We hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving Weekend! Yours truly stayed in town, ate Tofurkey, and on Sunday braved the horrible weather to go for a bike ride. While I certainly prefer riding in nicer weather, being outside always makes me feel better, even in sleet and rain and snow. Speaking of, many of this week’s bike events are about winter riding.
On Wednesday at noon, the UW’s University Bicycle Resource center offers a Ride Through Winter workshop: “Tips on biking through the winter including lessons learned from a winter bicycling veteran. Suggestions for clothing and other gear plus basic winter maintenance tips and available resources. Class taught by UW Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator Chuck Strawser. Free Planet Bike blinky light set to the first five (5) attendees. Bring a brown bag lunch! All events are free and are held at the University Bicycle Resource Center in the Helen C. White Garage (Lot 6) at 600 N. Park Street, unless otherwise noted. There is no registration required. Classes are first come, first served (limit 20 people per event).” If you missed the Winter Bike Fashion Show, this is a great opportunity to make up for it. Starts at noon.
Later on Wednesday, a public input meeting on the next (and possibly final) phase of the Cannonball Path will take place. The path currently ends at Fish Hatchery Road, with no low-stress connection from there to the Wingra Creek Path. Initial plans to continue the path along the railroad line have faced a number of hurdles, and the City is now seeking input on how to close this gap. One proposed option is to build a multi-use path along Fish Hatchery Road; the other is to further pursue the railroad alignment. 6 pm at Wright Middle School, Library Media Center, 1717 Fish Hatchery Road. More info on the project page.
On Friday evening, the MTB advocates from Capital City Offroad Pathfinders (CORP) are having their annual meeting at Slow Roll Cycles on the east side. After a short business part, there will be “food and drink to show our appreciation for our members and volunteers, a review of 2019’s highlights and plans for 2020, and the awarding of the coveted Volunteer of the Year Award.” Starts at 5:30pm, 4118 Monona Dr.
On Saturday it’s Global Fat Bike Day. You can join CORP and Bell Joy Ride for some fat bike fun at the Camrock trails in Cambridge if (and that’s a big if!) the trails are dry or frozen. Make sure to check the event page right before you head out there.
Finally, if you missed the Winter Bike Fashion Show and Wednesday winter biking workshop at UW, there’s one more opportunity to learn about winter riding. Freewheel Bicycle Collective is hosting a “Winter Biking Workshop with Eric” on Saturday. Eric? Yeah, that Eric, one of our Fashion Show models:
Photo: Dan Stout
Workshop starts at noon, more info here. 1804 S Park Street, #5.
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. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.