Steph Shelton, Author at Madison Bikes

Hi Madison Bikes Community, I’m Steph! I am a new member of the Madison Bikes Board, an avid cyclist and coffee drinker. I will be contributing to the Madison Bikes blog on a weekly basis to provide a voice of bike-related encouragement, insight, and amusement. While I am not a bike expert by any means, I am obsessed with all things bike-related and look forward to sharing my thoughts on a new topic with you each week!

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked: “What is your favorite bike?”. I spent a moment considering this question. Naturally, my initial thought was to say that I love all of my bikes equally. My second thought was that I am not a parent and the question was about bikes, not children, therefore I was free to tell the truth. My answer was that my favorite bike was the one I grew up riding as a child—my Trek Singletrack 820.

Image: BicycleBlueBook

I remember going to the local bike shop in Racine as a child and test riding it in tight circles around the store’s small parking lot. I remember thinking that the price of $325 was exorbitant and that my bike was going to make the neighbor kids so jealous. Don’t even get me started on the color! Swoon!

This bike became more than a form of transportation for me. It was freedom. It fostered my independence and took me on endless adventures with friends. I developed a passion for biking as a child that I have (obviously) carried into adulthood. More now than ever, I realize that if I didn’t have such a privileged childhood, I would not have fostered such a love of biking.

Over the weekend, I volunteered at an annual bike giveaway organized by Free Bikes 4 Kidz. It was as heart-warming as it was a well-organized event. FB4K was able to give away 1,400 free, refurbished bikes to Madison-area children who had been pre-registered for a bicycle. If you have noticed a recent influx of children biking around with BIG grins on their faces, that’s why. I’m hopeful these children will have the opportunity to foster a passion for biking the way that I did. However, a lot of the children at the FB4K events are less privileged than I was as a child. I lived in a quiet, suburban cul-de-sac with bike paths nearby. I never felt unsafe biking around my neighborhood.

In Madison, streets and bike paths our children are biking on need to be designed and maintained in a way that will enable them feel comfortable enough to foster such a passion. If these children (or their parents/guardians) do not feel comfortable biking in their neighborhoods, they may be less likely to carry a joy for biking into adulthood. As a child, one scary experience while learning how to be a regular biker is all it takes to put the kibosh on positive perceptions of biking.

On a related note, Bike Fitchburg, Wisconsin Bike Fed, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and the NHTSA are organizing a free ‘Teach the Trainer’ bike safety workshop in Madison on April 27th. Please consider signing up!

Happy biking and tailwinds!

PS: If you have a spare eight minutes on your hands, I highly recommend watching this video of a dad and daughter going bikepacking together. It made me almost want to have a child of my own, for like five minutes.

If you are reading this, it means you have survived another Wisconsin winter. Congratulations, you did it! The grey snow mounds have receded, abandoned gloves are re-emerging alongside sidewalks, and the long hygge is over.

If you have followed my other blog, you will have read about some of the joys and struggles that come from winter biking. I honesty feel like I became a better biker by learning how to safely commute to work by bike in the winter. Last week, I took my bike into Revolution Cycles for a complete tune-up of my commuter bike. Even with the City of Madison doing a nice job with plowing and sanding bike paths on the near east side, my bike did not endure the winter with grace. One quick lookover by Rev Cycle’s Matt DeBlass confirmed that most of the components on my bike were shot and needed to be completely replaced.

After my bike underwent an extreme makeover, I also swapped out my studded tires and have felt as if I am flying down Madison’s bike lanes. It has been great to see other Madisonians out on their bikes too! I know that commuting to work through the isthmus can be a pain, but bike-commuting in this weather can be a delight. In fact, according to CityLab, biking to work has been shown to lead to more happiness than driving or using the bus.

For those just getting back on their bikes, some may be discouraged by the amount of sediment found on bike path and lanes. I have heard from seasoned riders that this sediment has made them feel uneasy. It’s true that there are parts of my commute to work that remind my of riding along Lakeshore path on UW Madison’s campus. I believe that street cleaning will be performed in the next few days or weeks, so I hope bikers don’t get too discouraged!

Bike Lane on Gorham St.

Of course, if you feel like there is a segment of bike path or street that needs attention, do not hesitate to use the City of Madison’s “Report a Problem” site.

Here’s to hoping that you all can get out and RIDE!

P.S.: If you haven’t gotten enough bike content yet or you’re bored at work, Reddit has a Daily Cyclist Thread that is just wonderful.