For its fourth annual storytelling event, Skokie’s cycling community is trading in their handlebars for the open mic.
“Tales from the Trails,” which began back in 2023, welcomes local cycling enthusiasts and community members alike to share their quirky encounters and original stories while riding their bikes in a live speaking event put on by the Skokie Bike Network.
Charlie Saxe, co-founder of the network and avid cyclist himself, told the Pioneer Press the stage is open to any individual with a story, poem or song worth telling. The only requisite? It has to be inspired by a personal experience with biking.
“We had the first storytelling event and we were figuring maybe 20, 30 people [would come], it would be a fun afternoon. We had about 120 people show up,” Saxe said.
“Sketchbook [Brewery] was completely full, but the parking lot was empty because most people had ridden their bikes,” Saxe added with a laugh. “We’ve had people do songs, we’ve had some poetry, we did a thing called ‘Baiku,’ which is a play on Haiku and we had little bike-related poems around the room…it’s kind of playful and fun and it’s been a huge success.”
Submissions for the open mic began April 1 and will close on June 1.
The event is set to take place on July 12 at Sketchbook Brewery on Main Street, with the speaking lineup announced about a month prior.
Saxe said while a lot of experienced storytellers are eager to take the stage and get a laugh from the crowd, some of the best stories have come from “first-timers.”
One story he shared from past years that garnered some of the most attention from listeners was from a cyclist riding on the North Branch Trail who had a chipmunk jump on his bike and ride along with him for most of his journey.
“The irony of, he didn’t run over the chipmunk, the chipmunk ran over him,” Saxe added.
“It is casual in the sense that it’s not a professional type of presentation, there’s an informality about it, but people take it seriously and they do some really nice work.”
More Top Picks Anchor
While there aren’t many restrictions for story submissions, participants do need to follow a few key guidelines:
- Submissions must be true experiences or personal narratives no longer than 1,000 words. Presenters will have an eight minute speaking max.
- The story, song, poem, or creative work must be presented by the original submitter.
- The presented work must be relating to or inspired by a personal experience associated with cycling.
- Speakers should use family friendly language (PG-13). Accounts and reflections on life’s difficulties/struggles are encouraged to be shared with humor and humility.
As the spring season has officially arrived, Saxe said the Skokie Bike Network will also be reactivating their community ride series, a monthly gathering of all riding levels to embark on a planned neighborhood ride on the first Saturday of each month beginning May 2.
Saxe said the series first started as a way to get outside during the pandemic and has since spurred a larger movement of dedicated cyclists coming together to share a common goal or connect with their neighbors.
“What we are trying to do is create an environment where people of a broad range of capabilities are able to join the rides, participate, and then to show various locations of interest around Skokie,” Saxe said.
“There are a lot of people that would like to ride bikes around Skokie, but don’t really feel comfortable doing so, in part because it’s not always clear what the best way to get to some places is,” he added.
The point of the community rides is to outline “low stress routes” locals can bike that they might not otherwise be aware of.
While the spring and summer ride lineup has not yet been finalized, Saxe said that the group has planned its first event of the season to cycle to Soldier Field to attend the Chicago Fire Game on May 9.
The annual “Ride of Silence” cycle is also set to take place on May 20 to commemorate those killed or injured in cycling-related accidents.
In collaboration with Evanston Bike Club, the ride will begin at the Wheel and Sprocket bike shop on Davis Street and proceed in a loop through downtown Evanston and Skokie.
Back by popular demand, Saxe said the group will be embarking on a historic ride to local sites of interest this spring, as a way to showcase some of the village’s history.
While there isn’t a regular cadence of rides, the Skokie Bike Network typically plans at least five or six events throughout the season, depending on weather and other scheduling considerations.
For an updated list of all upcoming events, interested riders should visit the Skokie Bike Network’s community rides page for more details.