Bike to Work Week returns with pancakes, food, drink, fun rides and insight for cyclists

The point of this year’s Michiana Bike to Work Week is pretty simple, organizer Karen Haun says: “To get people on bikes.”

It gives you some fun, comfortable ways to try biking locally while also hooking up with experienced riders who can advise you on good routes to try, playing it safe and figuring out any mysteries of your bike.

Helmets are required on all of the organized group rides listed here.

∎ Monday, May 13, Ride from Pinhook: Join a leisurely group ride that departs at 6 p.m. each Monday from Pinhook Park, 2801 Riverside Drive, South Bend, and rolls exclusively on a paved trail to Niles and back. You can cut it short if you like. This is a great introduction to riding with a group. No one gets left behind. The Michiana Bicycle Association, the longest-reigning local bike club, organizes this ride, but it’s one of many other rides that it hosts from locations across Michiana on various days throughout the week.

∎ Tuesday, May 14, Free pancake breakfast: Ride your bike in and dine on free blueberry pancakes and fixings from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Jon Hunt Memorial Plaza in front of the Morris Performing Arts Center in downtown South Bend. Not only a popular annual rite, with grub thanks to LaSalle Grill, this is a chance to socialize with other riders while you also see maps of South Bend area bike routes (and what’s in the works) and while you bend the ear of city officials and bike advocates.

∎ Tuesday, May 14, monthly Buchanan ride: Line up and ride promptly at 6:30 p.m. from the farm-based microbrewery/restaurant River St. Joe at 15475 Walton Road, Buchanan. Chose from seven groups with which to ride on country roads, each with varying distances and speed so that each group can stick together. Gather afterwards for a bite and/or a drink. Organizers at Bike Buchanan used to offer this very popular ride every Tuesday, but, alas, that became a lot for a volunteer-led endeavor. Now it’s on the second Tuesday of each month. Also, Bike Buchanan is no more. The ride is organized now by River St. Joe and Bedlam Bicycle Co. in Benton Harbor.

∎ Wednesday, May 15, South Bend Bike Garage: Come get your bike repaired or learn how to fix it yourself as you earn credit toward the cost of buying another used bike. Or shop for or donate a used bike. This nonprofit bike co-op will be doing business as usual with an all-volunteer crew from 5 to 8 p.m. at 1441 N. Michigan Ave. (Indiana 933), South Bend. This is at the corner of Angela Boulevard, where the East Bank Trail meets the new Coal Line Trail and the 933 Trail.

∎ Thursday, May 16, brewery ride: Meet up at Sun King Brewery at the Ironworks Plaza in downtown Mishawaka, right on the city’s Riverwalk. From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., you’ll ride leisurely on paved trails and come back in time for a complimentary brew. Cost is $15 per adult (free for kids), of which $10 will be donated to Bike to Work Week and the South Bend Bike Garage. Register at Eventbrite.com.

∎ Thursday, May 16, Rollout South Bend ride: Choose from route options and ride at 6 p.m. from South Bend Bike Garage, at Indiana 933 and Angela. You can learn a lot more about this ride and how it got started in this week's Outdoor Adventures column, linked here. Details are also at Rollout's website, which is ripe with maps, etiquette and ride descriptions: www.rolloutsb.com.

Outdoor Adventures: Rollout South Bend bike rides crank on social vibe as busy Bike to Work Week feeds you

∎ Friday, May 17, lunch: Bike from wherever you are to the Studebaker Plaza, 201 S. Michigan St., in downtown South Bend, where food trucks and music will be set up from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

∎ Friday, May 17, night ride: Adorn your bike with lights and saddle up at 8 p.m. at South Bend’s Howard Park for an easy-paced group ride on bike trails to Mishawaka and back. Free taillights for bikes will be given out to the first 35 people who show up. This is a good and safe introduction to night riding.

∎ Sunday, May 19, bike and brunch: Depart from Weiss’ Gasthaus, 115 N. Dixie Way (Indiana 933), Roseland, for a ride along trails to Niles and back (or however far the group wants). Then enjoy brunch at this German restaurant with the group (on your own dime).

Outdoor Adventures: 100 years of Izaak Walton: Fishing, shooting arrows and advocating for Juday Creek

∎ Tuesday, May 21, Green Drinks along trail: South Bend Green Drinks’ next casual event will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. May 21 at the Izaak Walton League, 20400 Darden Road, South Bend. This is right along the Darden Trail, which is part of the longer trail that links Mishawaka to Niles. So, you can bike over and hear the League’s chapter president, Mike Hay, talk about its 100th anniversary. I wrote recently about its programs focused on conservation, Juday Creek and this wooded, watery property.

Ride of Silence

The free Ride of Silence isn't officially part of Michiana Bike to Work Week, but it certainly dovetails with it. It is held across the world each year, remembering all who’ve been killed or injured while riding a bike on public roads. It asks cyclists to ride silently at no more than 12 mph, wear helmets and follow all rules of the road. Here are two in our area May 15:

∎ Goshen: 10-mile ride from Lincoln Avenue Cycling, 430 W. Lincoln Ave. Arrive at 6:30 p.m.; ride promptly at 7 p.m. (lincolnavenuecycling.com)

∎ LaPorte: Nearly 8-mile ride from LaPorte County Fairgrounds, 2581 W. Indiana 2, at 6:30 p.m. CDT. Organized by the Maple City Bicycling Club (maplecitybicyclingclub.com)

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend area Bike to Work Week offers free pancakes and social rides