Bike riders across the west suburbs are gearing up for the annual Tour de Proviso, a tradition since 2020. This year, the ride will be hosted by and course through the historic suburb of Riverside.
The ride will take place on Saturday, Oct. 1, and will start and end at Guthrie Park, across from the downtown Metra station at 90 Bloomingbank Road in Riverside. Riders will gather at the park at around 7:30 a.m. The ride will start sometime between 7:45 a.m. and 8 a.m., organizers said. The ride lasts for about an hour.
Participation in the Tour de Proviso is free and community members can register at visitoakpark.com/tourdeproviso. Anyone who registers by Sept. 14 will receive a free T-shirt. Parking is also free and available at the Riverside commuter Parking Lot 1, just west of the Metra station
Those who participate in the ride will receive a medal made of chocolates from Aunt Diana’s Old-Fashioned Fudge in Riverside. A community expo in Guthrie Park will follow the event.
Those interested in sponsoring the tour or having a booth at the expo should contact
Ron Malchiodi, the director of Riverside Parks and Recreation, at 708-442-7025, ext. 221 or by email at rmalchiodi@riverside.il.us by Sept. 14.
The Tour de Proviso is a play on the famous Tour de France race that courses through the Pyrenees and the Alps before ending at the Champs-Elysées in Paris.
The event was created in 2020 by Maywood Trustee Miguel Jones and Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson.
In the first Tour de Proviso, participants rode from Broadview through Bellwood and into Maywood. The second annual event included more suburbs — including Bellwood, Maywood, Melrose Park, Oak Park, River Forest and Riverside — and went from Broadview to River Forest.
“The idea is to encourage us to see what other towns have to offer,” Jones said in 2020. “And it’s also to encourage people in our township to ride bikes as a means of transportation.
“Not everyone needs to have a car or can pay for a car. This may also spark renewed interest in infrastructure, such as bike paths, that are commuter friendly and environmentally friendly.”
Thompson said in 2020 that the idea was to “do something on a small scale” before working to “make it bigger.” Things seem to be going according to plan.
Next year, the Tour de Proviso will take place in Westchester on the first Saturday of the month in October 2023, event planners said.
