I just got back from Cambridge, MA. My significant other lives there for the year, and while I was visiting, I had the opportunity to attend a rally for safer bike infrastructure. Organized by local bike advocates Cambridge Bicycle Safety, the rally was part of a petition campaign to hold the Cambridge city council accountable to their promise of building a 20 mile network of protected bike lanes by 2023. In Madison, we don’t even have an official bike plan with measurable goals — and I think it’s showing. I’d be curious to hear what the Madison Bikes community thinks about campaigning on this issue.
Anyways, I’m back in Madison now, and here’s what’s going on this week:
A quick reminder that you can still apply as a model for the Winter Bike Fashion Show (11/17). Deadline for applications is 11/2. So go ahead and apply, or encourage your friends to be part of this fun event!
The week starts out with Bike Fitchburg’s monthly meeting on Monday night. I suspect they’re going to talk about the Fish Hatchery Road reconstruction. The next public meeting for that project is scheduled for November 8. Based on what I have heard from the previous meeting, there is a real danger that the reconstruction is going to focus primarily on making driving easier, instead of designing a street more amenable to walking, biking, and public transit. So mark the date, or go to the Bike Fitchburg meeting tonight to learn more. 6:30-8:30pm at the Fitchburg Public Library.
On Tuesday morning, come to the Capitol Square for a press conference on the release of a report on transportation equity in Wisconsin. The Sierra Club and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin will present the report that “analyzes who is being served and who is left behind by our transportation priorities.”
On Wednesday, you’ll have to make decisions:
- You could go to the Transportation Commission meeting at 5pm (City-County Building 351). Two agenda items of interest: An updates on the Bicycle Center at Judge Doyle Square, and an update on the Wilson and Bassett Streets transportation studies. As a reminder, when the city council decided to not include bike infrastructure in the recent reconstruction of West Wilson, they promised to study the corridor and its role in the bike network more comprehensively.
- Alternatively, you could howl at the moon while riding your bike. Spoke Haven and Bombay Bicycle Club are hosting a Full Moon Ride around Lake Wingra. Meet at 6pm at Westmorland Park.
- And if you’d rather stay inside and hear about other people’s bike adventures, go to the Hawthorne Branch of the library to hear Kent Wegner talk about “Exploring the Former Ottoman Empire by Bike.” Starts at 6pm.
And on Sunday, you can watch or participate in cyclocross racing at Angell Park in Sun Prairie. The “Cross Fire” races start at 8am. Alternatively, you can support Madison’s local radio station WORT by participating in a Day of the Dead Bike ride that takes you from brewery to brewery. Starts at 11am at Parched Eagle Tap Room, and requires a $15 dollar wrist band.