Editor’s note: Apologies for making our Monday Update a Wednesday Update this week. If you’re interested in supporting our Update team, send an email to harald@madisonbikes.org.
Last Week
On Saturday a person riding a bike, Kay Larson, was killed on a Madison area road. This time on West Broadway, which is a Dane County highway just south of Monona, at about 1:40 AM. The Police Report states the bicyclist was riding erratically prior to the crash. Although Broadway has bike lanes, they are in poor condition and littered with debris–some of it even quite large–making it difficult to not ride somewhat erratically to avoid it. It is legal to take a lane past the debris and bad conditions, however it would present further risks to bicyclists especially with traffic regularly going 10 miles per hour over the already high 40 mile per hour speed limit, and distracted and drunk driving being a constant problem. Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call to Dane County to better maintain bikeways on their roads.
Last week’s heavy rains have also flooded a part of the Military Ridge State Trail. The flooded section is an underpass of US-151 just west of Verona that the DNR knows chronically floods because of the permanent installation of a depth gauge. You can take an alternate route around the flooded section using Nine Mound Road and a paved path near the Epic campus.
This Week
On Monday and Tuesday, Madison Bikes and the City hosted a delegation of elected officials, state, regional, and city planning staff from all around Utah. Bike Utah, the statewide bike advocacy organization had organized the trip to promote biking and allow the delegation to learn from Madison’s bike successes and challenges. We had a great time showing them around on a guided tour on BCycles and hearing outsiders’ perspectives about our city.
Wednesday,September 18
From 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM at Badger Prairie County Park there is a free Cyclocross Practice opportunity. Badger Prairie County Park is located at 4654 Maple Grove Drive in Verona. The free cyclocross practice is sponsored by the Capital Off-Road Pathfinders, L5, Neff Cycling, and Madison Parks.
The third Law Park Community Workshop is being held at 6 PM, this time at the Madison’s Central Library, located at 201 W. Mifflin St. in Madison’s downtown. As mentioned above, you can learn more by heading over to the city’s Law Park Master Planning process web page. You can also fill out the public survey or send in your thoughts via email to LawPark@cityofmadison.com.
Also at 6 PM, there will be a free Flat Fix Class held at the University Bicycle Resource Center in the Helen C. White Garage (Lot 6) at 600 N. Park Street just across from the Memorial Union. Learn how to fix a flat tire with confidence by bike advocate India Viola. Bring your own wheel to practice with or look on with another student. You can bring your own tools to learn with if you like, otherwise tools will be available. Free Planet Bike Blinky light set to the first five (5) students.
Thursday, September 19
The Transportation Policy and Planning Board is meeting at 4:00 PM in room 215 in the Madison Municipal Building at 215 Martin Luther King Boulevard. There’s an item on the agenda regarding a Winter Bike Maintenance Policy Update and Budget Ask that might include an action item, so feel free to send an email to the board in support of improving bike route maintenance in the winter. Link to the full agenda.
Friday, September 20
At 9:00 AM the Global Climate Strike is taking place. Students and workers alike will strike to protest humanity’s continued dependence on fossil fuels. You can read about the strike in Madison here, or read more about the Global Climate Strike on their Facebook Events page or their website: ycatwi.org/sep20
As part of the Global Climate Strike there will be two Critical Mass Rides to Support Climate Action. At 11 AM the ride will go from Olbrich Park to the top of State Street, and at 7 PM the ride will go from the top of State back to Olbrich Park. If there are fewer than 25 people the ride will follow Willy Street and if there are more than 25 people it will follow East Wash. Read more about it on their Facebook Events page.
Saturday, September 21
Saturday is the 21 anniversary of the creation of Surly Bikes, and to celebrate Revolution Cycles is hosting a Sub-24 Hour (S24O) ride/bike-camping trip from their shop to Sandhill Station campground in Lake Mills. Meet at Rev Cycles at 12 PM, and the ride will start shortly thereafter. You will need to supply your own bike (doesn’t need to be a Surly), camping gear, and food.
Sunday, September 22
The Telenet UCI Cyclocross World Cup Waterloo starts at 12 PM. The event will be at Trek’s headquarters at 801 W. Madison Street in Waterloo and will be free to attend. This is the largest cyclocross event in the U.S. and promises to be a lot of fun. Family friendly and a festival atmosphere. Read more about it at their Facebook events page.
As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes.