Reason to ride GITy Up! #4: You can go quarry swimming
Despite—or maybe because of—Breaking Away (“Gonna wind up a bum…an Italian bum!”), you were warned about swimming in the quarries. On GITy Up!, we’re encouraging you to jump in. Batavia Park District’s Harold Hall Quarry Beach is the first opportunity GITy Up! riders will have to jump in the cool of a pool, this one hewn from solid rock. The second opportunity is just blocks from the campsite, at St. Charles Park District’s enormous Swanson Pool. Each is just a few bucks for temperature dousing relief.
We’re delivering daily an awesome reason to ride GITy Up! this week through Friday. Check in tomorrow to get another darn compelling reason to click that big red button below.
Numbers on the Fox River Trail: Matt’s tracking one of them
When we stopped by on the GITy Up! 2012 Recon Ride this past Friday, Matt Knowles, the handsome guy on the left there in front of his trail-side Batavia shop, told us that Fox River Trail users are spending $350 a day with him buying accessories, energy bars and drinks. “Like gloves and tubes and things they forgot or realize they need,” he said.
That’s a nice bump in walk-in traffic. What we love though is that Matt’s counting.
It is far, far too rare that our trail towns and trail-serving businesses measure the impact that the trail is having. Not only are they likely not capturing all the return the trail can generate. But they are missing a compelling reason to improve, connect and extend it.
Our Making Trails Count project aims to put this mistake behind Illinois, and make counting like Matt’s doing the norm. Read our proposal. Think about what that’s worth to you. Then make a pledge today!
