May 11, 2012: NATO, Adaptive Cycling and DePaul's First FixIt Stand

This Week On The Chainlink - an update from thechainlink.org.

In The Media 

• The City's Bike Video Contest and The Chainlink are getting covered this week in media outlets including Media Match, Grid Chicago and Uptown Update.  We also just got word that Rich Moskal, director of the Chicago Film Office, has offered to help judge the videos. There are only 9 days left to submit your video, so get filming!
• Once again Brett Cohrs features us in his Chicago Now Blog.  Today's post is titled Sixty Second Cycling: Weekend and More Bike Month Events!

Featured Events This Week   (check out the calendar for a full list of events) 

Save The Date(s)

• July 29, 2012 - Venus De Miles Women's Ride More Info 

On the Forum 

• NATO and the LFP by McCormick Place? - A great source of information including bike detours and other public transportation updates for those of us planning on biking during the NATO summit.  Looks like a whole lot will be off-limits to us. Make sure you share this discussion with everyone you know in Chicago!
• DePaul's New FixIt Stand - This great achievement for DePaul's bicycle advocates will hopefully continue at DePaul and other Chicago schools.  The FixIt Stand is in the quad at Seminary between Belden and Fullerton. If you are familiar with their Lincoln Park campus, it is beside the bike parking between The Pit & the library's west entrance. Use it today!
• Tech Talk: Are You Using an App To Access The Chainlink? - What do you think of the Iphone mobile app?  Droid users have been using the desktop version all along which has been working fine. Thoughts?
• How to Handle Someone with Road Rage? - What do you do in these situations?
• Mountain Bike Hill Training -A Chainlinker is looking for Chicago training buddies.
• Has Anyone Tried the Midwest Recumbent Rally?  Anne Alt asks - Was it a fun, well run event?  What are the riding conditions in that area?  Is anyone planning to go this year?  

 

Events This Week (Detailed)

• Monsters of the Midway Criterium - Monsters of the Midway is Chicago's biggest, best, and longest running criterium. Located on Hyde Park's historical Midway Plaisance, the course offers novices and experts alike a safe, fast, and fun racing experience.
• Pitching a Tent's First Trip of the Season -This season's first installment of bike camping is in Kettle Morraine. There is still space, so let's pitch a tent!
• Advocate Hope Hospital Cycling for Hope and Adaptive Cycling - Family members and persons ages 4 and up with either physical or visual disabilities will learn about adapted cycling options. Test ride a variety of available bikes including hand cycles and tandem bikes provided by Project Mobility.   Paralympic athletes will be available to demonstrate equipment and talk about their experiences.  Coaches, therapists, educators and physicians are also invited to observe and participate. A light lunch will be available and don't forget to bring your own helmet - free helmet fittings! 
• Historical Labor Ride - This fun 15-20 mile bike ride will visit important labor history sites in Chicago; Cherry Mine Disaster Memorial, the Republic Factory, Haymarket Square, Hull House.
• Bike-In Movie Theater: The T.A.M.I Show - Imagine drive-in movies from way back when: parking on the lawn, tuning in with the car radio, sneaking in beer. Now imagine that by way of your bike: no gas money, no battery drain, no dirty windshield obscuring the art.  On Sunday at 8pm, this seemingly unattainable dream will come true on the patio of the Hideout. The Logan Square International Film Series and The Hideout present a special outdoor, bike-in screening of the legendary and finally officially released music documentary, T.A.M.I Show.  Just don't sneak in the beer - Hideout bar has you covered all night long! 
• Chicago Ride Of Silence - On one night in cities around the world, cyclists gather annually to ride in silence to raise awareness of cyclists' right to ride on the road and to honor the fallen cyclists no longer with us. We ride in hope to end the tragedy on our roads. Chicago's Ride of Silence will ride in silent procession past several Chicago Ghost Bikes. There are also organized rides in Bartlett and Arlington Heights listed on The Chainlink calendar.  
• Chainlink Bar Night with Half Acre Cycling at Haymarket - This month we are joining Half Acre Cycling for $4 pints at Haymarket Brewery, then rolling out in two groups at 5pm and 5:30pm to Garfield Park Conservatory for Beer Under Glass, which kicks off Chicago Craft Beer Week.   Those without tickets to the event will ride back to Haymarket to meet up with Chainlinkers for food and drinks around 7 PM. 
• The Chainlink Bike Wash - With so many bike events next Saturday, May 19th, including the Women's Cycling Clinic at Alberto's in Highland Park, it's time to get those bikes washed and raise money for CPS!  

Save The Date (Detailed)

• Venus de Miles is a lot of things - Illinois' first all-women's road ride, a celebration of sisterhood, support for Greenhouse Scholars in Illinois, and crazy fun - but one thing it's not is a race.  Greenhouse Scholars is an organization dedicated to helping high-performing, under-resourced students reach their full potential. Join in for their first year on July 29th in Lake Forest and put your pedal to the mettle!

Please thank our newsletter sponsors by visiting them on line or in person today!   If you would like to support our mission and The Chainlink community too, email: sponsors@thechainlink.org

The Chainlink is a proud member of Local First Chicago, The Alliance For Biking and Walking, League of Illinois Bicyclists, Active Transportation Alliance and the Chicago Cycling Club

Current Chainlink Member Count: 7026

Thanks for being a part of The Chainlink!  Happy bike to work month!