My goodness, we can sound noodly when we try. “You will change your life.” Honestly, we thought we were going to give you the heartfelt pitch that Illinois, in seriously desperate straits, needs the benefits from trails more than ever.

Nope. We go for the “change your life” thing.

We actually aren’t jumping the shark here. We mean that GITy Up! will change your mind about the adventure to be had on Illinois’ existing trails. You’ll plan more trail outings with your family. You might decide that you, all on your own, can swing some overnighters. (If it was hard to bike camp, we could charge a lot more. Turns out it’s not rocket surgery.)

And you will have set in the fertile soil of your brain the seed of an idea: how much better your life would be if more trails connected. How much richer if you could ride the breadth and the width of Illinois on a network of non-motorized trails.

That could bring profound change to your life. But we’re hoping you’ll just join us. And sign up for GITy Up!

Along with a picture of two darling kids, we just gave you the fifth of 5 darn compelling reasons to click that big red button below. And to please share with your friends! GITy Up! is going to be great fun, great for you, and great for Illinois. It might lead you to change a small part of your life.

Plus: Giant windmill!