With the chilly temperatures and no big city meetings this week, it’s a little slow for the Monday update. So most of this is a recap or the past week and some posts from our Facebook discussions.
The past week in review:
Several projects came before the Transportation Commission last week. We received a briefing on the results of surveys and meetings with community groups about a future reconstruction of John Nolen Dr from Olin Ave to North Shore Dr (the city portion of that road.) There was strong support for improvements to the path, with near unanimous support for more space for non-motorized traffic and separation of pedestrians and bicyclists. Improved crossings, a slower speed limit, and more green space were also widely supported.
We also heard about plans for reconstruction of Lake Mendota Dr within the city and Hammersly Rd both east and west of Whitney Way. And on a bright note, there was strong support for improved walking and bicycling infrastructure, even if that means loss of parking or adding curb and gutter where there are none now.
As a long-time watcher of and participant in city meetings, this is a real change from past years, when any discussion of losing parking on a residential street would rile neighbors, even in areas where houses have ample driveway parking. In past years adding curb and gutter also seemed controversial because residents claimed it would, “change the character of the neighborhood.” In truth, many worry about the assessments that come with adding sidewalks and the responsibility of shoveling them in the winter.
However, the project on Hammersley Rd will feature an 8-10 foot wide multi-use path on the north side of the road, but no sidewalk on the south side. The multi-use path was warmly supported by residents who said they needed a place to walk and bike, especially with children. The fact that the city will pay to construct and maintain the path surely helped ease concerns about cost and maintenance.
The week ahead
There aren’t any city meetings affecting bicycle interests this week, so no need to prepare comments for anything. And we have nothing on the Madison Bikes calendar for the week as well. But this might be a good time to remind people that any events you’d like to see on the calendar can be sent to Info@MadisonBikes.org with the subject like “Madison Bikes Calendar.”
What we’re talking about
A few items from other groups and what we are talking about on our Madison Bikes Community Facebook group:
Bicycle mechanics are sick of seeing bikes come in that are made to fail and cannot be repaired. We’ve all seen sad “bicycle shaped objects” that look like transportation, fun, or recreation, but are just cheap junk that will break a child’s (or novice adult’s) heart and steal their money. Vice and Bicycle Retailer, as well as other outlets ran stories.
Wisconsin Bike Fed sends a reminder that you can be included in their annual Ride Guide if you get your submission in by February 7. Rides, fundraisers, club events, races, classes, and other events are listed for free. Advocacy groups, businesses, clubs, and other organizations can also request a listing.
On Facebook community members engaged in a debate about, “What’s up with the flashing red light that means it’s “safe” for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross Highland on the Campus Dr Path?” (And is it actually safe to cross when that light is flashing?)
And a national economic media site suggests Baraboo for a letter writer who asks, “Can you suggest some walkable small towns (3,000-10,000 population) that are county seats and/or college towns, politically liberal, and have easy access to rivers and bike trails?”
Have you been riding outdoors lately? I admit, the cold has made me hide inside for several days in a row. But prompted by someone’s question about trail conditions on our Facebook group, I decided to do a Capital City Trail loop on Sunday. Was it cold? Yes. Was it enjoyable? Also yes! There’s just something to riding on a crisp, sunny winter day.
Be prepared for icy patches on the trails
The Transportation Commission meets on Wednesday and has several bike projects on the agenda. Let’s go through them one by one.
Odana Road Cycletrack
Last year, we saw Odana Road west of Midvale getting a mix of buffered and unbuffered bike lanes. East of Midvale, Odana already has bike lanes, but now they might see a big upgrade along the golf course: The proposal calls for a two-way cycletrack, separated from the general travel lane by delineators, on the side of the golf course and a buffered bike lane on the other side of the street. Because Odana Road is so wide on this stretch, this does not even require the removal of car parking.
Odana Road proposal with cycletrack on the south and buffered bike lane on the north side
Hammersley Road
Hammersley Road is an important east-west connection, which currently lacks sidewalks. East of Whitney Way the street has painted bike lanes; west of Whitney Way there is no bike infrastructure at all. Over the next two years, Hammersley will be reconstructed between the SW Path crossing and Brookwood Road. The designs presented to the Transportation Commission include several options, one of which would include an 8-10-foot-wide shared use path on one side:
Design option for Hammersley west of Whitney Way
Alternative options would install sidewalks on both street and not include bike infrastructure.
Lake Mendota Drive
Lake Mendota Drive is a scenic, low traffic route along the shore. But if you have ridden there recently, you probably needed to focus on the bumps and potholes on the road rather than enjoying the scenery. In addition to the bad road surface, the street also lacks sidewalks. The city plans to rebuild the street over the next few years, starting with the stretch farthest to the west in 2022. No specific design is proposed yet, but some ideas include traffic calming features and installation of a sidewalk on at least one side of the street.
If you want to provide input on any of these projects, you can email your comments to TransportationCommission@cityofmadison.com or sign up to speak at the meeting here: https://www.cityofmadison.com/MeetingRegistration
Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap
The bike corral a the Brazen Dropouts swap offers all types of bikes
On Saturday, Brazen Dropouts are hosting their annual bike swap at the Alliant Center. The swap is a great opportunity to buy used bike parts and accessories as well as complete bikes. General admission is $5; $10 for early birds, and free after noon.
It’s the very last day of the Madison Bike Year 2021. Last year’s post was titled “A Madison Bikes year like no other.” Looking back that was certainly true, and looking back at 2021, many of the themes — COVID being the big one persisted. Let’s look back at some of the events of the year.
Winter Biking
In a normal year, we would have done something to celebrate Winter Bike Day in person. But with winter bike counts down and an ongoing pandemic we decided to it call off for 2021. Promoting biking year-round is nonetheless an important part of our mission. We decided to produce a video for this purpose and released it January:
What better way to welcome spring than to wash your salty winter bike, or to get your summer bike out of storage and make sure it is working well. In April we partnered with BikEquity, Wheels for Winners, Down With Bikes, and DreamBikes and hosted a Spring Wash and Safety Check event near Brittingham Park.
Spring Bike Wash
Finally, in November we teamed up with Madison Park and Metro and hosted an outdoor winter biking get together at Tenney Park. On a cold and windy fall day, current and would-be winter riders joined over hot coffee (thank you, Cafe Domestique!), exchanged knowledge, and practiced putting their bikes on a Metro bus.
Cyclists of Madison turns 1
April was also the month to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the launch of Cyclists of Madison. Each day we post one photo of someone riding a bike in Madison, from an ever growing pool of photos. Even though I have taken the pictures myself and therefore in theory know them, it still brings me joy to check Twitter and see which one has been posted today. A big shout-out to Ben Sandee without whose programming skills this idea would never have turned into something real.
News from the Madison bike ecosystem
Madison Bikes is only one of many organizations that make up our city’s bike ecosystem.
One addition in 2021: Madison Adaptive Cycling. Their mission is to “provide an outdoor cycling experience for differently-abled individuals of all ages.” They hosted a first few events and are set to have an official launch in 2022.
Not a new organization, Freewheel had a big moment in 2021: The Madison Bike Center at the Judge Doyle Square development downtown finally opened its doors to the public. They suffered many delays from forces beyond their control — a malfunctioning sprinkler turning the parking garage into an ice cave, supply chain issues, and so on. But they have been open for a few months now. Go check them out!
BikEquity’s mobile bike library
BikEquity, started in 2020, really took off this year. BikEquity’s mission is “to provides resources, mentorship, and education so that everyone can enjoy cycling for recreation, fitness, and transportation, regardless of income, age, race, or ability.” They put that mission into practice by organizing “bike clubs” for kids and community ride, they provide bikes for those who otherwise don’t have access to them with their bike library, and they host numerous bike repair events in the community.
Bye Heather, hi Marybeth!
Summer brought a bittersweet transition: Our VP, Heather Pape, left Madison for Salt Lake City. It was sad to see her go, but we’re also very happy for her: Her new job is with a transit agency where she can use her many talents to improve public transportation for everyone. Our new VP? The awesome Marybeth McGinnis.
Ride the Drive: A new format, with new issues
Madison Parks has been organizing Ride the Drive for many years. This year they changed the format and it did not turn out well. The idea seemed fine: Instead of a single event downtown, why not have smaller events spread out through the city, centered around our city parks? In practice, it didn’t work out well.
BikEquity at Ride the Drive in Marlborough Park
The way the event is organized requires a huge amount of volunteers. Finding those turned out to be difficult, and it was more difficult in some parts of the city than in others. So on very short notice, one of the four events, around Marlborough Park was significantly cut back: No opening up of public streets to people biking and rolling, and only a few hours of events. Community organizations like BikEquity, who were scheduled to offer programming at the event only learned about this at the last minute, and many residents of the area were not aware either. This left a very bitter aftertaste to the event. As part of the Just Bikes Coalition we have had discussions with Parks to address these issues in future editions of Ride the Drive. How do we ensure that community organizations are fully included in the event? How can we allocate resources so that the event has equitable outcomes, no matter where in town it takes place? Can it be done with less reliance on volunteers?
Loading up the trailers
On a more positive note: Fellow board member Pete and I had great fun using our Madison Bikes trailer to help BikEquity transport a large number of bikes to and from the event!
Deadly Streets, Vision Zero, and a protest
2021 was a deadly year for too many people on our streets. A string of deadly crashes on East Washington Ave prompted us to form a coalition with other groups and hold a Safe Streets protest in July. Last year, the City committed itself to Vision Zero, that is, eliminating all traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. That is an ambitious goal, and without pressure from citizens and activists we will not reach it. The July protest was only one part of our work on this, and there is definitely more to come in 2022.
Dayna Long from DSA Madison addressing the crowd at the Safe Streets protest
Madison Bike Week, and a grant for Padres e Hijos En Accion
After a mostly virtual 2020 Bike Week, this year’s edition was a bit more normal. One innovation this year: As part of our commitment to racial and social justice, for the first time we offered a grant program for groups an individuals who wanted to host a Bike Week activity but needed financial resources to do so. Padres e Hijos en Accion, a community organization centered on Latino kids with disabilities and their families, received a grant for an event that brought together biking and community gardening at Quann Park. We will definitely run the grant program again next year and hope to support even more grantees.
Mayor Satya helping us kick off Madison Bike Week 2021
Madison Bike Week is possible only through the hard work of our board members and volunteers, the support of our community and from the City, and of course our Bike Week sponsors. Thank you so much, Trek and Madicon BCycle, the MGE Foundation, Wheel & Sprocket, Black Saddle Bike Shop, and Schwinn.
New infrastructure, planned or built
Buffered bike lanes on Odana!
Advocating for safe and comfortable bike infrastructure has always been a core element of our organization’s work. 2021 saw a lot of great projects being built or approved. And those projects included some that probably would not have been possible a few years ago: On Whitney Way, a lane of on-street parking was converted into a buffered bike lane, despite the vocal opposition of some residents. A similar design was approved for Old Middleton Road, to be built in 2022. Milwaukee Street between Fair Oaks and Woodmans finally got a bike lane. Odana was converted from 2 travel lanes to one travel lane, a center turn lane and a bike lane.
Buffered bike lanes (and a lower speed limit) on Whitney Way
Other projects ended up less ambitious: W Washington Ave was rebuilt not with protected bike lanes but a mix of unprotected lanes and a shared bus/bike lane, plus a semi-protected intersection at Bassett St. And the plans for the East-West BRT route include at best modest improvements for people biking aside from the Whitney Way lanes mentioned above.
We also saw several new path projects: The Garver Path was mostly completed, as was the final phase of the Demetral Park Path. And a lot of people were relieved when the long-term construction on the Cannonball and Military Ridge trails was completed a few weeks ahead of schedule. A different kind of trail project was the opening of the pump track in Aldo Leopold Park. Captial Offroad Pathfinders (CORP) and Madison Parks did an awesome job there.
Bus/bike lane on W Washington Ave
The most exciting project coming next year: The Cannonball Path will finally be extended past Fish Hatchery Road and connected to the Wingra Creek Path.
2022: We’re ready
The COVID pandemic has been and continues to be hard for so many people, and it has been hard for us as an organization as well. Not being able to meet in person with our fellow board members and the larger community. People dealing with additional stress and grief in their private and professional lives. City meetings that were more accessible because they were hosted online — but then also the feeling of having to attend ever more of them. It all adds up. And so I am very grateful to all the people on our board who kept up with it all and made our little all-volunteer organization what it is. In November we did a strategic planning session to help us figure out where we’re going and how we can work toward our vision in the most effective manner. Who knows what the new year will bring, but whatever it is, I do know that I’m part of an amazing group of people. We’ll continue to work toward our vision: A city where anyone can ride a bicycle conveniently and comfortably to any place in the city and neighboring communities year round. Please join us in that effort. Happy New Year.
Cyclists of all ages doing some gift delivery. Photo: Cyclists of Madison/Harald Kliems
Last Week
The Wisconsin State Journal posted a profile of Ben Dickmeyer, the city’s newly-hired Bicycle Recovery Specialist. Find out what all goes into his work and read it for free with no paywall this week on articles from the madison.com site.
On that note, revisit this 2013 article that describes a pilot program to leave some of the downtown red BCycle bike stations open for the entire winter. Clearly this wasn’t carried forward into the e-bike era, which I suppose makes winter operation trickier due to the need to do battery swaps, reduced battery efficiency in colder temperatures, and snow and ice removal around stations. If we can go to the moon, seems like this might be a solvable problem!
This Week
On Monday the city Transportation Policy and Planning Board (TPPB) meets at 5pm (agenda, watch). This is the last meeting of the calendar year and features a few interesting topics.
First, the board will approve the prioritization of the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) application to the federal government. This is a program where the federal government offers grants covering 60-80% of the cost of qualifying infrastructure projects. Cities can submit multiple applications, but they must prioritize them, thus this list.
Map of Potential TAP projects 2022-2024 – Image: City of Madison
The first five (of ten) are:
School Rd – Troy to Wheeler —Safe Routes to School/Ped Improvements, Bike Boulevard
East Wash alternative: Reindahl Park to East Springs Dr using local streets to East Washington frontage road —Traffic calming, bike boulevard, new bike lanes on frontage road
Badger Rd – N Rusk Ave to Overpass (phase 1) — Shared-use path along E Badger Rd to connect Rusk to beltline overpass
West Towne Path – Gammon to Zor Shrine —Shared-use path
West Towne Path – Zor Shrine to High Pt —Shared-use path
Projects not selected by the feds may still move forward with support from the State or other funding sources.
Then, a discussion of proposed creation of a citywide Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program, which “is a package of information, policies, strategies and incentives designed to encourage users of the transportation system reduce the number and length of SOV [single occupancy vehicle] trips and consider alternative, more sustainable, forms of transportation.” According to the slide material, some of these techniques have been used before to guide development, but this formalizes it as a broad city policy.
The annual Santa Cycle Rampage event took place this weekend with many riders taking a festive lap around the capitol square to raise money for the Wisconsin BikeFed.
Winter Bike Tires
I hope you were able to enjoy the last breath of fall this weekend as temperatures hovered just above freezing. Freezing temperatures have have made the roads and paths a little icy. For those who are unacquainted with studded winter tires, I recommend considering investing in a pair to keep your winter rides enjoyable (and upright). Winter tires have hardened metal spikes/studs and extra grippy rubber which maintain “reasonable” traction on icy surfaces. A novice winter cyclist might mistakenly believe a knobby mountain bike tire would be perfect for winter riding and they would be correct for snowy conditions, however winter tire metal studs are absolutely necessary to safely navigate icy surfaces. You can stop by any of your local bike stores to pickup a pair which generally run about $80 each and will last 5+ seasons. You won’t regret it.
Thursday – Olin Holiday Lights Ride
Black Saddle, Slow Roll and Revolution Cycles are hosting a casual Lake Monona ride to see the holiday lights including a stop at the Olin park light show. Event officially starts at 6:30 Thursday departing from Slow Roll Cycles. Cyclists are welcome to show up or RSVP through the event on Facebook.
Old Middleton Road to get buffered bike lanes
The Transportation Commission approved the installation of buffered bike lanes on Old Middleton Road, all the way from Eau Claire to Capitol Ave. The general travel lanes will be narrowed to 10 ft, and both sides of the road will have 7-foot bike lanes with a 3-foot buffer. Given the traffic volumes on Old Middleton Road (and a recent spade of crashes), buffered bike lanes are the recommended design to make this road safe and comfortable to ride on. Construction will start next spring.
Cap City Trail, Jackson St, and Ohio Ave improvements
On the other side of the isthmus, a street reconstruction project will include improvements to the Capital City Trail near Atwood Avenue. The crossings of the trail with Jackson Street and Ohio Ave are not only bumpy, but there also are frequent conflicts with people in cars crossing the path. As part of a larger project, improvements are coming: Jackson and Ohio will both be turned into one-way streets and narrowed significantly.
Where the streets cross the Cap City Trail, the trail will be kept at grade and there will be stop signs for cars. To still allow people on bikes to access Atwood Avenue in both directions, an 8-foot widened sidewalk will be built along Jackson and Ohio.
Finally, the project includes space for a new BCycle station at the corner of the Cap City and Ohio!
After a slow couple of weeks, what with Thanksgiving and then few meetings afterward, we are going to see a bunch of activity before the end of the year. We are also seeing the first snowfall/freezing temperatures, so I hope everyone has figured out their winter biking options. If not, swing on by the Madison Bikes Community Facebook group, where there will be plenty of discussions of how to cope with/enjoy winter on a bike.
The week ahead
Monday
A reminder that a portion of the Blackhawk Path through Shorewood Hills will be closed starting today. The portion that will be closed runs from Tomahawk Trail to about where the path crosses under University Ave. The closure is expected to last six weeks. More information on the project, as well as maps of detours, can be found here.
The Transportation Planning and Policy Board meeting was cancelled, so nothing to report for that.
Tuesday
The University Bicycle Resource Center will have an in-person class from noon-1:30 pm: Bike Through Winter. The UBRC is located in the parking garage under Helen C White Library, across Park St from Memorial Union. You can also check out recordingings of all their past classes on YouTube.
An update on the buffered bike lanes that were passed at the last TC meeting. Not sure what the update is about, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few comments in support. I think staff were surprised how easily it went after the difficulties getting the lanes on Whitney Way.
Update on reconstruction of St Paul Ave on the east side. This project will include raised crossings for the Cap City Trail at Ohio Ave and Jackson St, so fewer bumps riding that section of path!
If you are interested in how the new system to allocate funding for traffic calming, Vision Zero, bike/ped improvements, and school zone safety is coming along, there will be a discussion and a review of a list of projects under the title of Safe Streets Madison.
The committee will also review the signal priority list, deciding where new traffic signals should be placed.
Finally, the committee will review the crash report from 2020 and discuss what it shows us. The report shows the most common crash types and locations for motor vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles, and mopeds. There’s a lot to learn in this report.
Thursday
The Plan Commission will hold a special session to discuss a proposed Transit-Oriented Development overlay zoning for the BRT route and surrounding areas. TOD zoning specifically calls out improvements in bicycling and walking connections to facilitate both access to high capacity transit and to discourage auto-oriented land use. Although this is not bicycle-specific, it will be an interesting discussion to hear and will give us some insights into future non-auto development that is likely to happen along the BRT routes. The meeting starts at 5:00 pm, and you can stream it or watch it later here.
Saturday
Finally, it’s time for the Santa Rampage! Starting at 9:00 am at various locations to converge on Library Mall at 11:00 am, make sure to wear your holiday finest — don’t show up without a costume, but it doesn’t have to be Santa — and ride the streets of Madison spreading cheer and raising funds for Bike Fed’s efforts across the state. This is a slow roll, family-friendly event, so bring everyone.
This year, there will also be a clothing drive for kids that may not have warm stuff for winter. More details, timing, routes, and registration can be found at the event page or by contacting Caitlin Hussey at Caitlin@wisconsinbikefed.org.
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.
An underpass connects the existing trail on the east side of Highway M to the new trail through the state park
It’s a quiet week after the holidays. I used the weekend to explore new trails near Governor Nelson State Park. There is a new section of trail, connecting the existing bike path at the Bishops Bay development to the park entrance road and then on to North Shore Bay Drive. The trail is all graded and ridable; paving will probably happen in the spring. This gets us one step closer to being able to bike around Lake Mendota on low-stress trails and roads.
If you’re into mountain biking, join Capital City Offroad Pathfinders (CORP) as a member and attend their annual meeting at Slow Roll Cycles this Saturdayat 5pm. They’ll “go over the highlights of the past year, talk about what’s coming in 2022, and take care of elections. We’ll have food and drink to thank our volunteers and members. Meet the folks who make things happen, and learn how to get more involved.”
Speaking of supporting your local advocacy orgs: Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, and if you appreciate the work that Madison Bikes or any of the great bike organizations in town are doing, consider making a donation. We’d greatly appreciate it.
Saturday’s Wisconsin Cyclocross State Championships saw record attendance! Kudos to Madison’s Revolution Cycles for organizing the race. High turnout was partially due to the efforts of one of Madison’s newest racing teams, Femme 40 Racing. The team was created this year by a few local women to promote WFTN-B (women, trans, femme, non-binary) participation in bike racing. Femme 40 is welcoming to aspiring WFTN-B racers of all riding experience levels. One of the organizers, Kristin Zarr, also created the Monday 40 social ride this past Spring; for more information, including how to join the team, check out Monday40.com.
On Sunday, Cranksgiving Madison 2021 went off without a hitch. Kudos to Black Saddle Bike Shop for hosting the event and making manifests for the dozens of riders who participated. By Sunday afternoon, enough thanksgiving meals (including many turkeys!) were delivered by bike to meet the demands of Goodman Community Center.
Photo: Cranksgiving Madison Instagram
This Week
Not much is on the docket this week. No TPPB or TC meetings, and not many bike events to speak of, as hopefully many Madisonians are finding some much-needed time off for the holiday. Wednesday might be the last day this year with weather in the 50’s, so enjoy a nice Fall ride while you can before winter biking comes fully into season!
Looking Ahead
Starting December 6th, the University Ave bike path will be closed just east of Whitney Way up to the railroad crossing intersection with the Blackhawk bike path, including the intersection at Indian Hills Park, for a MMSD sewer project. Path users can detour via N. Whitney Way and Old Middleton Rd. via the Blackhawk path, with plans to allow detouring via Flambeau Rd. through Indian Hills Park by mid-January 2022 as the project progresses. See closure and detour maps below.
Madison plans to reconstruct Jackson St. and Ohio Ave. where they cross the Cap City path, as part of a larger street resurfacing project next Spring. Current plans include raised tabletop crossings for path users, and making Jackson a southbound one-way street to avoid conflict between drivers turning from Atwood and path users crossing at Jackson. These intersections are busy with foot and bike traffic, especially in warmer months when adjacent parks and ice cream shops are in high use. A bike rider was injured in a crash with a car here in 2019. The city opened a survey to give feedback on project design, linked here. There will also be virtual public input meetings November 30th and December 1st, more info on these here.
Winter slowly creeping its way in. Photo credit: Harald Kliems
Last Week
At Tuesday’s Common Council budget meeting, an amendment to halt funding for BRT until the council approved an alternate route failed to receive enough votes to pass. This means that for now, BRT will continue to be funded with the plan to have it run down State Street.
On Friday, The Bodgery unveiled its new bike work stand area. Members can schedule its use 24/7. It is a warm space where you can work on your bike projects over winter.
On Saturday, Madison Bikes held its Winter Bike Meet and Greet. If you missed it, you can always post to our Facebook Community page with any questions you have about extending your riding into the winter season!
This Week
This is a pretty packed week with lots going on, so let’s dive in!
On Monday there will be a virtual meeting of Madison’s Transportation Policy and Planning Board at 5:00 PM. One big item is the approval of TAP projects. These are projects that would improve the ability of people to get around without a car. Here’s the full agenda.
On Tuesday, the University Bicycle Resource Center is holding a hub overhaul demo at 6:00 PM. The class will cover disassembling and repacking a hub’s bearings. This is a free event and will be located at the UBRC’s location in the Helen C. White garage, next to the Memorial Union.
Also on Tuesday, there will be a public meeting for Connect Greater Madison 2050. This meeting will take place at noon. You can learn more about it and register for the virtual meeting here.
On Wednesday Madison’s Transportation Commission will meet virtually at 5:00 PM. On the agenda is an update on Sheboygan Ave bike lanes, and an item asking for review and feedback of 2022 Public Works transportation projects. You can get the full agenda here.
On Friday, the Bike Fed of Wisconsin will be holding its Fall FUNdraiser. This event will be at Trek HQ in Waterloo, and is scheduled to run from 6-10 PM. You can read more about it and get tickets here.
On Saturday, the Wisconsin State Cyclocross Championship races are being held at Trek HQ in Waterloo. This event starts at 9 AM. You can learn more about that here.
Finally, Sunday is Cranksgiving. Cranksgiving is “part bike ‘race’, part food drive, part scavenger hunt”. This year’s event will be more virtual, but you can participate by picking up a manifest at Black Saddle Bike Shop in N Sherman, biking to the various grocery stores for items, then dropping off those items at Goodman Community Center on Waubesa St. You can learn more here.
A cyclist basking in the afternoon fall sunshine. Photo: Cyclists of Madison
It’s been a beautiful stretch of weather for fall riding! With the time change, you might find yourself unexpectedly biking home from work or school in the dark, so it’s good to be prepared and to be visible. Throughout the month of November, the city is promoting its second annual Be Bright at Night campaign. This includes free bike light and reflective gear giveaways at all Madison Public Library locations for walkers and cyclists (while supplies last).
Unfortunately these balmy temperatures won’t last forever but this year’s rendition of our classic Winter Bike Fashion Show is happening on Saturday! We’re partnering with Madison Parks and holding an outdoor Meet & Greet to show off your winter bike clothes, bikes and related gear. More details below in this week’s schedule.
Several riders enjoying the new pump track at Leopold Elementary School. Photo: Harald Kliems
This location is really great, right along the Cannonball Path, and there’s lots more to come next spring with a new skills track surrounding the pump track and even more of the Madison Bicycle Adventure Trail. For another take, you might enjoy this article + video (paywall from madison.com).
Also, last Thursday, the mayor held a press briefing that covered a variety of topics. One of those was a briefing on the Vision Zero project progress by City Traffic Engineer (and fellow cyclist) Yang Tao. His comments begin around the 10m 50s mark and take around six minutes.
This Week
On Thursday at 5:30pm, Greater Madison MPO is hosting a Connect Greater Madison 2050 public meeting. The plan presented and discussed at these meetings “will guide transportation planning in the Greater Madison area for the next 25 years.” If you can’t attend this one, there’s another chance next week Tuesday at noon.
On Saturday between 12pm and 2pm, Madison Bikes partners with Madison Parks to hold our Winter Bike Meet & Greet. The event is outdoors and will be held in-person at the Tenney Park shelter. We’ll have complimentary single-serve snacks, beverages supplied by Cafe Domestique and plenty of great info about riding in, *ahem*, cooler weather. Temperatures should be a bit more typical of the season so let’s see your flashiest, hottest winter gear. And yes, shout it from the rooftops: Continuing our annual tradition, Madison Metro is bringing a bus so you can practice putting your bike on the rack!
Further Out
On Tuesday, November 16 at 6pm (just in time for you to pull your winter ride from the deep recesses of your garage or storage unit) the University Bicycle Resource Center will be demoing how to overhaul a bicycle wheel hub. Not your cup of tea? They have nine classes from the last two years archived on YouTube. Something for everyone!
On Saturday, November 20 between 6pm and 10pm, the Bike Fed is holding their fall fundraiser in Waterloo, with a party + a behind the scenes tour @ Trek. Please RSVP by November 11.
