U.S. Equities Realty, in conjunction with the Illinois Toll Highway Authority, Friends of the Calumet-Sag Trail, and non-profit Working Bikes Cooperative, have announced its first-ever “Love Your Bike” event to be hosted at the Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis on Saturday, April 9, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The event kicks off the beginning of bike recycling at all Illinois Tollway Oases.
Bicycle riders of all ages and skill levels are invited to the oasis, located on I-80/294 in South Holland, for a day of bicycling-related activities, including exhibits and demonstrations from local bike shops and clubs, bicycle maintenance classes, and a children’s bike sale to benefit “Safe Routes to School.”
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“We’re thrilled to be hosting the Love Your Bike event at the Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis to promote healthy exercise and to introduce our new bike recycling program to the community. Every oasis on the Tollway system will offer bike recycling centers beginning April 9,” said Cindy O’Drobinak, Sr. Vice President, U.S. Equities. “The Illinois Tollway Oases are so much more than just a place to get a quick bite to eat, and an event like this is a perfect example of the variety of services and venue that the oases offer to our patrons.”
The Friends of the Calumet-Sag Trail will use the event to connect the nearly 4,000 oasis visitors with the effort to build the 32-mile, multi-use path from Lemont to Burnham.
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Visitors can also check out the season’s new gear, sign up for rides around the region, and become involved in other trail and bicycling efforts at nearly two dozen other exhibits, including bicycle clubs, shops and trail organizations from the Chicago Southland and northwest Indiana.
Chicago’s World Bicycle Relief will share how its bicycles are improving lives in impoverished communities, and demonstrations from BCycle will show how its next-generation bicycle sharing system, now installed in Chicago, could work in the suburbs.
In addition to exhibitions and demonstrations, used bicycle collections will take place throughout the day, as all Oases are slated to become designated bicycle recycling centers. The bikes recycled at the Oases will benefit the non-profit volunteer organization Working Bikes Cooperative, which recovers donated and landfill-bound bicycles and repairs them to working condition.
“The Tollway has proven itself as a powerful partner in expanding the Chicago Southland’s trail network, including its involvement in developing the Veterans Memorial Trail along I-355,” said Steve Buchtel, Friends of the Calumet-Sag Trail board member. “Now, with U.S. Equities and the Oases inviting Love Your Bike into their facilities, they continue that commitment to connecting communities to opportunities for active, healthy living.”
For information about the Oases, please visit: www.tollwayoases.com.
