Reason to ride GITy Up! #1: You will change your life
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!
Reason to ride GITy Up! #2: Giant windmill!
Fabyan Forest Preserve’s giant windmill puts the farm back in wind farm, its massive, hand hewn 150-year old maple gears still capable of grinding grain for bread or feeding pet bears. It was built in present day Lombard mid-19th century; Colonel George Fabyan bought and moved the windmill to his Riverbank estate in 1914. The windmill has been open for tours since a major renovation in 2005. Wow, we love Wikipedia!
Our favorite part: the entire dome turns like R2D2’s head to face the sails into the wind. Shut up, Obi Wan—this is definitely the windmill you’re looking for!
The windmill looms across the Fox River from the rest of the fabulous Fabyan estate that includes the historic Fabyan house remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wright, open for public tours, and a beautifully landscaped Japanese garden. Just south of Geneva, the Fabyan estate is only a few miles from Saturday night’s campsite in St. Charles, so you can relax and soak it in and still make dinner on time. Giant windmill!
Tomorrow we’ll share our #1 awesome reason to ride GITy Up!. Check in tomorrow to get the final darn compelling reason to click that big red button below.
Reason to ride GITy Up! #3: You can choose alternative energy
Tour de France racers compete over 2000 miles on energy goop and pure electrolytes served to them in feed bags they string around their neck and eat on the fly. But even they’d be tempted to pause by the panoply of independent restauranteurs and brewmasters that pepper the GITy Up! route:
• Wheaton
• Warrenville
• North Aurora
• Batavia
• Geneva
• St. Charles
• South Elgin
• Elgin
And if you’re riding the shorter, more tot-trailer friendly route from/to North Aurora, Aurora’s historic Two Brothers Round House offers wonderful, family-friendly post-ride repast.
GITy Up will provide riders dinner and breakfast—that leaves a whole lot of hours free to find alternative sources of calories to fuel your fun.
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.
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.
Reason to ride GITy Up! #5: You can play golf
The St. Charles Park District’s Pottawatomie Golf Course is the 15th-best 9-hole golf course in the country according to Golf World magazine. And it’s just down the hill from our campsite. Rates are cheap!—just $15 on Saturday and Sunday.
Throw your clubs on your bike, or toss them onto our truck along with your camping gear—we’re happy to play caddy (at least to our campsite). Each day of riding on GITy Up! is relatively short so you can take the time to enjoy all the cool things along the route, like Pottawatomie Golf Course.
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.
