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

The month of May is National Bike Month, and locally it’s bursting with reasons to ride your bike. I’ll break down the bustling, food-filled schedule May 13-19 for Michiana Bike to Work Week and alert you to South Shore trains that will soon take your bike to the dunes or Chicago anytime all year long.

But first, more than 50 people hopped on a brand-new, social bike ride at its debut May 2 where they chose from nine different route and speed options, each with their own group, to explore South Bend.

The Rollout South Bend rode off with Steven Burnside’s vision of fun, a vision he’d tasted and grew to love on the popular weekly rides out of the microbrewery/restaurant River St. Joe in Buchanan. In both cases, you find a group that matches how far and hard you want to bike.

Now his dream — born out of post-ride eats, drinks and warm biking vibes — will be an organized group ride every Thursday evening out of the South Bend Bike Garage, at the corner of Indiana 933 and Angela Boulevard. (Burnside recently became president of this nonprofit bike co-op, too.)

Burnside admits he’s still tinkering with his well-thought-out vision and plans and a website that’s ripe with details, etiquette and maps. As he talks, it reminds me of menu items at a new restaurant and how they can be changed, added or dropped.

“There’s a group out there for everyone,” he says.

Truly. There are nine ride options, from a 6-miler for families around the University of Notre Dame to a stiff 38-miler for the hard core — and everything in between, including an option that includes mountain biking at Madeline Bertrand County Park in Niles. Some rides are on paved trails, some on roads.

But these are merely ride options, and not every one of them can be available. They rely on ride hosts. Burnside needs more volunteers to step up who know the route, can keep an eye on the group and can make it fun. Several of the groups ensure that everyone stays together while riding.

“We’re trying to figure out which groups have demand,” he says. “Can we combine groups?”

Rollout had a strong start. Maybe that’s because of how Burnside’s vision grew. He came to biking and the camaraderie of group rides more than five years ago, switching from soccer, he says, as “my body was falling apart.”

As he enjoyed the River St. Joe rides, he says, “I knew it took a lot of effort and work to run them, but I always felt there wasn’t something (like it) in South Bend.”

Then his mother died early this year, following her seven months in hospice care.

“Losing her sparked something in me to reach out and do something,” he says. “I’ve always watched from the sidelines.”

Bike friends encouraged him. So he mustered up the drive, made plans and started pulling bike volunteers together. More are needed.

∎ Details: The rides start at 6 p.m. Be there no later than 5:45 p.m. to sign the waiver, find your group and hear announcements. Volunteer mechanics will be there by about 5:15 p.m. to help with light fixes. Helmets are required; if you don’t have one, Rollout can provide it.

∎ Learn more: At www.rolloutsb.com and follow Rollout on Facebook for updates.

Michiana Bike to Work Week

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. Details at www.rolloutsb.com.

∎ 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.

Bikes on South Shore all year long

One of the lesser-noticed details of the South Shore Line’s new schedule, thanks to the recent double-track project, is that bikes will be able to board trains all year long. So it’s no longer restricted to the usual April-to-October season.

Also, you can take the bike on board any train as long as the train station has a bike-accessible platform. So it’s no longer for just certain trains.

April 20, 204: South Shore Line schedule starting May 14 offers faster, more frequent trips to Chicago

All of this starts with a new train schedule debuting May 14. This includes some of the express, limited-stop trains that, for example, will take just 109 minutes to ride from the South Bend International Airport to Chicago. The new schedule also boasts 14 extra weekday rides.

Keep in mind that the South Shore has added more bike-accessible platforms where you can roll your bicycle straight onboard. They include stations in Michigan City, Portage/Ogden Dunes and Miller.

And don’t forget that the bike-accessible stations include Dune Park, where a paved bike trail leads to both the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center and to the Indiana Dunes State Park (admission to the park is cheaper if you’re on a bike, just $2, and it beats the huge car lines on warm summer beach weekends).

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

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Rollout South Bend bike rides begin with Michiana Bike to Work Week