Community Rides

Coming up in 2026

We have a lineup of rides for 2026 featuring our most successful rides from past years and some new ones. Details forthcoming, but check out the events below. Revisit this page or our Facebook events page for further updates. Please note, the previously tentatively scheduled ride to the Chicago Fire is not happening. We will be riding to a soccer game later in July – to the Chicago Stars – July 18th. See update below.

Ride of Silence  – May 20, 2026 – 7:00pm – Wheel & Sprocket, Evanston – Our annual ride as part of the world wide ride of silence  to commemorate those killed or injured on the roads.  In collaboration with the Evanston Bike Club, this ride starts at the Wheel and Sprocket on Davis Street and proceeds through Evanston and downtown Skokie before returning to the bike shop.

Rogers Park West Ridge Historic Bungalow Tours  – June 20, 2026 – 9:00 am – Indian Boundry Park Cultural Center – Lunt and Campbell, Chicago – Join us on this relaxing tour through the Rogers Park Manor and Talman West Ridge Historic Bungalow Districts. Built between 1915 and 1930 these two districts reflect the coming of age of the Chicago bungalow.   We will ride by many different homes built when local architects and builders began experimenting with form and stylistic detailing to create bungalows that were unique to Chicago.  The ride will be at a relaxing pace where we will visit homes of notable Chicagoans from mob bosses to Cubs catchers.  

Tales from the Trails – Sunday July 12th 11:00am – Sketchbook Brewery, Skokie – Back for our fourth year, we will be hosting our Tales from the Trails storytelling event.  We have an excellent selection of entries from experienced and novice story tellers and we will announce the lineup soon.   Like last year, we will include some song and poetry. 

Ride to the Chicago Stars – Saturday July 18th – Game time 5:30 – Get on the bike train starting in Niles and winding through Skokie and Evanston to join a group attending the Chicago Stars women’s soccer game at Martin Stadium on the Northwestern campus. Details on the start and route for the ride forthcoming as will be opportunities to buy tickets to the game as part of the group.

Fall Colors Ride – October 17, 2026 – Check out the fall canopy along Skokie streets and neighboring forest preserves.

Other rides we are planning for this year, but have not completed the details, include:

Public Art Tour – Summer 2026 – Another favorite and a fun ride in past years. Check out the public art installations throughout Skokie and learn about the works and artists. A great way to ride through neighborhoods you may not have seen, discover routes that are low stress and family friendly, and enjoy the public art. Check out the route and the installations from our route collection and get more information on Skokie’s public art from the Otocast app.   We are exploring co-hosting this ride with Skokie’s Fine Arts commission and including the recently opened arts incubator space on Main Street – “The Storefront”. Details forthcoming.

Suaganash Lights Tour – December 2026 – Perennial ride with the Evanston Bike Club to check out the lights in Sauganash. Family friendly, relaxed and fun. The real Santa is a regular on this ride.

Holiday Toy Ride – December 2026 – brought to us by Edgebrook Cycle. This annual ride which was formerly hosted by Amling’s in Niles was taken over in 2023 by the Edgebrook Cycle Shop. We’ll keep an eye out for our friends at Edgebrook Cycle for a recurrence of the ride in 2025

Winter Solstice Concert – December 2026 – We will again fight Seasonal Affective Disorder by riding city streets on one of the shortest days of the year to the Winter Solstice Concert. This is an early morning ride to Links Hall at Western and Belmont to enjoy a reverent and ethereal annual welcoming of the return of light as we pass through the shortest days of the year. 

And, one we have done in the past and may schedule again this year includes:

Skokie Historic Ride  – This was a fun one in 2022 and again in 2024. Local sites and places of interest in Central Skokie and an opportunity to learn low stress routes around the Village. We will tell a history of Skokie with no assurance of the validity of what we’re saying. There will be some kernels of truth, but then again, we’re not going to let the truth get in the way of a good story. Bring your bike, your family and a story or two of your own to share.

Rides done already this year – look out for these rides in future years:

A Walk in the Woods – February 24, 2026 11:00am Harms Woods – Old Orchard and Harms Rd. – For those of us that do not ride Fat Bikes, we will be taking a walk in Harms Woods of the Cook County Forest Preserves. Get off the beaten track (and trails) and enjoy the quiet serenity of the woods in winter. We will walk through the woods along the river, with the gentle rippling of the water and supple sunlight sprinkling through the leafless tree branches swaying in the breeze. After the walk we will venture over to a nearby eatery and share food, libations and camaraderie.