January 2025 - Madison Bikes

A group of people ride fat bikes across a frozen Lake Monona — That’s Fatbiking | Photo: Dave Supple

Welcome to the Madison Bikes newsletter! It seems Winter is finally here and those of us who enjoy fat biking, ice skating, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and more are taking what we can get. I hope you all are doing well in whichever way you choose to fight off the Winter blues.

Tom Lynch Retires; City Seeks New Director of Transportation

After 7 years as Director of Transportation, Tom Lynch is retiring. Over his time as Director, Tom has supported active transportation and improving transportation safety through projects such as Vision Zero, Complete Green Streets, and Transportation Demand Management (just to name a few). He has clearly been a strong ally for cycling and other alternatives to driving, and for that, we say a huge THANK YOU and congratulations!

That also means the city is looking for a new Director of Transportation. The new director will be expected to expand on the work Tom has accomplished and lead our growing city into an even more efficient, safe, and equitable transportation future. Experienced urban planners and transportation professionals need only apply here.

Cycling Friends Unite: GearShift Gathering

This Friday, January 17th from 4-7 pm, Bikes for Kids Wisconsin is hosting a GearShift Gathering where local bike nonprofits will meet to socialize, share updates on bicycling projects, and learn about volunteer opportunities. Visitors are more than welcome to attend and learn about what’s going on in the Madison bike scene and how they can get involved. There will be snacks and door prizes, too! If you plan to attend and you have access to Facebook, please RSVP on the event page.

Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap

Polish up your spare bike parts and get ready to haggle. Bike enthusiasts will not want to miss the annual Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap this Saturday, January 18th from 10 am – 1 pm at the Alliant Energy Center. If you haven’t been to this event before, the exhibition hall with be filled with tables full of used and new bike parts, accessories, and gear, along with a corral of complete bikes available to be test ridden.

The bike swap will take place in the New Holland Pavilion, where parking is available for $8, or ride your bike for free! While you do not need bring anything to “swap,” if you (and 2 friends) have surplus bike parts or gear you want to sell, you can sign up to be a vendor. As of the time of writing this, there are still tables available. You can also bring complete bikes to sell along with a completed Bike Corral form, no table required. The form and all other bike swap info can be found on the website linked at the top of this section.

Be aware that there is a cost if you want to shop early for the best selection:

$10 early bird admission 10am-11am
$5 general admission 11am-12pm
$0 free admission 12pm-1pm

The swap will be sure to have some great deals, and it supports reusing bikes and parts that still have a lot of life left in them!

That’s all we have for you this week. Hope to see you at an upcoming event and thanks for being part of the Madison Bikes community.

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.

A solitary biker on a snowy path. (Photo by Craig Weinhold.)

We’re not yet a week into 2025, so there’s still time to look back at 2024.

In fact, since less-than-ideal weather was a minor theme in the year-in-review Harald Kliems posted a few days ago, it’s a great time to leave that bike parked and read the highlights — new overpasses! new paths! new plans! — or leave the reading for later and ride through some extra-brisk January air.

City names bike administrator

Kevin Luecke will be Madison’s next pedestrian bicycle administrator.

Luecke is a graduate of UW–Madison’s Urban and Regional Planning master’s program and recently director of the Madison office of Toole Design, a national firm that works on bicycle, pedestrian and transit design projects. He will soon manage the Traffic Engineering Division’s Pedestrian Bicycle Section, with staff responsible for pedestrian and bicycle concerns, projects and outreach, playing a role related initiatives like Vision Zero, school traffic safety and Complete Green Streets.

Turning pedals pages

If you’re leaning toward reading over riding, there’s a series of events for that starting in just a few weeks: the Bicycle Book Club, presented by Machinery Row Bicycles, Wisconsin Bike Fed and Madison Bikes.

The club will meet on three consecutive Sundays, starting Jan. 26, to share “Killed by a Traffic Engineer,” by Wes Mashall, which examines the science (or the lack thereof) behind the way streets are engineered. Moderated by Bill Tishler, who represents District 11 on Madison’s City Council, the group will discuss the book and also features of Madison streets that represent problematic or well-designed infrastructure.

The Jan. 26 meeting of the book club is from 4 to 6 p.m. at Machinery Row, 601 Williamson St. — with a focus on book introduction and making a list of those relevant spots in Madison The shop has had a limited number of free copies of the book available to those who would like to borrow one (with the hope it will be returned for donation to the Madison Public Library). Later meetings will expand discussion of Madison’s streets, bring in engineers to talk about street design and plan advocacy efforts.

If you’d like to stay up to date on the book club, contact lauren@machineryrowbicycles.com to be added to the Bicycle Book Club email list.

Infrastructure design in 2025

From theory to practice …

The Wisconsin State Journal recently featured a rundown of highway projects planned for the Madison area in 2025. Of note, courtesy Craig Weinhold:

• Work on Highway 18/151 west of Verona will close Military Ridge Trail from March to May — with the stipulation that the trail must reopen by Memorial Day.

• Highway 51 in McFarland will finally get sidewalks, along with a new set of roundabouts at Sigglekow Rd. Unfortunately, there are no bike lanes planned, though circumnavigating Lake Waubesa will get easier with a new Yahara River bridge at Babcock County Park planned for 2028.

• A rebuild of Highway 51 in Stoughton will begin this summer with the section east of the opera house, 381 E. Main St. in Stoughton. The plan calls for bike lanes in the downtown area where street parking is common and wide 5-foot shoulders in other areas.

Local meetings

The Madison Transportation Commission meets Wednesday at 5 p.m., with few bike-related agenda items, though an update to the Safe Routes to School Planning Project is on the list.