We were able to steer clear of the worst of the snow over the weekend, so the roads should be in pretty good condition. The city had warned about the possibility of needing to bust out the salt trucks again, but it doesn’t seem to have been a major salt event. So you have the go-ahead to keep tuning up and starting to ride your summer bikes! No need to worry about this happening:
Photo credit: J. Michel (aka: Mitch) Carriere, CC BY-NC-ND
This Week
Tuesday
At 6:30 PM the Common Council is meeting in 210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Room 201 (City-County Building). The full agenda is available. There are two items of note:
- The council will vote to accept the permanent easement granted to city for a pedestrian/bike path on the east side near the Highway 30/US 151 interchange. In effect, enables the creation of a small section of trail cutting through from Rethke Ave to Burke Ave, a nice alternative to Commercial and probably formalizing a defacto path anyways.
- The council will vote on up to $10,000 in cooperative in development funds for Madison Freewheel Bicycle Company, to be used to improve and expand the co-op. In addition, these funds will be used to help in the planning for their work as the bicycle concessionaire for the Judge Doyle Square project.
From 2pm to 6pm, Moots will be at Machinery Row Bicycles to demo new gravel bikes and more.
Wednesday
It’s your day off from bicycling-related news, nothing of note. Enjoy a chance of AM thunderstorms and afternoon sun? Make your own news!
Thursday
Bombay Bicycle Club has a social ride at 5:30 pm, starting in Cottage Grove at Fireman’s Park (~25 miles). See their ride guide for their entire schedule of rides.
Friday
At 6:30pm, help celebrate the grand opening of Slow Roll Cycles on Monona Drive with free food and music along with a silent auction to benefit Capital Off Road Pathfinders (CORP) and a presentation from Liv Cycling.
Saturday
All day Saturday, continue the Slow Roll Cycles grand opening with a raffle, free bike tuneups, a no drop ride at 10am and free giveaways for kids.
Too muddy to ride? From 8am to 3pm, there’s a CORP workday at the Quarry Ridge trails in Fitchburg.
Middleton more your style? From 9am to 12pm there’s another CORP workday at the Pleasant View MTB trails.
Sunday
Bombay Bicycle Club has a ride leaving from Middleton’s Lakeview Park at 9am (54 mile) and heading north as far as Gibraltar Rock near the Merrimac Ferry. See their ride guide for their entire schedule of rides and details about the alternate start for the shorter 30 mile loop.
You Might Have Missed It
Madison Bikes has a very active Facebook community so sometimes some discussions slip through the cracks. Here are some interesting ones you might want to check out from this week:
- Bicycling advocates around the country are using the red Solo cups to demonstrate the need for better bike lanes that actually protect cyclists by physically separating them from traffic.
Photo Credit: jamie_okeefe, CC BY-SA 2.0 - The discussions on the Madison Bikes Community page have an impact! See how a city alder responds to a forwarded discussion.
- And finally, a lively discussion about riding in the door zone stemming from some accidents out on the roads.
Upcoming
Wheel and Sprocket is looking for a few ride leaders to help out at their first annual Ride of Silence on May 15. This is a nationwide event that honors and remembers cyclists we’ve lost on the road.
Madison School & Community Recreation (MSCR) is looking for volunteers to help at Learn 2 Ride events on Sunday, May 5 and Sunday, May 19. Do you remember where and how you learned 2 ride and who taught you? Sign up to help right here!
And of course, Madison Bike Week will be here in just a few weeks. Mark your calendars for June 1 through June 8!
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.