Things are picking up in the news department, people, groups, clubs, and promoters all have good announcements about things coming up. We are definitely working on addressing a news posting of sorts that will come out regularly on a schedule so you know what to expect – help is on the way. So for today at least, please take this as the Dirty Tuesday News and check out some cool news about upcoming events.

Women on Dirt – Brought To You by Julia Daher and Half Acre.
Here is a message from Julia Daher – who also will be contributing to The Bonebell as a our first female dirtbag writer. It was high time we got a woman’s perspective around here, we’ll provide a more formal introduction to her – but for now, please read what she sent us for all of you wonderful ladies to participate in.

Mountain biking can be an intimidating sport, but once you start it is easy to get hooked. To reach out to women of all ability levels the dirt bag-ettes of Half Acre Cycling and XXX-AthletiCo have joined forces to organize a series of women’s off-road rides. Our goal is to provide an opportunity for Chicago-area ladies and transgender people to ride together in a supportive environment, practice skills and have fun on the trail. Everyone from total beginners to experts are welcome.

The first ride will be held on Saturday April 3rd, at 9:30am at Waterfall Glen. Waterfall Glen offers wide-ish multi-use trails, with some nice twists and turns, but nothing technical. It is perfect for folks who just want to get more comfortable on the dirt without a lot of roots & rocks getting in their way.

This is an entirely informal event, just a chance to get to know other Chicago-based lady trail riders, build some community and have some fun. If it is nice, bring a lunch and we’ll picnic afterwards. Let us know if you plan on coming…we’d love to ride with you!

For more information email Jennifer Mosley (mosleyjen[at]gmail[dot]com, or Julia Daher (julia.daher[at]gmail[dot]com)

USA Cycling Official Illinois State MTB Championship Race Selected!
The fine folks down at the Illinois Valley Cycling Association are proud to present to us the Illinois State MTB Championship Race!The Mathieson Mountain Madness Race is not part of the Illinois Homegrown Race Series – but its a step forward in getting even more legitimate racing in our state. There will be more news on this to come including a conversation with the folks who are staging this race. Do you want a voice in how races get created, selected, organized, and appear – THEN VOLUNTEER WITH CAMBr!

Come Celebrate ‘The Garden’
It’s Chicago’s first dirt bicycle park – ever. The fine folks that work behind the scenes at ‘The Garden’, CAMBr West, and local authorities made this happen for all us. Come celebrate on March 19th, with a few drinks at the Easy Bar in Chicago. It’ll be a great time and if we get our act together, we’ll have some prizes to giveaway for folks who sign-up for CAMBr, donate to CAMBr outright, or renew their membership. We haven’t figured out all the logistics as us dirtbags are sometimes just plain ol’ sloppy. But we’d love to see you there. Please consider coming and joining in the camraderie of dirtbags finally making a sweet park available for the dirtjumper in all of us.