Before we get into the Monday Updates, two quick reminders:

• Our board of directors call for applications is still open. If you’re interested in joining our board, fill out this application form, or contact heather@madisonbikes.org to ask questions — or come to our Community Meeting on Monday night (see below).
• We’re also still looking for models for the Winter Bike Fashion Show. Applications close a week from now, and so if you want to share you knowledge about riding in the cold, this is your chance! No modeling experience required; we welcome and encourage all body types and physical abilities, and applications from people of color, LGBTQ+ models.

Also note that phase 2 of the repaving of the Cap City Trail has now been scheduled. The segment between Fish Hatchery Rd and Seminole Highway will be closed starting October 2. More info on the Dane County Park page.

Last Week

The Youth Global Climate Strike was the big event last week. News reports speak of over 1000 participants in Madison, some young, some not so young. Some of those participants got to the Capitol Square as a Critical Mass ride. It’s been a long time since there has been a Critical Mass in Madison, but turnout was good and a big group of people rode their bikes from Olbrich Gardens down East Washington Ave to the Capitol. It looks like there is some interest in future rides and there is now a dedicated Facebook page.

This Week

Are you interested in being involved with organizing our Winter Bike Fashion Show? Help us work on a project that would expand winter bike path maintenance from 5 to 7 days a week? Or just want to know more about Madison Bikes? Then you should come to our Madison Bikes Community Meeting on Monday night. We’ll be at Bendyworks (106 East Doty Street, Suite 200) from 6-8 pm. If you plan on coming, please shoot a quick email to harald@madisonbikes.org.

Also on Monday night is Bike Fitchburg’s monthly meeting. On the agenda will be a recap of their Take Me to the Border fundraising ride. 6:30-8 pm, Fitchburg Public Library.

Wednesday is a busy day.

The Transportation Commission has their regular meeting. On the agenda:

• Expanding the current Snow Emergency zone: This is good news for biking. Parked cars often impede snow clearing close to curb, which then narrows the space available for biking.
• Relocating the intercity bus terminal
• Adding speed humps on Lake Edge Boulevard between Maher and Major

It’s cyclocross season! Whether you’re cross-curious or are already a ‘crosser but want to improve your skills, the weekly cyclocross workshop series by Madison Parks and partners is for you. This week, the workshop is happening at Olbrich Park on Wednesday from 5:30-7 pm. Free and open to all.

If you’d rather stay indoors, come to Union South for a free screening of Anthropocene, a “stunning sensory experience and cinematic meditation on humanity’s massive reengineering of the planet.” First come, first serve; doors open at 6:30.

On Thursday, you have another opportunity to go to a Bus Rapid Transit Open House. Mayor Rhodes-Conway really kicked off her Metro Forward campaign last week, and bus rapid transit is a key component of her plan. The open house will be a good opportunity to learn more and ask questions. Madison College, Truax Campus, Room D1630, 1710 Wright Street, 6-8 pm

We at Madison Bikes believe that to enable more people to bike, we need to have a seamless network of low-stress bike facilities, covering all of our neighborhoods. The south side is one area where that network has many gaps that need improvement. As part of the update of the South Madison Neighborhood plan, the city’s bike/ped coordinator Renee Callaway is hosting a Bike and Talk Action Workshop on Saturday: “bike and talk about how to make it easier, safer, and more fun to get around on the south side. […] this is a way to show city staff the best and not so great places to get to on bike. Bring your bike as there will be a group ride to start the day. If you prefer not to bike with the group join the workshop at 2:30pm back at the Goodman South Library. Inside if weather is uncooperative. Sat, Sept 28, 1 –⁠ 3:30pm. RSVP here.

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.

Editor’s note: Apologies for making our Monday Update a Wednesday Update this week. If you’re interested in supporting our Update team, send an email to harald@madisonbikes.org.

Last Week

On Saturday a person riding a bike, Kay Larson, was killed on a Madison area road. This time on West Broadway, which is a Dane County highway just south of Monona, at about 1:40 AM. The Police Report states the bicyclist was riding erratically prior to the crash. Although Broadway has bike lanes, they are in poor condition and littered with debris–some of it even quite large–making it difficult to not ride somewhat erratically to avoid it. It is legal to take a lane past the debris and bad conditions, however it would present further risks to bicyclists especially with traffic regularly going 10 miles per hour over the already high 40 mile per hour speed limit, and distracted and drunk driving being a constant problem. Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call to Dane County to better maintain bikeways on their roads.

Last week’s heavy rains have also flooded a part of the Military Ridge State Trail. The flooded section is an underpass of US-151 just west of Verona that the DNR knows chronically floods because of the permanent installation of a depth gauge. You can take an alternate route around the flooded section using Nine Mound Road and a paved path near the Epic campus.

This Week

On Monday and Tuesday, Madison Bikes and the City hosted a delegation of elected officials, state, regional, and city planning staff from all around Utah. Bike Utah, the statewide bike advocacy organization had organized the trip to promote biking and allow the delegation to learn from Madison’s bike successes and challenges. We had a great time showing them around on a guided tour on BCycles and hearing outsiders’ perspectives about our city.

Wednesday,September 18

From 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM at Badger Prairie County Park there is a free Cyclocross Practice opportunity. Badger Prairie County Park is located at 4654 Maple Grove Drive in Verona. The free cyclocross practice is sponsored by the Capital Off-Road Pathfinders, L5, Neff Cycling, and Madison Parks.

The third Law Park Community Workshop is being held at 6 PM, this time at the Madison’s Central Library, located at 201 W. Mifflin St. in Madison’s downtown. As mentioned above, you can learn more by heading over to the city’s Law Park Master Planning process web page. You can also fill out the public survey or send in your thoughts via email to LawPark@cityofmadison.com.

Also at 6 PM, there will be a free Flat Fix Class held at the University Bicycle Resource Center in the Helen C. White Garage (Lot 6) at 600 N. Park Street just across from the Memorial Union. Learn how to fix a flat tire with confidence by bike advocate India Viola. Bring your own wheel to practice with or look on with another student. You can bring your own tools to learn with if you like, otherwise tools will be available. Free Planet Bike Blinky light set to the first five (5) students.

Thursday, September 19

The Transportation Policy and Planning Board is meeting at 4:00 PM in room 215 in the Madison Municipal Building at 215 Martin Luther King Boulevard. There’s an item on the agenda regarding a Winter Bike Maintenance Policy Update and Budget Ask that might include an action item, so feel free to send an email to the board in support of improving bike route maintenance in the winter. Link to the full agenda.

Friday, September 20

At 9:00 AM the Global Climate Strike is taking place. Students and workers alike will strike to protest humanity’s continued dependence on fossil fuels. You can read about the strike in Madison here, or read more about the Global Climate Strike on their Facebook Events page or their website: ycatwi.org/sep20

As part of the Global Climate Strike there will be two Critical Mass Rides to Support Climate Action. At 11 AM the ride will go from Olbrich Park to the top of State Street, and at 7 PM the ride will go from the top of State back to Olbrich Park. If there are fewer than 25 people the ride will follow Willy Street and if there are more than 25 people it will follow East Wash. Read more about it on their Facebook Events page.

Saturday, September 21

Saturday is the 21 anniversary of the creation of Surly Bikes, and to celebrate Revolution Cycles is hosting a Sub-24 Hour (S24O) ride/bike-camping trip from their shop to Sandhill Station campground in Lake Mills. Meet at Rev Cycles at 12 PM, and the ride will start shortly thereafter. You will need to supply your own bike (doesn’t need to be a Surly), camping gear, and food.

Sunday, September 22

The Telenet UCI Cyclocross World Cup Waterloo starts at 12 PM. The event will be at Trek’s headquarters at 801 W. Madison Street in Waterloo and will be free to attend. This is the largest cyclocross event in the U.S. and promises to be a lot of fun. Family friendly and a festival atmosphere. Read more about it at their Facebook events page.

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.

Photo credit: Dan Stout

UPDATE: Application deadline has been extended to 10/7

We’re looking for Madison Bikers of all ages to share their expertise in dressing for winter weather! Madison Bikes is excited to host the 2019 edition of the Winter Bike Fashion Show on November 2nd from 1-4 pm at the High Noon Saloon. As a volunteer model, you’ll come dressed in your own gear, walk the catwalk, and share some of your personal tips for winter riding to encourage others to ride more this season.

Photo credit: Rob Streiffer

You don’t have to be a year-round cyclist to apply, it’s cool if you’re new to riding in the cold, and no modeling experience is required. Are you a summer cyclist who’s found a good way to extend your commute into the late fall with a few extra layers? Do you have a teenager who manages to get around town by bike with very little specialized gear? Are you a parent who has figured out how to keep your kids warm for weekend adventures on the bike path? We want to showcase winter biking and winter bikers in all their many forms!

Photo credit: Dan Stout

Application deadline: Monday Sept 30th.

We’re looking for:

• year round bikers to show off their biking clothes and bike gear
• Shoulder season (late fall or early spring) riders to show off their biking clothes and bike gear
• Adults and kids (both kids who ride their own bikes, and kids who are transported by bike)
• Gear for winter biking and demo bikes- how do you adapt your bike for winter riding?
• We love DIY solutions that make it easy and inexpensive to giving winter biking a try!
• We strongly encourage people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ winter riders to apply!

To apply, please complete the following questions and submit to Nicole at winterbike@madisonbikes.org by Monday Oct 7.

1. When/where/why do you bike in the winter?
2. What do you wear on a typical winter ride?
3. What’s one change you’ve made to your clothing and/or biking setup that’s made it more comfortable to ride when it gets cold?
4. Do you have a winter biking story that may motivate others to ride in winter?
5. What is your favorite thing about riding in winter?
6. Optional: Attach a photo of you in your biking clothes and/or you with your bike that we can in promotions for the Winter Bike Fashion Show

Photo credit: Rob Streiffer

Monday Update: Board Open House and more!

Ribbon cutting at the new Blackhawk Trail Extension that is now officially open. A video tour of the trail can be found here.

This Week

Wednesday

The Transportation Commission will meet from 5:00 pm –⁠ 7:00 pm at 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd Room 207, Madison Municipal Building. Read the agenda here.

Practice your cyclocross skills. Capital City Offroad Pathfinders, Madison Parks, Neff Cycles, and L5 are offering weekly clinics in parks around town, both for newbies to cyclocross and more advanced riders. This Wednesday they’ll be at Olin Park, starting at 5:30 pm. More details.

CORP Movie Night will be6:00 –⁠ 9:00pm at Capital Brewery and Bier Garten. Darkness is coming sooner, and with that the Annual Fall Movie Night returns to the Capital Brewery Beer Garden. This year they’re going back to the roots of the sport; Klunkerz is a documentary about the folks we have to thank for getting us off-road; check out the trailer.

Tickets are $15 presale or $20 at the door. More info here.

Thursday

Board Recruitment open house happens at 6 pm at Delta Beer Lab (167 E Badger Rd). Have you ever been curious about what it is like to be on the board? Come chat with us and find out more! More info about the event is here.

Applications are now open, you do not have to attend to apply. The deadline to apply is October 5th. You can email heather@madisonbike.org if you have any questions.

Let’s start this weekly update with some fun pictures: As our board member Grant pointed out, our Badger Band is a biking band!

If you ride past the band practice field at this time of year, you’ll see tons of bikes parked there. On my way back from work, I hung around a bit and took pictures of the band members biking themselves and their instruments back home.

More shots here.

Happy Labor Day!

I’m going to have to take it slow today: Bombay Bicycle Club hosted their Wright Stuff Century as a fundraiser for Free Bikes 4 Kidz yesterday. I did the 64 mile route on the tandem, and after all those hills I’m pretty sore and tired. But it was a great event, benefiting a great local bike charity! Thanks to all the volunteers that made it happen.

Photo credit: Karla King/Bombay Bicycle Club

If you’re reading this early and have energy for some manual labor, go to the trail building day in Cross Plains:

The CP trails are riding great and our locals are getting the itch to finish the remaining west loop and turn the out-and-back in to a full loop. We will be renting an excavator the weekend of Labor Day and are looking for helpers to hand finish behind our equipment crew. No experience necessary and family members are welcome. We will supply hand tools and refreshments, but please bring your own gloves, water, and bug spray.

Starts at 9am, more details here.

On Wednesday, you can practice your cyclocross skills. Capital City Offroad Pathfinders, Madison Parks, Neff Cycles, and L5 are offering weekly clinics in parks around town, both for newbies to cyclocross and more advanced riders. This Wednesday they’ll be at Badger Prairie County Park, starting at 5:30 pm. More details.

Also on Wednesday, the Madison Area Transportation Planning Board is meeting. The big item on the agenda is the public hearing on the Draft 2020-2024 Transportation Improvement Program for the Madison Metropolitan Area & Dane County, a.k.a. the TIP. This is an important document that lays out the budget for all regional transportation projects in the next four years. Unfortunately, it is a long and rather unwieldy document, which makes it difficult to digest and comment on. You can find it in all its 123-page glory here. The meeting takes place at the City-County Building, Room 351, 6:30 pm.

The event I’m most excited about this week is on Saturday morning: It’s the ribbon cutting for the new Blackhawk Path segment in Shorewood Hills! This is a great addition to our low-stress bike network, as you no longer have to ride on Marshall Court and make awkward right/left crossings at University Bay Drive. Come and celebrate at 9 am at the University Station mall. And in the meantime, check out our video of the new path:

If you want to test fancy mountain bikes, you can join Giant Bicycle for two demo events this weekend: At Quarry Ridge on Saturday from 9-4; and at the Blackhawk Trails on Sunday between 10-4. Click the links for more details.

Finally, the Fair Share Coalition is looking for volunteers for Bike the Barns. Sign up here.

It’s Liv, over at FairShare again! I’ll keep this short: we are still looking for folks to fill up volunteer slots for FairShare’s Bike the Barns, on September 15th. With up to 800 riders, 4 farm stops (each with live music, farm tours, and food), and an after party featuring 7 local food vendors, there are a lot of hands that go into making this event a success.

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.

While everyone is trying to squeeze in a few more summer rides, parents are thinking about sending the kids back to school, college students are planning their classes, and days are getting shorter, we are still hard at work on a number of issues.

We’ll be releasing a request Soon we’ll be asking for people who might want to be on our board of directors. No formal process or link yet, but think about if you might want to be one of those people.

We made our goal for fundraising to sponsor a rack at the new Pinney LIbrary, so when it opens, look for the rack with our name. Thanks to all who donated!

And the city’s Bike Madison updates are now available in PDF form each week. Here’s the Aug 23 edition. We try to keep you up to date on construction, plans, meetings, detours, official city events, and other news, but if you want to get the latest directly from the city, you can subscribe to their updates. There are links to a number of upcoming projects as well as some updates and detours for current construction going on around the city.

The week ahead

Monday

Both Bike Fitchburg and Madison Bikes will be holding meetings.

This is the regular monthly meeting of Bike Fitchburg from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Fitchburg Public Library, 5530 Lacy Rd.

Madison Bikes is trying something new. Instead of having our committees meet separately, we are going to have the entire board — and any interested volunteers — meet as a group and work on the events and issues we have before us. This month we will be meeting at 6:00 pm Bendy Works, 2nd floor of 106 E Doty St. If you are interested in getting involved or helping us with advocacy, events, or communications, come on by.

Tuesday

The two city transportation committees — the Transportation Planning and Policy Board and the Transportation Commission — will hold a joint meeting at 5:00 pm in Room 215 of the Madison Municipal Building. The only topic is to review the transportation ordinances and the responsibilities of each committee. I.e. they’ll be talking about who is supposed to be doing what.

Slow Roll Cycles — 4118 Monona Dr — will host a no-drop ride and art party 5:30-9:30 pm.I’ll let them explain:

“For this edition we have a special guest – Morgan McArthur – who will sharing some of this work and will be pin-striping a bike while we ride. Morgan does contract work for Waterford here in Wisco, has been doing this for years and knows his craft very well. We are riding at 5:30, strolling to the Lower Yahara River Trail and back (15 miles). After we will have beers (BYOB), snacks and talk art and bicycles. We will be joined by the Madison Rotary Bike Fellowship – they are arranging this special night. Share, tell your friends to come – NO Drop casual ride as always.” More information at the Facebook event page.

Wednesday

Cyclocross practice at Reindahl Park. If you are interested in trying out cyclocross, or want to sharpen your skills, there is a long list of practice opportunities. More info, the calendar, and more links can be found on the Madison Bikes Community Calendar.

Thursday

How will bus rapid transit affect bicycling in Madison? Maybe it won’t, but if you have any questions about this coming transit option, or just want to weigh in, come to the third public meeting for the planning study at the Madison Senior Center, 330 W Mifflin St, 6:00-7:30 pm.

Sunday

One of the best known rides of the summer will be held as a fundraiser for Free Bikes For Kids. The Wright Stuff Century, put on by Bombay Bicycle Club, will start and end at Capital Brewery in Middleton. Routes options of 30, 60, and 100 miles will give almost everyone a ride they can enjoy. More information can be found here.

What were we talking about on Facebook?

There are always lively discussions on our Madison Bikes Community group. Here’s a sample from the last week:

After one of our members had a nasty crash when a driver ran a red light at John Nolen Dr and North Shore Dr, a lot of people had opinions about what should be done at the intersection and what the law is regarding using a crosswalk on a bike.

Photos of new bike paths at Machinery Row and in Shorewood Hills were posted, and people commented. The new link in Shorewood Hills isn’t ready for traffic yet, so please stay off for a while longer.

Photos of the crazy combination bike lane/sidewalk on Winnequah in Monona — with trash bins blocking it — sparked discussions about Monona’s plans for better walking and biking facilities and the history of the weird arrangement that is on the ground now.

And unfortunately, last week started with news of two more bike crashes on the far west side, one involving a hit-and-run on Gammon.

Remember, if you have an event for our community calendar, please send it to us.

Last call for donations: Pinney Library Bike Rack

Our fundraiser for the new Pinney Library is nearing it’s end. We have raised just shy of our $800. Can you help us achieve our $1000 goal, which would allow us to get a Madison Bikes-branded rack at the library? Donate now on our website! And thanks to all those who have already contributed!

Public Input Wanted

There are a few Master Planning projects in the works of particular interest to this group. They are the Law Park Master Plan and the Vilas Park Master Plan. Law Park is the major waterfront park that runs from Machinery Row to the John Nolen Drive bridges over Monona Bay, and includes the most heavily used path in the state, the Capital City Path. Vilas Park is adjacent to Henry Vilas Zoo and currently has a one-way road with a somewhat deficient contraflow bike lane. Both of these projects have open community surveys with which you are encouraged to participate, links below.

There is also a Bicycle Friendly Community Survey being conducted by the League of American Bicyclists looking for input about local bicycling conditions from everyone who bikes in Madison. The survey is being conducted to assess the LAB’s Bicycle Friendly Community rating for the city. Madison is currently rated a Platinum Bicycle Friendly Community by the LAB. There are also Bicycle Friendly Community surveys available for Fitchburg, Verona, and Sun Prairie.

Law Park Survey

Vilas Park Survey

League of American Bicyclists Survey

Last Week

On Thursday, the city held its first planning workshop with regards to the Law Park Master Planning process. Law Park is a major waterfront park in downtown Madison that includes the heavily used Capital City Path, and the city wants your input in how the park will be used in the future. Thursday’s workshop was the first of four public outreach efforts the city is planning. The second one being this Wednesday, so watch out for that. In the meantime, you are encouraged to fill out the public survey or send in your thoughts via email to LawPark@cityofmadison.com.

Several construction projects have also started to enter their final stages.

The construction on Wilson and Williamson Streets has largely been completed, and the light poles are now up for the Blount Street diagonal crossing. As part of this project, new stop signs were erected to face car traffic at the Capital City Path crossing at Blount, demonstrating the city’s commitment to improving bicycle infrastructure for people.

The construction of the Shorewood Hills Path between University Bay Drive and Marshall Court is also nearing completion. Last week the asphalt was laid to bridge a long-identified gap in that path that starts on the University campus and extends all the way to Allen Boulevard near Middleton. Although the asphalt has been laid, there is still much work to be done, including pouring the concrete for the curb ramps, so be patient and continue to use Marshall Court for the time being to allow the contractor to properly finish this project.

Also, according to the East Johnson Street project web page, the path between Burr Jones Park and First Street is expected to reopen this week, although it appears the path crossing at First Street will continue to be closed.

This Week

Monday, August 19

The monthly Madison Bikes Board Meeting is taking place at Madison’s Central Library and starts at 6:00 PM.

Tuesday, August 20,

Bombay Bicycle Club is having a Ride and Social starting and ending at Wisconsin Brewing Company, located at 1079 American Way in Verona. Meet at 5:45 PM for a route briefing, and stay for the post-ride social from 7-9 PM. More details, including the Ride With GPS route, can be found on the Facebook Events page for the event.

Wednesday, August 21,

From 9 AM to 11 AM, there will be Free Bike Tune-Ups courtesy of Freewheel Community Bike Shop at First United Methodist Church, located at 203 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Madison. There will also be an educational element to the event. Read more about the event here.

From 5:30 PM to 6:45 PM at Badger Prairie County Park there is a free Cyclocross Practice opportunity. Badger Prairie County Park is located at 4654 Maple Grove Drive in Verona. The free cyclocross practice is sponsored by the Capital Off-Road Pathfinders, L5, Neff Cycling, and Madison Parks.

The second Law Park Community Workshop is being held at 6 PM, this time at the Warner Park Community Recreation Center, located at 1625 Northport Drive on Madison’s north side. As mentioned above, you can learn more by heading over to the city’s Law Park Master Planning process web page. You can also fill out the public survey or send in your thoughts via email to LawPark@cityofmadison.com.

Thursday, August 22,

The City of Madison is hosting a public meeting regarding Demetral Park Path Lighting. The meeting will run from 6 PM to 7 PM at Bashford United Methodist Church, located at 329 North Street on Madison’s east side. Read more about the meeting here on the City’s website.

Sunday, August 25,

Trek is hosting a Mountain Bike Demo at Quarry Ridge Park, located at 2740 Fitchrona Road, in Fitchburg. The demo runs from 10 AM to 2 PM, and you are welcome to try out Trek’s new full-suspension and hard tail MTBs. Read more about this event on its Facebook Events page.

Madison Bikes is looking for Board Member Candidates

If you think you would be a good fit on the Madison Bikes Board, there will be a board member open house on September 12 at 6 PM. Location TBD.

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.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Monday

Events Committee 6:00 tonight at Rockhound Brewing Company. Preparations have begun for the winter bike fashion show, help us make it great.

Wednesday

Transportation Commission 5:00 –⁠ 7:00 pm 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd Room 207, Madison Municipal Building. There will be a presentation about Safe Routes to School.

Cyclocross Practice 5:30 pm at Aldo Leopold Park Madison Parks, Capitol Off Road Pathfinders, L5 and Neff Cycling are joining up to offer a huge calendar of free cyclocross practice opportunities this year.

You have 2 options to choose from at each practice: a beginners clinic and an intermediate/advanced practice. It’s your choice, or you could try both! All practices are free and open to the public. All ages and abilities are welcome (boys and girls); anyone old enough to ride a bike and take instruction fairly well. More info is available here.

Thursday

Erik’s Bike Shop MTB Demo at Middleton Bike Park 4:00 pm Join for a free mountain bike demo. Erik’s staff will be on hand to help you find the right Specialized or Santa Cruz mountain bike and get you set up for a ride. More info is available here.

Send us your events

Reminder that we have a Community Bike Calendar on our website. If you would like to add something, send it to us. We can’t guarantee it will be featured in the weekly update, but at least it will be available for people to see.

This past week

August in Madison, when everyone is out on bikes, and city meetings slow down. We did have one great event this past weekend. Adonia Lugo came to Madison to talk about her work on race and bicycling. We helped to organize a nice community ride n Saturday. She then did a reading from her book and took questions. If you missed it, but are interested in this subject, you can either buy the book or get in line to check it out from the library.

The week ahead

Monday

The Transportation Planning and Policy Board will meet at 5:00 pm in Room 215 of the Municipal Building. On the agenda is:

• Update on the Wilson St project
• Nelson Neighborhood Development Plan (with some new pedestrian-bike connections)
• Oscar Meyer Special Area Plan (there are no documents available, but additional bike-ped connections are needed in this area.)
• Projects that will be submitted for Transportation Alternatives Program funding (federal bike-ped funding). These include path connections, over/underpasses, and paths along roadways. Not all of these will necessarily be funded, but this is what the city is requesting.

Tuesday

The Madison Bikes Communications Committee will meet at Memorial Union Terrace at 6:00 pm. If you are interested in attending or helping with communications, drop us a line at Media@madisonbikes.org/. We always love to have new volunteers, and helping on one of the committees is a great way to see what we are all about and help out the biking community.

Wednesday

The Madison Area Transportation Planning Board (MPO) meets at 6:30 pm at the Water Utility Building at 119 E. Olin Ave. There isn’t anything specifically about bicycling on the agenda, but they will be discussing a couple of items that could affect biking. One item is plans for Hwy M between Hwys Q and 113 –⁠ across the top of Lake Mendota. They will also be discussing the Transportation Improvement Plan –⁠ the five-year plan for transportation for the region. Documents on these items are not available as of this writing, but they should be uploaded here before the meeting.

Send us your events

Reminder that we have a Community Bike Calendar on our website. If you would like to add something, send it to us. We can’t guarantee it will be featured in the weekly update, but at least it will be available for people to see.

What are we talking about on online?

The photo at the top of the post was prompted by a discussion on a different Facebook group about bad bicycle parking. I have an entire file on my computer labeled “Bike Parking Fail.” What made me think of this is that there was a long discussion on our Facebook group about signs outside Monroe St businesses asking bicyclists to please walk their bikes (on the sidewalk.) When Monroe St was being reconstructed, we pointed out the need for safe and comfortable bike facilities ON the street where destinations are located (as opposed to the SW Path, which does not connect directly to Monroe)– one way to keep bicyclists from using the sidewalk. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, so people coming from and going to businesses sometimes bike on the sidewalk.

There was also a very long discussion about passing pedestrians on shared paths. I hear a lot of grumbling from pedestrians about being passed too closely or by bicyclists going too fast. As our paths get more popular and more people use them for transportation, we all have to remember that the paths are shared, not just for bicyclists. And maybe we need more space so there will be fewer conflicts. After all, that’s what happens when highways get crowded — they get expanded.

One of our regular FB contributors had a nasty experience with the driver van belonging to a local business while riding on the Mifflin bike boulevard. When he stopped there to complain, it turns out the driver was also the manager and co-owner. This business is in a very bike/ped friendly neighborhood and frequently has full bike racks out front. If we can’t rely on these folks to be our allies and treat us well, what’s the world coming to?

Another slow week for our weekly update, but we do have a highlight on Saturday!

The bike week starts with Mondays Around Monona, a chill social bike ride around Lake Monona. The ride has been around for a long time, but this week it has a new start and end destination: The ride will start at 5:30p sharp at Capital City Trail and Sugar Ave and end at the newly redeveloped Garver Feed Mill where people will gather for dinner and/or drinks.

On Saturday, I’m very excited about an event centered around the idea of mobility justice with anthropologist and activist Dr. Adonia Lugo! Organized by the JUST Bikes Coalition, there will be a community bike ride, lunch, and a book talk about “Locating ourselves in Mobility Justice: Planning for multiracial and just future streets.” Adonia Lugo is a cultural anthropologist who did her doctoral research on biking and bike activism in Los Angeles. One of the ideas she develops is a tension between physical infrastructure and human infrastructure, as well as the connections (and tensions) between bike activism and environmental, social, and racial justice. This is the schedule for the day:

9:00 am: Helmet Fitting & Bike Checks in the Villager Mall parking lot
10:00 am: Neighborhood Bike Ride followed by lunch
11:30 am: Book Talk (Locating Ourselves in Mobility Justice: Planning for Multiracial and Just Future Streets)/Discussion with Adonia Lugo Cultural anthropologist at the Goodman South Library

If you can’t make the event, check out Dr. Lugo’s book “Bicycle/Race” or listen to a WORT interview with her from last year.

Also keep in mind that the CrossFit Games are happening this week. Be prepared for more people riding, running, and walking on our trails and paths.

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.