Rides to Transform Communities

We ride bikes to build community.

Slow Roll Chicago and Chicago Sustainability Leaders Network are joining their missions in order to connect communities and sustainability organizations across Chicago through 4 community bike rides during the month of September. Rides will span the city over the course of the month with community partners:

• Sept. 2nd: Grow Greater Englewood (West Englewood) – "Routes, Roots & Wheels: 1Hood, 1Englewood"

• Sept. 9th: Enlace, in partnership with , Openlands, Lawndale Christian Health Center, St. Anthony Community Wellness, 22nd Ward Office, Toman Public Library, and Universidad Popular (Little Village / North Lawndale) - "We Ride Juntos: Unity and Activism in Greater Lawndale"

• Sept. 23rd: 29th Ward Alderman Deborah Graham and BUILD (Austin): Theme TBD

• Sept. 30th: Institute of Cultural Affairs - "From Roots to Fruits: Exploring Uptown’s Historic Landmarks and Community Gardens"

With each community host reaching out to their local community partners and planning a route specific to sustainability in their community, the series will showcase the components of sustainability across geographically, culturally, and racially diverse neighborhoods in Chicago. Each ride will be 8-10 miles, with the route strategically designed to showcase community assets to exemplify the ride themes.

Photo: Mending Broken Fences

Through riding and creating spaces to promote collaboration between and awareness of community sustainability initiatives, we aim to empower individuals and communities to see themselves in different ways. We aim to enable people to have greater control over their transportation and leisure. Ultimately, we aim to equitably share our roads, reduce dependence on energy, and promote community resilience as a value in iteslf and as a response to climate change.

Photo: Mending Broken Fences, connecting communty members with CPD

March: Confirm community partners & ride logistics. Announce ride series.
April: Confirm route/map. Confirm 100 loaner bikes, helmets, & lights.
May: Begin grassroots outreach and citywide marketing efforts. Recruit volunteers.
June: Develop formal registration process for 100 loaner bikes.
July: Confirm volunteers for ride management & logistics.
August: Confirm ride participants for 100 loaner bikes.
September: Ride...

Envisioning the future world, CSLN and Slow Roll Chicago imagine increased collaboration and equity across Chicago communities. By working with grassroots community organizations, our current work addresses the culture change necessary to make that vision a reality.

Biking together promotes a shared, public experience as community members interact with each other and their built community areas in ways that are otherwise inaccessible within independent passenger vehicles or train compartments. This journey impacts riders and spectators alike. As Slow Roll Chicago’s Jamal Julien described, riders take in “the beauty, the grandeur of the neighborhoods: the meticulously landscaped gardens, the architecture.” Especially for communities overwhelmed with negative information, this personal experience is crucial for people within and outside of communities to develop a broader understanding of neighborhood assets.

Community onlookers also feel the impacts of the rides. For bike infrastructure, “if you build it, they will ride” has been an accurate motto. Community rides are following that aim: if we ride with their neighbors in their community, they will join.

The sustainability theme aims to broaden riders’ understandings of what sustainability encompasses, pushing beyond environmental themes to rethink community relationships, power, and investment in the local environment as interlocking aspects of a resilient community. Participants can experience the strength and potential within and across 4 diverse communities, opening up to a more comprehensive understanding of sustainability.