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Greetings
Hello {{Constituent First Name}},
The golden days of summer have arrived. Here's hoping that you and your bicycle have spent some quality time together lately! This issue of Tailwinds touches on a wide range of relevant topics. We hope you enjoy the content and appreciate Ride Illinois' ongoing efforts to make Illinois better through biking 🚲
Ride Illinois values our members and supporters. Generous contributions fund our awareness efforts – such as our I Can Bike There campaign, Response to Fatal Crashes initiative, and Regional Action Team program. Together, we're bringing about positive change in Illinois!
Ride Illinois earned a 2025 Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency – the third year in a row we've received this distinct recognition 👏👏👏
Ride Illinois shares financial information with Candid so current and future members know that their donations are used wisely and ethically. You're encouraged to visit our Candid profile to learn more.
Legislation & Policy
The Latest from Springfield
Ride Illinois continues to work diligently with our lobbyist and partners to advocate for bike-friendly legislation in Springfield. Thanks to all who contacted their elected officials this spring via Ride Illinois Action Alerts!
Discussions about priorities for the 2026 legislative session are underway. Topics that are rising to the top are: defining e-motos in the Illinois Vehicle Code, requiring bike/walk education in schools, updating IDOT's speed policy, and recognizing bicyclists as intended and permitted users of Illinois roads. Stay tuned to Ride Illinois for updates 👈
The Latest on E-motos
Ride Illinois has been working to educate the public and elected officials about e-motos and how they differ from legal e-bikes. We aim to eliminate confusion – and slow or stop the adoption of local ordinances – by clearly distinguishing between e-bikes and e-motos in the Illinois Vehicle Code. Progress is being made and our goal is to introduce a bill in the 2026 legislative session to officially and legally make this distinction.
Ride Illinois developed guidance that encourages municipalities to embrace new mobility modes while retaining a focus on public safety. Municipalities that thoughtfully integrate new mobility modes are places where people – especially younger people – prefer to live, work, and play.
👉 Please share our guidance with your local elected officials!!
Education & Safety
Record for BikeSafetyQuiz Mini-Grant Program
Since 2018, our BikeSafetyQuiz Mini-Grant program has reached over 340,000 students in more than 400 Illinois schools. During the 2024-2025 school year, nearly 71,000 students completed one of our quizzes – an 8% increase over the 2023-2024 school year and a new record! We're awaiting notice of funding from IDOT hope to continue the success of this program during the 2025-2026 school year 🏫
Traffic Fatalities are a Public Safety Issue
Roughly 45,000 lives are lost on U.S. roads each year. European countries that haven’t seen an increase in pedestrian fatalities could be models for the U.S. A recent article in Preventionprovides facts and figures related to this public safety issue, plus possible solutions and tips for individuals to be mindful of when walking, biking, and driving.
This fun event coincides with of our favorite time of the year. Let's Ride, Illinois celebrates the joy of biking, connecting with our communities, and getting more people out on their bikes. Whether it's a neighborhood cruise, a family ride, or a larger organized ride, every ride counts!
Host a community ride or participate in a ride near you. Ride Illinois has developed tips and tools to support ride organizers in their efforts to bring fun, family-friendly rides to communities around Illinois in September.
👉 Click here to learn more and to register a ride in your community!
Bicycle Friendly Community Surveys
As a service to our members, supporters, and Illinois residents, Ride Illinois is pleased to share an invitation to complete a brief online survey.
The following communities recently applied for Bicycle Friendly Community recognition through League of American Bicyclists:
Aurora, IL
Batavia, IL
Elmhurst, IL
Evanston, IL
Grayslake, IL
Kane County, IL
Niles, IL
Skokie, IL
Washington, IL
If you ride a bicycle in any of these communities, even occasionally, LAB welcomes your input. Click the button below to complete the survey. Survey responses will inform LAB's award decision and provide feedback to the communities about how they can become more bike-friendly!
Those who can drive or afford a car may not understand what it’s like to rely on walking, rolling, transit and asking for rides. But for nearly a third of people living in the U.S. – people with disabilities, young people, seniors and people who can’t afford cars or gas – this is their every day.
America Walks created the Week Without Driving experience so that those who have the option to drive can learn firsthand about the barriers and challenges that non-drivers face and work with non-drivers to create more accessible communities for all. Click here to learn more.
Letter to USDOT Regarding Transportation Reauthorization
Ride Illinois recently submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation urging continued action to increase safety and investments for people moving about outside of motor vehicles. The letter shared several main points: safer roads, safer vehicles, and safer communities.
America's most essential infrastructure priority must be safer roads for everyone. We can and must design, build, and when appropriate re-design, roads for the safety of all users! ♿🚶♀️🚴 🚙 🚚
Community
Book Recommendation: Life After Cars
Life After Cars expands on the War on Cars podcast with new interviews and original content—offering something for everyone, from longtime listeners familiar with the harms of car culture to those just beginning to imagine a world with fewer metal boxes zooming around. It’s past time to radically rethink—and shrink—society’s collective relationship with the automobile. Coming October 21 and available for pre-oder now.
What bike-related books or podcasts do you recommend? From epic adventures to practical advice, to the benefits of biking, there are plenty of options! Send your suggestions to info@rideIllinois.org.
Celebrating Trike Riders with a Special Discount
Ride Illinois successfully advocated to update the definition of a bicycle in the Illinois Vehicle Code to include trikes, adaptive bikes, and other bikes with more than two wheels. Trike riders, rejoice!
To celebrate the passage of SB2285, we're offering a special member discount to all the trike riders out there! Use code 3WHEELS when joining or renewing your Ride Illinois membership to save $3 (get it?!) off any membership level.
Generosity
Affiliated Clubs & Community Organizations
Ride Illinois is grateful to the bicycle clubs and community organizations that support our work. Their efforts at the local level are a critical component to progress at the state level.
Click here to learn about generous clubs and organizations.
Corporate Members
They're your friends. They're your neighbors. They're your local Wintrust Community Bank. As part of the larger Wintrust Community Bank family, they were built in this area, for this area. They work hard to be an asset to the people and communities they serve: to get to know you and your needs in order to offer the best banking products and even better service. Wintrust is proud to invest in and give back to our local area.
Epstein is a multi-disciplinary design and construction company focused on serving our clients, empowering our employee-owners, and enhancing our communities.
Ride Illinois appreciates the support of businesses, companies, and organizations for their generosity.Click here to learn more about our generous Corporate Members from a variety of industries.
Grants & Other Opportunities
2025 Safe Routes to School Program
IDOT is accepting applications for the current cycle of the Safe Routes to School grant program. 12M will be awarded to K-12 schools in Illinois during this cycle. A wealth of information, including webinars, guidance documents, and other resources are available on the SRTS page on the IDOT website. Application deadline is October 15, 2025.
Metro East Park and Recreation District (MEPRD)
The FY2026 Grant Cycle offers four unique funding opportunities for qualifying applicants in Madison and St. Clair Counties, IL. Each grant opportunity is listed below by program name and status. Eligible applicants can receive up to one MEPRD award per grant program, per fiscal year. Application deadline is May 29, 2026.
Events Calendar
Ride Illinois is pleased to promote the rides and event offered by affiliated bike clubs and community organizations, plus other impactful organizations. Here are some events we think you'll appreciate:
Ride Illinois recently hosted a table and shared resources at the 2025 Busse Woods Night Ride (L) and spoke at the city council meeting in Rolling Meadows about the need to clearly distinguish between legal e-bikes and e-motos (R).
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