The Outdoor Adventure Program (OAP), led by graduate assistant David Canola, held a bike ride in collaboration with Chicago Voyagers on April 14, 2025.
OAP is a program at NEIU Campus Recreation which hosts events such as this, where NEIU students can challenge themselves in exhilarating outdoor activities and fun team building events.
The facilitators provided bikes for all the students involved and taught them bike safety and techniques that allowed them to stay safe throughout the ride. The students were also provided bike helmets, water bottles and snacks to keep them safe and energized all the way through.
Some students rode their bikes on the sidewalk instead of the street due to still feeling uncomfortable once the ride left NEIU’s campus and took north on Foster Avenue. As the students got more comfortable, they were more able to follow bike safety and stay in the bike lane while also maintaining awareness of vehicles.
After they arrived at The Garden Chicago Dirt Jumps, the students were fully comfortable taking control of their bikes.
There were many fun tracks and hills that challenged the students’ abilities to maneuver their bikes. However, all students were able to have fun and successfully face and beat the challenges put in front of them.
After about two hours, the bike riders made their way back to campus, where the mood was elevated due to the fun and excitement of riding bikes and taking on challenging dirt ramps.
Thoughts From an Undergraduate Student
In an interview with Dennis Keese, sophomore undergraduate student with an undecided major, he shared comments about the bike ride experience with the Independent. “The bike ride was fun. It was an enjoyable experience to get to do with my friends,” he said. “It was pretty scary at first, but when you slowly get into it, like driving on the streets and all that, you slowly get over that fear. And another fear I had was going over the bumps. That was a little scary, but the more you do it, the more you overcome your fears.”
Keese went on to explain how they got on bike trails and were even able to jump on bike ramps. Keese admitted to crashing into trees a couple of times.
When asked about how he was able to find the courage to face such challenges, Keese stated, “Yeah, so it was mostly just seeing everyone get to do it. And seeing everyone get to do it motivated me to also try to do it.”
Keese also highlighted how his friends motivated him. “It was my friends that were pushing me on to like go on that big bump, but you know, I was a little bit psyched out like kind of scared about doing it, but eventually I was able to get on the second highest bump but not the first one. So, maybe next time I can try the huge bump and even like the huge downhill bump that we go on.”
Keese admitted having a similar support system could encourage more participation in these events, as well as sharing about how enjoyable these experiences are. Keese also mentioned how he saw the event advertised on Instagram (@neiucampusrec) and received an email from facilitator David Canola.
“All the stuff that happened on that day was a lot of new things that I conquered that day,” Keese said, showing how positive the experience was for him.
In regard to how this could affect him positively this close to finals, Keese stated, “Yeah, 100%. It really distracted me. Brought me into the childlike version of myself: more energetic, happy enjoying nature. I really enjoy that and I hope we can do that in the future.”
Thoughts From a Graduate Student
A second participant was Rakish Ruperao, a graduate student pursuing an MBA in finance in his final semester at NEIU. He started off by sharing what it meant to him to go on this ride: “Well, I’m an international student, and it’s been more than two years. I’ve actually got to get this experience because back in India, I used to ride bikes a lot, but here, this was the first time, and it felt very fun and amazing.”
Ruperto proceeded to share how it is hard to find these opportunities as a college student, especially since he does not currently have his own bike. He even mentioned that making this a regular event would be beneficial, as many students wanted to participate but could not because they were late to sign up or may not have been aware of the event.
Ruperto also shared some events he would like to see OAP host in the future. “I think maybe similar to bike rides we can also have swimming competitions. It’s been very rare. I’ve never been anywhere like that.”
Ruperto also suggested that OAP should host events surrounding extreme sports. “Apart from swimming, if we’re going to an extreme, we recently had the hiking thing. Yeah, we have more hiking, treks and night camps. Maybe, if possible, bungee jumping or skydiving. That’s [real] extreme, but in the future.”
Ruperao shared some advice for people who may be on the fence about participating in these events. “Just maybe [give it] a try, and you will get to know that you are getting afraid of nothing. There’s nothing to fear.”
