Category: Weekly Update

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Bike News Newsletter Weekly Update

Huddle up for warmth, community, info

Here comes the snow

Whoever said, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes,” was not a year-round bicyclist. In the winter, small and medium and big weather issues can pile up atop the usual logistical challenges of two-wheeled travel to make the whole thing feel … bad.
The good news is, people who bike through the winter do not exactly mind talking about biking through the winter. And if you’re curious about pedaling in a fourth season, committed to making it work this year, or looking to join the choir to belt out a few carbide-studded bars of winter favorites, mark your calendar for one of these events featuring experienced guides, hot tips and some warming beverages:

Winter Biking Workshop
Thursday, Nov. 21, 6 to 7 p.m., at Cool Bikes North, 1861 Northport Drive
Assisting people who may be new to winter riding with guest presenters talking about the clothes, gear and bikes that can get you “through the winter in relative comfort and safety,” followed by Q&A. Free, but registration is requested.

Madison Bikes Winter Bike Social
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Working Draft Beer Company, 1129 E. Wilson St.
An evening of fun and camaraderie for winter riding newbies, seasoned all-season pros and everything in-between. The Winter Bike Social is an opportunity to exchange knowledge about winter biking techniques, gear and fun. Check out what others are using to stay warm and safe on their rides, and maybe even get some new ideas for your own setup. Bring your bike and favorite piece(s) of winter gear.

Spread some good tidings

If you’re into doing good from the saddle, the holidays are a great time to volunteer and enjoy a ride. Consider adding Cranksgiving Madison — the Nov. 24 rally-style benefit for the Goodman Community Center’s Fritz Food Pantry — and/or Madison’s Santa Cycle Rampage — a costumed slow-roll ride raising funds for Dane County youth education programs on Dec. 14 — to your seasonal celebrations.

Meetings

This week in deliberating, the Madison Transportation Commission will meet virtually on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. Their agenda includes a handful of bicycle-relevant items, including:

Southwest Area Plan Open House

Tomorrow, Nov. 19, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at Akira Toki Middle School, 5606 Russett Road, representatives of city departments like Planning, Engineering, Transportation and Parks will gather to discuss what’s taking shape in the early stages of the city’s plan for its Southwest Area, which extends south of the belt line between Fitchburg on the east and South High Point Road on the west. Residents, community organizations, businesses and other stakeholders are invited to share feedback.

Spotlighting some doers

Let’s close with a little bit of good-news catch-up, shall we? Please enjoy this Wisconsin State Journal story about the East High School Bike Repair Club, advised by past Madison Bikes board member Emily Sonneman.

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.

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Weekly Update

Join the Board; Lakeshore Path Public Meeting

Two cyclists are riding bicycles on the Cap City Trail along John Nolen Drive in the morning sun. One rider wears a light blue jacket and a bright yellow helmet, while the other is in a dark sweater and helmet. A red building with the name "Rubins" is in the background.
Wes Anderson would approve. Credit: Harald and Cyclists of Madison

Anyone engaged enough to read this newsletter certainly doesn’t need any more reminders to vote, so I’ll do the bare minimum and leave it at that!

This Week

Madison Bikes is looking for a new board member! If you are interested in joining you can read more about the application process here.

On Wednesday at 5:30 PM, attend an in-person public meeting at the Holt Center discussing future lighting and paving options for the Temin Lakeshore Path. This is a surprisingly contentious issue for a path that’s so heavily used, but there are a lot of stakeholders.You can read an excellent writeup of the issue over at the Cap Times.

Different options that will be presented for the path surface and lighting. Image: Cap Times/JCAC

A brief note that the Winter Bike Fashion Show, originally scheduled for November 17th, has been cancelled for this year. Can we agree to just cancel winter altogether?

A minor path detour to note: the SW Commuter Path is closed for a few days between Midvale Blvd and Hiawatha for some concrete work. There’s a short (but relatively hilly) detour; the same detour was used a few years back for a much longer time when reconstructing the stormwater management along the path.

For timely notification about detours like this and many other updates that we don’t cover individually here, subscribe to the Bike Madison mailing list. Or just follow the detour signs when you see them, that’s cool too.

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.

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Weekly Update

Great weather, elections, and JND

Last week

Can you believe the weather we are having in late October? Hope you’d been able to get out and enjoy this warm, dry stretch of beautiful fall. A ride through the Arboretum or far out into the country are both great ways to enjoy the colors. And a bit more to come this week.

Atwood Path artwork

As part of the city Percent for Art program, some path artwork and reminders of etiquette appear on the Atwood Paths near Olbrich Park this past week. A discussion ensued on our Facebook community, with some enjoying the additions, and others saying you can’t read them while riding at speed or they didn’t like being scolded with messages.

John Nolen Drive project

The informational meeting on John Nolen Drive had both good and bad news. The bad news is that at this time, the underpass of JND between North Shore Dr and Broom St has been removed from the plan. The cost to build it was estimated to be almost as much as the entire rest of the road project. The city did show two possible versions of the underpass, but they are not planning on moving forward with either one at this time. The underpass would not have been constructed with the first phase of the JND project regardless of cost because of funding from the state and federal government – which makes up most of the funding for the first phase – wouldn’t have covered it.

Another bad news item from the meeting, although more expected, was that the Capital City Path from Lakeside to North Shore – essentially the causeway – will have to be closed for about a year during construction. There is just no way to keep it open while the bridges are being rebuilt. The roadway portion will be down to one lane in each direction, and bicycle and pedestrian traffic will be detoured around Monona Bay.

The good news of the project is that the new path on the northwest side of North Shore and JND through Brittingham Park will be built before the construction starts, creating a connection between the SW Path and Broom that avoids JND completely. The JND intersections at North Shore Dr and Broom will also be vastly improved, making crossing these streets and JND itself much easier and safer (once all the construction dust clears.)

You can view a recording of the meeting and/or see the slides on the project website. 

Autumn Ridge bridge raising

We don’t have any photos, but on Tuesday there was a bridge placed over Highway 30 that will be part of the Autumn Ridge Path on the east side. We won’t be able to use the path and overpass until next year, but this is going to be a great connection for the area.

One of our community members mentioned on Facebook that he took video. Maybe he’ll share that.

The week ahead

Wednesday, 5:00, online Transportation Commission will meet, but there isn’t much exciting on the agenda. You can also watch the meeting or register to comment at that link as well.

The TC will receive an update on BCycle/Bicycle Transit Systems transition, but as of this writing, there are no documents on the item, so it’s hard to say how extensive or interesting it will be. There will also be an update of the Transportation and operating and capital budgets for next year. Again, no documents at this time, but there may be information on what may change if the referendum doesn’t pass.

Please vote!

Early voting is available until Sunday, Nov 3. Early voting is available across the city at libraries three locations on the UW campus, and a variety of other locations, so everyone should be able to find a place close to where they live, work, or shop. If you are not registered at your current address, you can register at the same time as you vote through Friday, Nov 1 or on Election Day.

Although Madison Bikes has not taken an official position on anything on the ballot, Harald and Craig wrote an excellent blog post on how a referendum failure might affect bicycling – including maintenance, safety programs, and future infrastructure.

Obviously, voting is incredibly important, and your voice on all things local, state, and federal. We all know how important Wisconsin will be in the presidential race – the last two presidential elections came down to 3 votes per ward across the state. Please make sure you are one of those votes.

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.

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E-Mail Newsletter Weekly Update

New bridge; Sauk and John Nolen meetings; Jump Jam

Last week we had a very nice celebration of the new protected and buffered bike lanes on Sheboygan and Segoe. There was hot cider, donuts, district 11 alder Bill Tishler, many city staff — and a low-budget ribbon cutting involving caution tape, very small scissors, and a small volunteer helper.

Segoe ribbon cutting with Alder Tishler and a young helper

Beth Skogen Photography – www.bethskogen.com

Alder Bill Tishler spoke about how he initially conceived this as a project to make crossing Segoe easier for pedestrians — narrowing the crossings and removing unneeded lanes, since Midvale and Whitney are both close by. He grew up in the area, and he’s watched generations of families struggling to cross.

“When this area of Madison was designed 70 years ago, it was built around the automobile. The wide street layout and abundance of surface parking lots reflected that this neighborhood was designed primarily for cars. This is no longer true.

As Madison’s population grows, we are at a pivotal moment in rethinking how people move around the city. The redesign of North Segoe, with its buffered bike lanes, bus transit stops, and audible crosswalks, signals a shift in priorities—cars are no longer the sole focus.

People need safe, accessible ways to get around, whether they’re walking, biking, or using public transit.”

Thanks to everyone who stopped by! We’ll certainly celebrate again when other great infrastructures are completed.

Autumn Ridge Overpass

Speaking of great infrastructure: This week the bridge girders for the Autumn Ridge Path across Highway 30 will be installed. Commercial Ave will close at 8pm, Hwy 30 at midnight, and the bridge will be placed sometime in the wee hours. Events like this are always quite the spectacle. Our board member Robbie plans to set up her camper van in the area to watch. If you’re also out there, please shared your photos and videos of the work. Having the bridge elements in place is major progress, but it’ll still be a several months before the path will be open.

Sauk Creek Greenway

On Monday night, a public input meeting on the Sauk Creek Greenway will take place. This meeting will focus on “draft improvements for the channel, maintenance access, and restoration.” The east-west bike path that was included in the West Area Plan is also on the agenda, but what the city writes doesn’t sound very promising:

“Staff will provide some initial ideas on the West Area Plan’s East-West multi-use path connection. Preliminary review of concepts show construction of a path would not align enough with the stormwater improvements to be built together and path plans are not being developed further at this time.” (emphasis in original)

John Nolen Drive: Will we get an underpass?

Another opportunity for public input is on Wednesday. The city’s engineering consultant produced a feasibility study about the proposed underpass of John Nolen Drive at North Shore. The underpass was being proposed as a safe alternative to the reconstructed at-grade intersection with its slip lanes. I haven’t read the full 140-page report, but looking at the cost for the two proposed designs does not make me optimistic: Even the cheaper alternatives is estimated to cost over $40 million. That is serious money for a single underpass. For comparison, the Autumn Ridge Path project will cost about $4.5 million. Join the public meeting on Wednesday, 6:30 PM.

Jump Jam and Crossfire

On the weekend you can recover from attending all the public input meetings by going to the Quarry Park Jump Jam or the Crossfire cyclocross race in Sun Prairie.

The Jump Jam on the Quarry Park MTB trails involves, well, people on bikes jumping! It’s great fun to watch. Sunday, starting at noon.

If you’re more into riding or watching cyclocross, head to Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie on Sunday. The Crossfire race usually involves serious cyclocross racing and not-so-serious Halloween costumes. The festivities start at 8am.

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.

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E-Mail Weekly Update

Segoe Celebration, UW is Platinum, and More

Scene from the now navigable Hammersley path (photo: Paul Lata)

Welcome to the update.  We’re seeing lots of bicyclists out there enjoying the fall weather. Hopefully recent infrastructure improvements will encourage even more bicyclists to enjoy cycling in Madison.

Here’s the latest:

Segoe Road After-Work Celebration

When: Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 4-5:30 pm

Where: Northwest Corner of Regent and Segoe

Join Madison Bikes for a celebration of newly constructed bike/ped friendly infrastructure on Segoe Road. Madison Bikes will provide apple cider and donuts and some vegan treats.  Alder Bill Tishler will give a short presentation at 5:00 pm. We’re hoping for a good turnout to show the city our appreciation for this major upgrade.

Check out this FB video recently posted by Harald Kliems with a cyclist’s-eye view of the protected bicycle lane on Segoe and the buffered bicycle lanes on Sheboygan. Harald also provides commentary about benefits of and challenges posed by the new infrastructure.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWK0oBF9rv0

UW in Top 3 Bicycle Friendly Universities

The UW joins Stanford and Colorado State as institutions singled out by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) this week as Platinum Bicycle Friendly Universities.  UW first achieved this status in 2019.

LAB commended UW for:

  • 16,540 bike parking spaces (more than car parking spots).
  • Five miles of off-street bike paths and five miles of on-street bike lanes
  • A woonerf (see sidebar below) that prioritizes bike/peds on the East Campus Mall,
  • 14% of students and 17% of faculty and staff use a bicycle as their primary mode of transportation.
  • Three percent of students and staff continue to bike throughout winter months
  • Hiring a dedicated bicycle educator
  • UW’s use of multi-modal traffic counting software
  • Creating an annual pavement marking plan to improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

See the full article at:  https://bikeleague.org/the-platinum-standard-bicycle-friendly-universities/

Woonerf?

OK, I wasn’t familiar with this term. Here is a brief description in case other readers are similarly uninformed. A woonerf is a type of road design that blends pedestrian and vehicle space. Woonerfs are characterized by shared space, traffic calming (e.g. street furniture, landscaping, physical barriers), and low speed limits, They were first implemented in the Netherlands and Belgium but are now also seen in cities in the U.S. such as Washington D.C. Cool that we have one on campus!

Film Festival a Success!

Madison Bikes up in lights, literally (photo: Craig Weinhold)

A large enthusiastic crowd enjoyed films from around the world at the first Bicycle Film Festival in Madison on October 3. Thanks to the sponsors and volunteers who made this possible.

The neighborhood and our bike parking lot was filled with bicycles (photo: Craig Weinhold)

Olin-Turville Detour

Most of the construction on the Olin-Turville section of the Lake Monona “Lake Loop” has been completed. The detour on John Nolan drive has been removed and bicyclists can return to the former route with MUCH SMOOTHER pavement.

Upcoming meetings

Transportation Commission:  Wednesday, October 16, 5PM. The agenda includes discussion of the North Shore Drive Path.

Draft Preliminary Corridor Plan for Sauk Creek Greenway, Public Meeting, Fall 2024: Tuesday, October 22, 6:30 PM, via Zoom. Register here to attend: https://cityofmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqcOCvqTsuG9Czw4EMNWDYYQdABnP4x_Z9

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.

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Bike News Newsletter Weekly Update

Infra News; Bike Donations; BCycle Update

Revolution Cycles Hosting a Fall Bike-to-Work Commuter Station on 9/27

Welcome to this week’s newsletter! It was wonderful to see all of you who came out for the Bicycle Film Festival at the Barrymore last week. What an inspiring series of films and an awesome event! Here’s what you need to know about this week:

Campus Path Closed

Heads up to commuters and other path users near Campus Drive and the Vet School: the multi-use path will be closed from Monday-Friday (Oct. 7-11) for repairs. Those traveling through will want to take the detour to the North on Walnut St. and Observatory Dr. instead.

Donate Your Old Bikes

Saturday, Oct. 12th from 10am-2pm, Bikes for Kids Wisconsin is hosting a bicycle donation drive at their shop at 354 Coyier Lane, Madison, WI 53713. Bikes of all types and sizes will be accepted. Donation bikes should be gently used, although they will also help recycle bikes that are beyond repair with a small monetary donation. Check out the website, https://bikesforkidswi.org/2024-bike-donation-drives-oct-12-nov-23/, for more info and other donation options!

New Opportunities in Bikeshare

On October 1st, Bicycle Transit Systems (BTS) acquired BCycle from Trek. Prior to the acquisition, BTS ran the bikeshare operations (using BCycle bikes and software) in Philadelphia, LA, and Las Vegas. All of the employees of BCycle, including myself, were offered roles at BTS to continue to run and support the BCycle systems across the country. With more of BCycle unified under the BTS umbrella, the organization will be able to focus solely on bikeshare and product development to deliver the best possible bike rental process.

Among the changes, Helen Bradley was promoted to Director of Business Development for BTS, so Madison BCycle is looking for a new General Manager! If you love bikes and transportation, are a leader, problem solver, and have business aptitude, you are encouraged to apply. Check out the responsibilities and requirements and apply here.

Flock to State Ending & Feedback

Have you gotten a chance to enjoy the pedestrian mall on State Street this Summer? If you hadn’t heard, the city further restricted traffic on State Street by limiting the times that non-emergency vehicles can use the street, calling it “Flock to State.” While the street has be closed to private vehicles since 1974, in May the city decided to run a pedestrian mall experiment, where from Gorham to Hawthorne, State Street did not allow any non-emergency vehicles from 3pm to 4am on weekdays and 10am to 4am on weekends.

In addition to the traffic limitations, there were also events planned around that area of State Street such as the Concert Series in September, Science on the Square (upcoming on October 17th), and of course the Madison Night Market. The pedestrian mall is ending on October 30th, and the city wants your feedback on the experiment to determine the next steps. If you enjoyed having this space further dedicated to and prioritizing pedestrians, please consider filling out the super short survey and telling the city what you liked and didn’t like about it!

Mifflin Diverter Project

Looking ahead to next week, the Mifflin Diverter will be installed on Monday, October 14th. The test will add a motor vehicle traffic diverter to the Westbound lane of E Mifflin just past Breese Stevens Field. Vehicles traveling West on E Mifflin will have to turn onto N Paterson, but bicycle and pedestrian routes will remain unaffected. The project is focused on improvements to the bike boulevard on E Mifflin, a critical bicycle traffic artery North of E Washington. Traffic Engineering has been gathering data about traffic volumes before the install, and they will continue to do so throughout the coming months when the diverter is in place. They will also be looking for public feedback, so if you ever bike along this route, be sure to send them a note!

That’s all we have for you this week. Now go ride your bike!

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.

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Bike News E-Mail Weekly Update

Film fest, Week Without Driving, lock ’em up

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

Bicycle Film Festival poster with stylized bike shape on purple background

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!

Annotated photo of parts of a black bicycle securely locked with a chain and a U-lock through a bike rack, the front wheel and the frame and a pedal
Solid! Photo from UW–Madison guide to bike security.

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.

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Bike News Newsletter Weekly Update

Bikes, BRT & Regent Street

Bicycle Film Festival October 3

Do you have your tickets yet? Bicycle Film Festival is coming to Madison October 3, 6:30 pm at the Barrymore Theatre. 

Join us for a pre-show party at Working Draft Beer Company starting at 4:30. There will be NA beverage and vegan food options available. 

Bicycle Film Festival has been celebrating bicycles through art, film and music over the last 24 years. BFF spans the world in over 100 cities worldwide to an audience of over one million people. We’re excited to bring the festival to Madison for the first time!

BFF Madison presents a new short film program. These stories will appeal to a wide audience from film connoisseurs to avid cyclists and everyone in between. Curated documentaries, narratives, animations, award-winning directors, and emerging talents – all share equal billing. For lovers of gravel, road cycling, mountain biking, and bike packing, and the advocates who are pushing the bike movement forward in their communities.

This program will take you on a journey around the world featuring: 

  • Kailey Kornhauser and fellow “fat cyclist” Marley Blonsky are on a mission to change the idea that people with larger bodies can’t ride bikes
  • A family gives up everything to be together in their motorhome, traveling from bike park to bike park across Europe
  • The 1900 mile bicycle journey by Erick Cedeno (Bicycle Nomad) retracing the original route of the Buffalo Soldiers
  • A charismatic Ghanaian immigrant in Amsterdam teaches refugee adult women how to ride bikes
  • Cycle sport as relief from genocide (Oscar nominated director)
  • A Diné mountain biker hosts the first ever Enduro race in the Navajo Nation
  • And more…

Check out the trailer here!!: Bicycle Film Festival Madison – Trailer on Vimeo

Get your tickets here: https://barrymorelive.com/event/bicycle-film-festival-madison/

This Week

BRT Service Flyer
BRT Service Flyer 9/22 – Daniel Villegas

Rapid Route A Service Launch

Madison’s first ever Bus Rapid Transit route, the Rapid Route A, started its first full week of service on Sunday, 9/22. The route stretches roughly from East Towne Mall area to Junction Road at Watts Road on the Far West Side.

For those of you inclined to bring a bike on the bus, bike racks are now located inside the bus accessible using the rear doors of each sixty foot bus.

Learn (with me in the video) how to travel with a bike on Metro Transit’s new 60 foot, articulated buses being used on Routes A, B, and F here.

Public Evaluation of Regent Street

Regent St at rush hour
Regent Street – Madison Bikes

Regent Street will be up for reconstruction soon. Documenting its current condition and its shortcomings for people walking and biking is an important first step. Madison Bikes seeks your feedback to share with the City of Madison for when that reconstruction eventually takes place.

We will conduct a casual audit of Regent Street meeting in front of Budget Bicycles (1124 Regent St. location) at 5:30 p.m., followed by a social hour at Camp Cantina at 6:30 p.m.

We will have printed bike audit tool-kits available for everyone and we will provide guidance on how to use it. At the social hour, we can discuss how to best use the observations to advocate for improvements.

Madtown Monday Ride

GPS Mapped u003ca href=u0022https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48451885u0022u003eRideu003c/au003e – u0022Unfairportu0022

Join Cap City Cyclists Madison for their “Mad Town Monday” ride on Monday, 9/23. As always, the group meets at Orton Park, at 6 p.m. – party pacing at about a 12 mph pace for the 15 mile route. A bike light, helmet and a flat kit are highly recommended.

West Waubesa Trail open

Dane County Parks opened another beautiful trail. The West Waubesa Trail connects Lake Farm County Park to Goodman County Park and provides a safer alternative to biking on Lake Farm Road. Our board member Harald made a short video about the trail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmC3ofG6Xjc

Shorewood Detour Sep 30

Beginning next Monday Sep 30, the path behind the Shorewood Hills pool will close. (sewer construction has had several false starts since August, but they’re confident that Sept 30 is the date). This is a major disruption to the University Avenue path, breaking connectivity between Locust Drive and University Station.

The detour for the next few months will be on Harvard Drive through Shorewood Hills. Once winter sets in, they hope to have a shorter detour using the path on the north side of the pool. The work should be complete in the spring.

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.

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Bike News E-Mail Weekly Update

Lake Loops, Events & Stats

Two cyclists, perhaps riding a Wingra “Lake Loop” on Vilas Park Dr (Cyclists of Madison)

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.

New Waucheeta Connector route Map (Google)

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!

West Area Plan Shared-Use Path & Bicycle Network (City of Madison)
Northeast Area Plan Shared-Use Path & Bicycle Network (City of Madison)

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.

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Bike News E-Mail Weekly Update

Olin-Turville detour, Area Plans, UBRC classes, West Wash experiment

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.