Lincoln Park's Kidical Mass family bike ride 2015 schedule announced

by Michelle Stenzel

So you've got kids now, and want to ride with them on Chicago's streets? One way to begin is to join a Kidical Mass family bike ride in your neighborhood. Kidical Mass rides (it's a play on the words "Critical Mass") are volunteer-led, volunteer-organized, free family bike rides held in a number of neighborhoods, including Logan Square, Roscoe Village, South Loop, Lincoln Square and Edison Park. (Chicago Kidical Mass has a website as well as a Facebook page.)

Lincoln Park's rides began two years ago, and have become popular events. Jerry Quandt, former aldermanic candidate and active Bike Walk Lincoln Park participant, is taking over as Lincoln Park Kidical Mass ride coordinator, and he has announced the season's full schedule:

Most of the monthly rides will be held on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 pm, but the first ride on Saturday, May 30th will be at 9:30 am, and then end at the Spring Zing event sponsored by Lincoln Central Association. That event will have pros from Performance Bicycle providing free safety check ups on bikes, and a team from Lurie Children's Hospital giving a demonstration on bike safety for kids.

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Join us at upcoming social and advocacy events!

by Michelle Stenzel

Autumn is here, and it's going to be a busy few weeks for Bike Walk Lincoln Park. We hope you join us for some of the social and advocacy events we've planned, or that we're supporting.

Touches of autumn seen in Chicago's Olive Park. (File photo, Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Lincoln Park Kidical Mass

Date:  Sunday, September 29, 2013
Time:  Gather at 9:30 AM for a 10:00 AM departure
Place:  Oz Park, near main gate of playground, Webster and Orchard, 701 W. Webster

Kidical Mass is a free, fun, family bike ride, organized through the umbrella group Chicago Kidical Mass. Children of all ages, accompanied by their parents or caregivers, are invited. See the CKM website for details. No RSVP required to join the ride, but to be added to the Lincoln Park Kidical Mass e-mail list, send a note to Lacey at LPKidicalMass@gmail.com

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Three more Lincoln Park Kidical Mass rides are coming up!

by Michelle Stenzel

The inaugural Lincoln Park Kidical Mass ride in July was a great success, so three more have been planned, for the last Sunday of the month, in August, September, and October. Mark your calendars now! 

This family social ride will always depart from Oz Park at 10:00 am. The route will vary but always be mostly on quiet side streets. Children of any age, accompanied during the ride by their parents, are welcomed. 

Screen shot from the Chicago Kidical Mass website.

You can get on the Lincoln Park Kidical Mass e-mail list to receive reminders by dropping a note to Lacey Cordero, the main organizer of the rides, at lpkidicalmass@gmail.com

The next ride is Sunday, August 25, and the weather is forecast to be perfect. See you there!

Alderman Michele Smith joined the inaugural Lincoln Park Kidical Mass in July. (Photo: W. Cordero)

Successful first Lincoln Park Kidical Mass!

by Michelle Stenzel

Dozens of families participated last weekend in a festive inaugural Lincoln Park Kidical Mass family bike ride! 

Lincoln Park Kidical Mass sets out. (Photo credit: Chicago Kidical Mass via Facebook)

It was perfect weather on a quiet Sunday morning to gather in Oz Park for a little socializing before heading out onto the ride.

We were joined by Alderman Michele Smith, who greeted the families and expressed support for family bicycling in the ward.

Alderman Michele Smith expressed support for family bicycling in Lincoln Park. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

There were kids as young as a few months old in a cargo bike, all the way to grade-school aged kids riding strong on their own bikes. 

Lincoln Park Kidical Mass waits for the green light on Belden at Lincoln. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Here's the route we took:

You can see a set of 11 pictures on Flickr at this link.

Many thanks to Lacey Cordero for organizing the event, Alderman Smith and her staff for supporting the ride, Chicago Kidical Mass founder Ash Lottes for joining our ride, Performance Bicycles Lincoln Park's Micah and Jakub for providing free pre-ride adjustments as well as ride support, Active Transportation Alliance for providing tattoos for the kids, DNA Info Chicago and many others for helping to publicize the event!

If you want to know about future Lincoln Park Kidical Mass rides, do any or all of the following:

• e-mail Lacey at LPkidicalmass@gmail.com to be added to the e-mail list;
• "Like" Chicago Kidical Mass on Facebook;
• Bookmark the Chicago Kidical Mass website and check the calendar regularly.

You can also follow @BikeWalkLP on Twitter and we'll definitely tweet notices of any future rides. We'll participate whenever possible, but the rides will be under the umbrella of the Chicago Kidical Mass movement! 

Join the inaugural Lincoln Park Kidical Mass on July 14th!

by Michelle Stenzel

The first Lincoln Park Kidical Mass bike ride will be held on Sunday, July 14, 2013, and we hope you'll join us! 

Kidical Mass is a nationwide movement of people organizing family events to encourage parents and children to ride bikes. There are already organized monthly rides in Logan Square, Hyde Park, and Lincoln Square, and you can get information and see a video on the Chicago Kidical Mass website or check out the photos on the Kidical Mass Chicago Facebook page.  The rides are slow-paced and designed to allow children of all ages to participate. Kids can be on their own bikes, or riding along in a trailer, on a seat on their caregiver's bike, or any other bike-related means of conveyance. 

We're helping to bring this event to Lincoln Park through the vision of Bike Walk Lincoln Park supporter and Lincoln Park mom Lacey Cordero. We'll meet up in the Oz Park playground starting at 9:30 am, and plan for a 10:00 am departure.  We'll take quiet side streets and have extra adults on hand to help keep everyone together! 

If you have questions, please e-mail Lacey at lpkidicalmass at gmail dot com or post them below.

See you on Sunday at Oz Park!