Volunteers are an integral part of our events and we have lots of opportunities for both you and your friends and family to volunteer! By volunteering you'll be able to get involved in our events even more, give back to the cycling community, and also get some really great things in return!

Volunteer opportunities also work especially well if you have friends or family who want to attend the event and support you along the way but don't want to actually ride themselves.

• Click Here to fill out our volunteer interest form to let us know about any specific volunteer opportunities you might be interested in! We will then follow up with you individually to coordinate all specific volunteer opportunities.

All regularly expected volunteer opportunities will be based on the needs of and prearranged before each specific event. We cannot guarantee that any specific volunteer opportunity will be available for any specific event. Volunteer opportunities may also be available the day of the event but only in response to unforeseen, unexpected circumstances.

Other volunteer opportunities will be posted as they come up so please check this page frequently for updates!

Volunteer Opportunities

Rest Stop Attendant
Having volunteers help us man our rest stop locations is the perfect opportunity for your friends or family who want to support you along the way but don't want to actually ride. Volunteers will stay at one of our pre-designated rest stop locations and make sure that all food and beverage items remain stocked and also attend to minor participant needs as necessary. Manning a rest stop is really easy and a lot of fun and it's very gratifying to help encourage riders along the way!

We will provide all of the necessary supplies and equipment, help the volunteer set up the rest stop, and train them how to man it – all they have to do is show up! Ideally, we prefer our volunteer rest stop attendants to have a car so they can pack up all of the rest stop supplies and gear and transport it to the end after all of the participants have passed through the rest stop. However having a car isn't mandatory – we can transport volunteers to the rest stop and transport them and all of the rest stop supplies and gear to the end if necessary.

Participant Vehicle Usage
Letting us use your vehicle as one of our support vehicles involves either SAG support on the road during the event and/or for our transportation service before the start and/or after the end of the event. We prefer to use larger cars with a tow hitch and lots of room for both passengers and gear such as vans, minivans, and SUV's but will consider any vehicle. If your vehicle has a town hitch we will assume it is ok for us to tow our trailer with it unless you specify otherwise. We will of course cover the gas!

Depending on the event, the biggest benefits to letting us use your vehicle is that you will have your vehicle waiting for you immediately after the end of the event and therefore won't have to pay for our transportation service back to the start. In addition, if our transportation service occurs the day after the end of the event you won't have to pay for a hotel room that night, and you won't have to park your vehicle in the starting town during the event. If you initially arrive in the ending town, you won't have to pay for our transportation service before the start of the event.

For us, the biggest benefit of letting us use your vehicle is that we won't have to pay to rent a vehicle or spend a lot of time or hassle picking it up and dropping it off.

Depending on the event logistics, we may have a staff member take a bus or train to meet you to pick up your vehicle if you do not live in the Chicago area.

Please be aware that your own vehicle insurance coverage will primarily apply in case of an accident.

Compensation

We have many different possibilities to compensate you and/or your friends and family members for your volunteer efforts described below!

We can also be very flexible in terms of your compensation. We can hold it until the following season if you want or you can transfer it to one of your friends or family as well. And if you have another compensation idea other than the ones listed please don't hesitate to let us know - we're totally open to other ideas!

Please note that we prefer volunteer compensation to be in the form of Bicycle Illinois services and merchandise and we can only compensate volunteers monetarily for actual expenses incurred in the process of volunteering (such as gas). Also we cannot compensate you with any bicycle parts (tubes, tires, etc.) in order to maintain the critical stock levels of these items on the road.

Registration and Transportation Services
If you or one of your friends or family members volunteers in some way for one event, we can waive your registration and/or transportation fees for another event. For example, if you volunteer to man a rest stop for one of the Tri-State Tour Chicago Century events, we can waive your registration and return transportation fees for another Tri-State Tour Chicago Century event.

Bicycle Illinois Merchandise Items
Another compensation option is through free Bicycle merchandise. For example, if you or one of your friends or family members works a rest stop for one of our events we could give you a free Bicycle Illinois jersey in return!