Bikers and families from all over the Chicago area gathered in Oak Park on Oct. 4 for the sixth-annual Tour de Proviso, a community ride set to promote health, wellness, transportation and tourism.
Riders from Maywood, Bellwood, Forest Park, Oak Park and River Forest followed a route that passed historic homes and local businesses. The seven-mile race route started on Lombard Avenue and Adams Street in Oak Park.
Cyclists headed down Chicago Avenue, where they passed Oak Park landmarks like the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio and the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum, before looping through River Forest and Forest Park and returning back to Lombard and Adams.
The event began in 2020 during the COVID pandemic as a safe outdoor activity. Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson and Maywood Trustee Miguel Jones had been going on bike rides around different towns, and the idea grew into a way to bring communities together during isolation.
“At the end of the day, most of us want the same things for our families, to be healthy, connected and able to provide for each other,” said Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey, who hosted the event last year.
“For us, hosting the event was amazing,” said Harvey. “I’m excited to go to another community and take the residents and the employees and the visitors from Bellwood into Oak Park and River Forest to see how our cultures are alike, similar and different.”
Harvey said the exposure could be “eye opening” for residents who had never visited downtown Oak Park or River Forest, and could encourage more dining and shopping in those downtowns, benefiting all businesses across the region.
Local businesses close by to the race hoped the ride would increase foot traffic and introduce residents to shops they might not otherwise notice. “It’s a wonderful thing to see the 20 mile route go through so many different neighborhoods,” said Nikki Smart, Owner of Kinfolk Marketplace, a consignment shop in Broadview. “We’re a community based business, and we’ll be out there rooting them on.”
Younger riders also described the event as a chance to share connections within different communities. “The most exciting part of the event will be sharing the experience with others,” said Nitai Maser, an Oak Park and River Forest High School senior. He called the group ride a way to show other young people that biking can be fun.
