Permalink Reply by JDFUN on February 26, 2011 at 9:48am

Thanks.  You're welcome.  No problem.

 

I am checking out the site.  Would love to have a channel there.  I am not sure what kinds of things we would post there yet.  This is something where I may need to get a couple of club members to help post CBG related items on.  There are a myriad of sites to post on and we can help get the word out.

 

The ultimate goal is to get more people on a bicycle and enjoying the experience.

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