Month: September 2024

Out from behind the wheel

For those who are too young or too old to drive or disabled or unable to afford driving, even short trips around a car-focused community can be complicated, time-consuming and dangerous.

Week Without Driving, which begins today and runs through Oct. 6, is an annual opportunity to consider the challenges faced daily by people — more than 40% of Madison, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation — who cannot drive or choose not to drive.

Organizers America Walks and Disability Rights Washington say hundreds of public officials in 30 states participated in the week in 2023. Last week, Madison’s city council declared this to be Week Without Driving in Madison and encouraged all elected officials, staff
members, and Madison drivers to take part, noting that “having a variety of transportation options is crucial so that both people and businesses can have a transportation mode that works best for them when considering convenience, time, health, safety, cost, and
other factors.”

If you’re reading this, you’re probably also open to at least one alternative mode of transportation. But this is a good week to think hard about how you would get where you’re going without a car. How would that change your daily life? How should our community change to accommodate people for whom going car-free isn’t a thought exercise?

Roll that beautiful bike footage

There’s still room for you at Bicycle Film Festival Madison, an evening of short films on bicycling themes and a fundraiser for yours (Madison Bikes) truly, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Barrymore Theatre, 2090 Atwood Ave.

The films — about bicycles supporting communities, families, identities, fading histories and more — include documentaries, narrative stories and animation from award-winning filmmakers.

More info and festival tickets here.

Meet up for pre-show camaraderie at 4:30 p.m. at Working Draft Beer Company, 1129 E. Wilson St. The Walking Jerk food truck will be on site to complement the beer and alcohol-free beverage options.

Stop the steals!

There may be no guaranteed way to prevent bike theft, according to UW–Madison Transportation Services, but there are ways to improve the odds that your ride will be right where you left it when you come back.

Are your lock skills getting rusty? Check out the university’s illustrated guide to theft prevention, which puts the use of various combinations of locks and other hardware on a scale from less to more secure and suggests other ways to keep your bicycle and gear in your own hands.

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.

This Week

Waucheeta Connector Open

What is it about riding along and around lakes? There’s something undeniably satisfying about it, and because the Madison area is defined by its lakes, some of our most-traveled routes involve these sorts of circumnavigations.

Dane County Parks has entered the chat

A handy little connector path from the Lower Yahara River Trail (near Lussier Center) to Waucheeta Trail is now open and it provides convenient access to Capital Springs State Recreation Area, the Waubesa Beach Neighborhood, Goodland County Park and Christy’s Landing and helps cyclists avoid busy Lake Farm Rd. In the longer term, it works towards our goal of a safe and comfortable cycling “Lake Loop” around Lake Waubesa.

Events

On Thursday at 6 PM, attend (or Zoom into, registration req’d) this free talk at Meadowridge Library titled “Care & Repair: Biking Across the U.S. with Sam & Chick Westby“.

Sam and his dad Chick will share about their 3,600 mile journey from Oregon to New Jersey on bicycles. Over 42 days, they pushed through harrowing weather, crossed mountains, and stopped at lots and lots of gas stations. Bike touring comes with many unexpected twists and turns, requiring them to repair their bikes along the way, and care for each other as challenges arose. Join us for an evening of storytelling and education that you won’t forget!

On Friday evening, take advantage of this unseasonable warm and dry weather (yes, I just jinxed it) and join the ¡Pick Me Up at the Border! ride in support of our sister-organization Bike Fitchburg. The ride gathers in Fitchburg at 6:30 PM and is followed by a mass start at 7 PM. Choose your own distance and bring your lights because even though it feels like July, the sun is still going down like it’s mid-September! $15 donation.

Mode Share Analysis

In his blog post, Harald goes deep into an analysis of the Madison area commute mode share numbers from 2023. Spoiler-alert — not much has changed from the 2022 numbers, but read on for his thoughtful analysis of the trends and what to make of them.

Next Week

On Wednesday, September 25 from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM, plan to attend our community event where we will conduct a casual tour/audit of Regent Bike/Walk capabilities followed by a social hour at watering hole TBD. This is our first step preparing for a process where Regent St will be rebuilt by the City. We have an opportunity to provide input and otherwise get our ducks in a row. Expect to hear more about this event soon!

Last Week

West and Northeast Area Plans adopted

Last Tuesday, the Common Council approved both the West and Northeast Area Plans, the latter, with an amendment to remove the Nakoosa Trail road extension near Sycamore Park. These plans project out the next 10-30 years of transportation, zoning, land use, parks, etc. The bike network maps are linked below. Remember that nothing in the plan has budget, timeline, or even a guarantee. In fact, we’re still waiting on items from the 1991 and 1997 plans!

The City has ten (!) more area plans to do, roughly at the rate of two per year and next up are the Southwest and Southeast Area Plans. Be sure to sign up for project updates, especially if you live or visit those areas.

Olin-Turville Detour

Last week, Harald mentioned the that Olin-Turville section of the Lake Monona “Lake Loop” would be under construction until the end of October. He has since posted a video showing what it’s like to ride the detour, if you’re curious. The detour will be in place until work completes in late October.

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.

Making the SW Path crossing safer

Last week we reported on the city’s plan to improve safety at the crossing of the Southwest Path and West Washington Ave. After a string of crashes where drivers failed to stop for people in the crosswalk, the city temporarily narrowed the roadway to a single lane in each direction with construction barrels. Chris McCahill posted a before/after video to our Facebook group. If you have feedback on the experiment, send an email to traffic@cityofmadison.com.

Area plans at Common Council

The Common Council will meet on Tuesday. Two big items on the agenda will be the adoption of the West Area and the Northeast Area Plans. We have reported on these plans as they wound their ways through public and city meetings over the past months, but now it’s upon the council to make a final decision. You can register to speak or in support/opposition here. The NE Area Plan is item 16; the West Area Plan is item 17.

University Bicycle Resource Center class schedule

The fall term is in full swing, and the University Bicycle Resource Center published its schedule of classes for the semester. As always, all classes are free and open to the UW community. No registration, first come, first serve. The first workshop will be on September 17.

Olin Turville Detour

Today is the start of a detour around Olin-Turville Court and Lakeside Street. The road is in bad condition and so the city is repaving it. Because this is a crucial bike connection with no alternative, there will be a high-quality detour: One lane of John Nolen Drive, between Olin Ave and Lakeside St, will be converted to a two-way bike lane protected by concrete barriers. John Nolen Drive narrows to two lanes north of Lakeside anyway. And so the city is also using this as an opportunity to test if this block could be narrowed to two general travel lanes permanently. After all, John Nolen Drive is part of the city’s high injury network, with a high proportion of serious and fatal crashes.

The construction is divided in half, with the southern part of the road to be completed first. Access to the Wingra Creek Path and the boat launch will be maintained throughout the project, although some bikers will need to circle back to reach their destinations. Follow the signage.

Young girls “give it a whirl”

A quick reminder for young girls who are or want to be mountain bikers: Tonight (Monday) they can “give it a whirl” at Quarry Park. Little Bellas, “an organization that teaches young girls to ride mountain bikes,” will host a two-hour workshop that “will introduce girls ages 7-13 to mountain biking in a fun, safe, and supportive environment.” Registration is free and the event starts at 3:30pm.

Join the Smart Trips Challenge

We mentioned it last week, but it’s not too late to the Smart Trips challenge. So far, 104 people are signed, and I think there are much more of you out there who bike, walk, or bus and would like to win cool prizes!

RoundTrip Madison is hosting the Smart Trips Challenge throughout September to encourage walking, bicycling, public transit, and carpooling for everyday trips including work, school, and errands. The first 25 participants to log an eligible trip will receive a $10 gift card to Ian’s Pizza. The challenge will also offer weekly and grand prize drawings, along with a special Metro Transit swag drawing for participants choosing transit throughout the month.

Congrats, Baltazar!

Finally, we’d like to congratulate our former board member Baltazar De Anda Santana for completing the Ironman yesterday, in a little over 15 hours. Madison 365 featured an article about what motivates Baltazar to participate:

“The biggest reason I do this is for representation in the sport,” De Anda Santana tells Madison365. “One thing I always wonder is, ‘How come there aren’t more of us here?’ I didn’t see many people out there who looked like me who were running, biking and swimming.

For the last 5 years or so, he has been competing in Ironman competitions because he wants to be healthy and he wants to test himself but there is another important reason why he is dedicating a good portion of his life to biking, running, and cycling.

Triathlon competitors are overall very white, mostly male, and generally pretty well-off financially. When he first started a few years back, he only knew of two Latinos who had completed the Ironman in Madison. De Anda Santana says that he will be participating in this weekend’s Ironman for his Latinx, gay, and undocumented families here in Madison and beyond. He says that his goal is to finish the Ironman in between 16.5 and 17 hours.

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.