President: Eleanor Conrad
Eleanor Conrad has been a member of Madison Bikes since 2016. She rides her bike mainly for transportation. One of her favorite aspects of the organization is the promotion of bike and bike path accessibility to those who might not identify as a typical cyclist (athletic, investing in expensive gear and multiple specialized bikes, and fearlessly sharing thoroughfares with cars-more power to those who do!).
Vice President: Christo Alexander
In 2021, Christo moved to Madison from Minneapolis where he was an avid bike commuter. He quickly learned of the great biking culture that exists in Madison, and he wanted to get involved in improving the infrastructure even more. His self-proclaimed life goal is to end car-domination and help make a more efficient, healthy, and productive city through biking and transportation. Christo lives on the East side of Madison with his wife Rachel. Outside of his work in IT, he enjoys road cycling, skateboarding, and virtual ghost hunting.
Secretary: Aaron Levine
Aaron came to Madison in 2016, having spent most of his life in Dallas, TX. Arriving from a city where hour-long car commutes are the norm, and safe travel by bike is nearly impossible, he quickly fell in love with Madison’s bike infrastructure and vibrant cycling community. By 2018, he and his family went car-free, and he became a full-time, year-round bicycle commuter. Aaron also enjoys riding recreationally, and exploring our regional trails and state and county parks while bike packing. He hopes that through improved bike infrastructure and culture we can build communities that are more vibrant, healthy, and sustainable places to live, work, and play. Aaron works for UW-Madison and serves the campus community as a member of the Campus Transportation Committee. When he’s not on a bike, Aaron is probably doing some combination of cooking, baking bread, camping and hiking, making music, photography, and watching Liverpool FC.
Treasurer: Mark Shahan
Mark first became involved in Madison bicycling through the UW Hoofers Outing Club starting in 1983 while attending graduate school in biochemistry. After graduating, he gravitated towards bicycle advocacy and cofounded the Bicycle Transportation Alliance of Dane County (BTA) in 1993. One of the early efforts of BTA was helping fundraise for the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (now the Wisconsin Bike Fed) as the Bike Fed transitioned into a truly statewide advocacy organization. Mark has served on numerous City of Madison committees and commissions, including 12 years on the Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Motor Vehicle Commission (7 years as chairperson) and the Committee for the Design of the Southwest Commuter Bike and Pedestrian Path. He continues to serve on the Long Range Transportation Planning Committee. Mark’s advocacy for bicycle friendly growth, transportation facilities, and policies is an outgrowth of being a year-round bicycle commuter for over two decades. Mark takes care of the finances of Madison Bikes as its treasurer.
Harald Kliems
Growing up in a small town in Germany and later going to university in Berlin, Harald never thought of himself as a cyclist—he just used his bike to get places. After coming to the US for grad school, using a bike somehow required lots of things, among them identifying as “a cyclist.” And so he did. Trained as a psychologist and sociologists of science and technology, Harald now works as the deputy director of the UW Prevention Research Center. Not having a car in his household, he rides his bike all around town, and he wants to make Madison a place where people of all ages and all abilities can do so too. Harald also somewhat regularly blogs at Ride or Pie!? and has served as the president of Madison Bikes since 2019. You can also find him on Mastodon.
Peter Taglia
Peter began to see the potential for bicycles as a healthy and sustainable form of transportation while attending college in Missoula Montana. After moving to Madison in the late 1990s to attend graduate school and start a family, Peter began to advocate for bicycles as a student representative to the UW Madison Transportation Committee. He continued to volunteer for bicycle infrastructure and policies while towing his two children in a beloved bike trailer while his career as an environmental geologist exposed him to details of the energy and water impacts of various sectors of the economy. Peter’s work experience includes environmental investigations, remediation, and permitting at an engineering firm (2001 – 2005), environmental policy, research and advocacy as the staff scientist for Clean Wisconsin (2005 – 2011) and continued environmental work as an independent consultant for clients in the public, private and non-profit sectors. He has served as a board member for the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute at UW Madison and the Bayview Foundation, a low-income housing provider in his neighborhood, and on local, state and regional commissions and task forces. Peter lives in a 102 year old home in downtown Madison where he also hosts guests as a licensed short term rooming house.
Robbie Webber
Robbie has been biking for transportation since her parents let her cross the street alone. Both professionally and personally, she is a fierce advocate for improving transportation options, including walking and biking. Her advocacy journey started as one of the first employees for the Wisconsin Bike Fed and continued as a Madison alder for six years. As a League Cycling Instructor, Robbie has taught everything from how to bike to work in winter to how to keep your cool in the heat of rush hour traffic.
Liz Jesse
Liz grew up in Madison and after college moved to the Washington D.C. suburbs for several years, followed by a ten year stint in Sheboygan, WI. However, it was only after moving home to Madison in 2015 that she truly began to appreciate the city’s vibrant bicycling culture. She is now a year-round bicycle commuter (eight miles round trip), but also enjoys recreational road riding and bicycle camping/touring during the warmer months. Liz works as a science outreach specialist/educator at the UW Biotechnology Center and is an active member of the UW-Madison Science Alliance, a science outreach advocacy group on campus. She lives on Madison’s near-west side with her husband, Ben, and their two adorable rescue dogs.
Connor Stone
Connor’s interest in active transportation began with a rusty single speed used to get to college and work in Milwaukee, and deepened with a healthcare education that showed him how active transportation can make city life healthier, less congested, less polluted, and more affordable. He moved to Madison in 2018 and joined the Madison Bikes Board in 2020, inspired by the organization’s ability to successfully advocate for many local bike safety and accessibility improvements. Connor currently works as a public health nurse for the city and county. He commutes and gets to most places by bike year-round, living in Starkweather with his wife Sasha.
Craig Weinhold
Craig grew up bicycling around Madison and has been a 3½-season commuter and road rider for several decades. He’s also a nerdy bike dad, tying his kids’ allowances to GPS & inclement weather tracking of their bike-to-school efforts. He is not car-free but drives reluctantly and only for multiple errands. Craig’s interest in bike infrastructure and advocacy remained closeted until he began following Wisconsin Bike Fed and, later, Madison Bikes. When not working in I.T., he enjoys family trips, silent sports, and dog walks.
Beth Skogen
Beth grew up in Madison and started Beth Skogen Photography in 2009 where she specializes in photographing families, businesses and community organizations in the Madison area. Beth fell in love with cycling when she bought her first road bike in 2016. She founded RAGBRAI’s first vegan cycling team in 2022 called Powered by Plants Cycling which includes cyclists from all over the U.S. and a private chef for a week of biking across Iowa. Anything bike related puts the biggest smile on Beth’s face. Beth lives on the near east side of Madison and has two dogs named Geoffrey and Fred.
Paul Lata
Paul has walked or bicycled to school and work since age 5 and dearly misses his bicycle commute after his recent retirement from pharmacy at the Madison VA. He moved to Madison 15 years ago after spending most of his adult life in Marinette, WI. During his time in Marinette, he was heavily involved in bicycle events and bicycle advocacy. He has served on the board of directors for the Bike Fed and the Bombay Bicycle Club. Paul enjoys recreational riding all over Wisconsin. He is convinced that bicycling should play a much larger role in transportation because of the climate crisis and the overall positive impact on quality of life.
Pratik Prajapati
Pratik moved to Madison in 2010 and was quickly consumed by the amazing bike community. He spends most of his free time either riding, working on bikes, and frequenting the many wonderful local bike shops. He works at UW-Madison in the Department of Psychiatry as the Chief Administrative Officer. Through his work in mental health, he highly values activities, such as biking, that give people so much happiness, freedom, camaraderie, and accomplishment. He created a local BIPOC cycling group in 2023 to create a space in Madison where people of diverse backgrounds can ride together in a safe and welcoming place. Pratik lives on the near west side of Madison with his wife, two kids, and their family dog.
Katie Nash
Katie grew up in North Carolina and lived a few years in western Massachusetts before moving to Madison in 2018. She was introduced to longer distance biking on rail-to-trail paths in her 30s and learned that she could comfortably ride 20-25 miles on the commuter Schwinn bike she’d had since 2000! After moving to Madison, Katie embraced both bike commuting and road biking – trading in her Schwinn for a proper road bike. In 2023, she completed her first Door County Century (only riding 50 miles) and Bike the Barns rides and looks forward to more events like these. She rides to work year-round (when it’s above 20 degrees and not raining!) on either a gravel bike or fat tire bike, and prioritizes travel based on being able to use her bike. Katie joined the Madison Bikes Board in January 2024 and is excited to be part of a bike community that can advocate for and influence change within Madison. Katie is the University Archivist and Head of UW Archives at UW-Madison and loves educating others, providing research support, and geeking out about collecting unique materials and making stories available. When she’s not riding her bike, she enjoys kayaking, hiking, and exploring the Driftless Area with her partner, Timothy; hanging out with their three cats; watching Scandinavian crime dramas; and practicing yoga. Katie and Timothy live in the Bay Creek neighborhood and revel in having access to so many bike paths and waterways.
Jacob Bortell
Jacob was born in the 90s but rode a bike in the 00s like a kid in the 80s. Moving to Madison at the end of the 10s, he was right away enamored with the biking infrastructure and culture, rediscovered his love for zooming by bike, learned how to take care of a chain and change a tire, became a four season commuter, and now dreams of a multi-modal community where everyone can bike easily and safely for work or play. When not advocating for bike heaven, Jacob curls in the winter, performs in community theater, and goes on outdoor adventures in the summer.
Christina Lopez
Christina grew up biking around the rural, rolling hills of South Central Wisconsin. She first moved to Madison in 2016. Since then, her love of biking has grown along with her passion to share her time in the biking community. She rides for exercise and adventure, biking around the lakes and out into the Dane County countryside. Christina is passionate about increasing diversity and inclusion in the bike community.
Former Board Members
For a full list of former board members, go here.