Joliet Bicycle Club Information Sheet
If you are looking for a Club with a variety of rides, assortment of activities, diverse membership, adventurous invitational rides plus much, much more, the Joliet Bicycle Club is right up your alley.
General meeting usually held the second Monday of the month at the Moran Athletic Club, corner of Ingalls and Nicholson Roads. Joliet. General meeting begins at 7:30 p.m., usually followed by a speaker and pizza (provided by JBC).
Each month, the J.B.C. publishes a calendar of rides by date, time, location, distance, and pace for each. Ride Leaders are listed as primary contacts. Some months have over 100 different rides for you to contemplate!!! "Theme" rides pop up from time to time. Rides are structured with 5 speed ranges to cover all levels of riding ability. We also offer family rides .
The club provides other methods of entertainment and exercise throughout the year. A Christmas walk and Chili cook-off occur in the winter. Hiking, cross country skiing, volleyball games (at least twice a month in the winter) and roller-skating are some of the other extracurricular activities that keep us nimble.
In the past J.B.C. hosted three Invitational rides which all clubs and the general public are welcome to attend. Two of the rides, The Sudden Century and The 4th of July Ride are single day local events drawing riders from all over the Midwest. The Around Illinois Back Roads (AIBR) was the third invitational. It was a seven-day excursion in the early part of August. The ride began and ended in the Joliet area. This year we are only going to host the Fourth of July Metric Ride. We hope to bring back the other rides in the near future.
The J.B.C. is comprised of approximately 300 members from towns like New Lenox, Tinley Park, Lockport, Oswego, Plainfield, Wilmington, Morris, Hinsdale, Park Forest, Naperville, Aurora, Westchester, Wheaton, Darien, and others (you get the drift) Members range from 18 to 80. Persons under the age of 18 are welcome as part of a family membership. Our dues are a mere $15 per year (Oct 1 - Sept 30) for each adult (18 or over). Minors living at same address are free.
As a J.B.C. member, you will receive a monthly newsletter listing all the club rides for the coming month, other information about upcoming events in our club and information on other invitationals in the area. The newsletter is publishes 10 times a year. Meetings are usually held on the 2nd Monday of each month at the Moran Athletic Club, corner of Ingalls and Nelson Rd. in Joliet. Non members are always welcome. Members have an opportunity to discuss rides and events, and pick up brochures for riding events sponsored by other organizations. The meetings usually have guest speakers with bicycling oriented topics, and pizza is usually served after the meeting.
2. To provide a service to our community in all areas that involves bicycling.
3. To advocate the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists.
4. To improve conditions for bicycling.
5. To provide an opportunity for bicyclists of all ages to share their ideas and experiences in an organized manner.
Most of our rides have a club member who serves as the ride leader. The calendar includes the name and phone number of the ride leader. The ride leader determines the pace, distance and route for the ride. Rides that do not have a ride leader, are designated as a Show 'n Go, and a contact person is listed on the calendar. On a Show 'n Go, the riders that show up, split up into different groups, and each group determines its distance and pace. JBC. prides itself on not letting new members ride alone. One of our riders is always willing to ride with a newer member. We request that you chose rides with a pace listed that you are comfortable riding at.
Anyone can and should be a ride leader. The more ride leaders, the more variety in our rides. It also guarantees the ride leader a ride they will like. It's a very simple process. All you have to do is contact the ride chair at the meeting or by phone. Let him or her know the date, starting time and place, type and the mileage of the ride. Check the route out beforehand and show up on the day of the ride to lead the other riders. Before the ride begins, have the riders sign in on the ride form. That way you get to know who everyone is and you have a ready-made list to send to the statistician for mileage.