Happy New Year! It’s 2026, and the year starts with a fairly slow week in terms of events. In case you missed it, it’s a great time to read or re-read Paul’s 2025 Year in Review post! But there are some things happening this week too:
Proposed Beltline expansion at the Transportation Commission
On Wednesday, the Transportation Commission will discuss the Wisconsin Department of Transportation‘s (WisDOT) study about the Beltline. No materials are available yet. WisDOT is proposing to expand the capacity of the Beltline with an additional lane, as well as making improvements to bike and ped infrastructure. Read Ben Varick’s guest post from December for more details about the overall plan: https://www.madisonbikes.org/2025/12/guest-post-expanding-the-beltline-is-the-wrong-plan/
You can submit comments to the Transportation Commission by emailing transportationcommission@cityofmadison.com or register to speak at the meeting here: https://www.cityofmadison.com/city-hall/committees/meeting-schedule/register
Dial Your Ride clinic series
Our friends from Capital Offroad Pathfinders are hosting a series of clinics focused on maintaining your bike and your body. This Monday at 5:30 pm, the topic is “Dial your Ride! Shocks, Fit and more“
Bikes are complex and getting the setup right can enhance the riding experience immensely. This clinic will help with simple adjustments to get the saddle, bars, brakes adjusted to be in the right position, tire pressure suggestions based on your setup, and shock adjustments as well.
This clinic will be led by the incomparable Isaac Neff of Neff Cycle Service who has helped many cyclists to adjust their bike to fit to their body for a more comfortable and efficient ride.
Register here: https://corptrails.org/events/z47xm2n9c9ivtqqc4n5wkh5ppnahs1-mx336-9gwap-erkt6-442bz-cy8r2-hwxxd
UW students help DeForest develop MTB trail
The UW-Madison’s UniverCity Alliance partners UW students with municipalities around the state to work on a specific issue in that community. One of those projects is a partnership with the Village of DeForest on developing a maintenance plan for a new mountain bike trail.
The UW-Madison students stated the scope of their work involved identifying conservation priorities and providing mitigation strategies for the future trail site to the village. To do so, they worked closely with DeForest Director of Public Services Judd Blau and Deputy Director Greg Hall throughout the project.
“It was wonderful to work with these people. They’ve done a tremendous job… All of these things are very manageable and doable for us. There are things they brought forward that we didn’t even consider, that’s been a benefit to us,” Blau said.
Read the full article here: https://www.hngnews.com/the_star/local_news/uw-students-develop-deforest-mountain-bike-trail-management-plan/article_44e876d5-f119-4fee-afc6-4e24e26618dd.html
Welcome Dan, goodbye Katie!
With the beginning of the new year, there is some change on our board of directors. Katie Nash decided to not run for re-election and instead focus on other bike advocacy work, such as writing articles for Northside News or co-organizing the monthly bike advocacy meetup at Machinery Row. A big thanks to Katie for her work on the board — and her willingness to continue working with us on sponsorships!
New to the board is Dan Pensinger. Dan has been actively involved with Madison Bikes for over a year now, helping with volunteer coordination, organizing events, and much more. As of now, he’s an official board member. Welcome Dan!