Author: Robbie Webber

We had wonderful weather for Bike Week and all the activities: not too hot, not too cold, and almost no rain! Thanks to all who came by, chatted at the commuter stations, threw a little into the donation box, and signed up to be on the mailing list. We had a great time and met some new people, many of whom didn’t know about Madison Bikes.

This brings me to a reminder to all current Facebook friends and email subscribers: If you know someone who would like to know what’s happening with bicycling in Madison, please send them over to us. They can follow us on Facebook, participate in our group discussions, and/or sign up to get our blogs and weekly updates emailed to them directly.

We are a stronger, more effective organization when more people join and participate. One of our goals is to keep bicyclists up to date with what’s happening on city committees, in your neighborhood, and when plans or votes are coming up that will affect bicycling. Your voice is very important, and you can help us by getting your friends to join as well.

On to the weekly update for this week. After all the activities last week, the coming week is pretty slow for meetings and activities.

Monday

Madison Bikes Events Committee will meet at 6:00 pm at Barriques, 127 W Washington. All the Madison Bikes committees are looking for additional volunteers and committee members, so if you are interested in helping plan events, we could really use your help. The Winter Fashion Show, Annual Party/Member Meeting, and Bike Week commuter stations are just some of the events that this committee has planned. Don’t know whether it’s for you? Stop by to say hello and ask a few questions. They’ll be glad to see you!

There will be a special meeting of the Plan Commission, at 5:00 pm in Room 103A of the City/County Building, to approve updates to the Comprehensive Plan. This will guide how the city grows, and where, for the next ten years. It’s been through a lot of work and discussed by almost every committee of the city –⁠ including several transportation committees — and now needs to be passed by the Plan Commission and Council. If you would like to see everyone who’d looked at it and what input they had, you can follow this link and click on the documents.

Tuesday

The Middleton Pedestrian. Bike, Transit Committee will be at 5:30 in the Council Chambers in Middleton City Hall, 7426 Hubbard Avenue. It looks like the city is taking the first steps to build a much-needed path along Century Ave. This has been a missing link in the metro area for quite some time, with none of the existing options –⁠ ride in the main lanes with fast-moving traffic or use the sidewalk — particularly safe or inviting. But it’s just the start of the process, because this is what is listed on the agenda:

The City of Middleton received three responses to its Request for Proposals for consultant engineering services to design a 10 ft. wide path along the north side of Century Avenue, between Old Creek Road and the eastern city limits (near Mendota County Park).

Saturday

There are two rides scheduled for Saturday.

The Clean Lakes Alliance will have its annual Loop the Lake ride and fundraiser, starting at Olbrich Park at 10:00 am. The ride is the familiar ride around Lake Monona (about 13 miles), but you’ll be doing it with a few hundred other people. Although most people will finish in about 75-90 minutes, the course will stay open until 2:00 pm. More information at the link about or at the Facebook event.

Tour de Familia Latina/Latino Family Tour will start at 1:00 pm at Quan Park, hosted by BiciClub Latino de Madison. They are meeting at bit outside downtown Madison to avoid all the other events going on downtown. Quan Park is right next to the Wingra Creek Path and behind the Alliant Center. From there, they will be biking to the Lower Yahara River Path, a beautiful ride. All are welcome, and the ride is geared toward families and riders of all ages and abilities.

All these events are also listed on the Madison Bike Community Calendar. If you would like to have an event listed, send it over to us.

Last week

After the Council approved option # 2 for Winnebago St, on Tuesday, May1 — a big win for safety because the option provided more buffer between the bike lanes and motor vehicle traffic –⁠ the Mayor then decided to veto the Council’s action. You can read his veto letter here.

We anticipate that the Council will try to overturn the veto this coming week. See Tuesday’s upcoming events for more information.

On Saturday, Robbie and Harald presented work at the Wisconsin Bike Summit in Madison. Other board members, volunteers, and friends of Madison Bikes also attended.

This Week

On Monday, the Madison Bikes Board will meet at 6 pm at the Central Library. Everyone is welcome to attend.

This Tuesday, we anticipate the Madison Common Council will try to overturn the Mayor’s veto of the vote to build option # 2 on Winnebago. The original vote was 11-6, with one alder absent, one abstaining, and one who was chairing the meeting. 14 votes are needed to overturn the veto, and one person who voted in the minority has already said he will vote to overturn.

Everyone can hep by contacting your alder to ask that they uphold the action passed by the majority. There was a robust public outreach process and many committee meetings that came before the Council vote, so it is disappointing that the Mayor wants to undo all that work.

The meeting starts at 6:30 pm in Room 201 of the City-County Building. You can register to speak, watch in person, or watch the meeting on Madison City Channel. It’s a great lesson in local democracy, and you might become a better advocate or more informed citizen.

On Wednesday, the Madison Bikes Advocacy Committee will meet at 6:00 pm at Bendy Works, 106 E Doty St, 2^nd floor. If you’d like to help us out with our work on advocacy issues, feel free to stop by.

Friday, Sun Prairie’s advocacy group will be holding a bike commuter station at Canery Row from 6:00-8:30 am. So if you happen to be out that way, stop by to say hello.

We can expect to see quite a few weekend events, as the warm weather is finally here.

Saturday, there are two events. First, from 9:00-noon, Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 East Gorham St is holding a bike rodeo. There is a long list of activities for all ages and abilities. Get a tune up, try out an electric bike, get some safety training for kids, enter the raffle, and learn how to fix a flat.

Then from 1:00-4:00 join others visiting galleries and art exhibitions by bike for Bike the Arts. The fun starts at the Bubbler at the Central Library and then moves on to other locations. A full list of locations and times can be found here.

Sunday, there is a ride for women to check out mountain biking, or just join others. All levels of expertise welcome, whether this is your first time or know the trails very well. Head over to the Bell Joy Ride on the John Muir Trails the Southern Kettle Morraine, N9097 County Road H, Elkhorn.

You can always get the info on these events by checking out the Madison Bikes Community Calendar. Have an event that you’d like to put on our calendar? Send it out way.

In case you missed it

Here’s what we were talking about on our Facebook group:

Baltazar is asking people to vote on the name for the community latino bike group that is formalizing their organization.

There was a spirited discussion about the Mayor’s veto of the Council vote on Winnebago.

Grant posted the results of a survey on what people want in Monona to improve walking and biking.

Does banning hand-held cell phone use actually improve safety?

Photo courtesy of Matt DeBlass

Just when the less hardy bicyclists were thinking they could finally ride in comfort, Sprinter (as my friend in Minnesota calls the endless combination of spring and winter) hit us with a last, ugly hit of horrible weather. As I write this on Sunday night, the main roads are wet and slushy, with questionable riding in the bike lanes or outer edges. Local streets were never plowed, so they are just piles of semi-frozen mess. Yuck. (I haven’t checked any of the bike paths, so maybe someone can post the conditions as they come in on Monday morning.)

Last week, when things were looking better, Matt DeBlass from Revolution Cycles took the above photo of the path being swept behind their shop.

Besides a short burst of pleasant weather to give us hope, there was one big meeting last week. A public meeting was held to discuss how Atwood Ave from Fair Oaks to Cottage Grove Road will be reconstructed. There’s a big gap in the bicycle network there, if you don’t want to detour over to the Cap City Trail. We mentioned this as an upcoming meeting last week. We’ll try to get an update out on how the discussion went.

Coming up this week

The Winnebago rebuild project that we’ve been talking about will be before the Board of Public Works on Wednesday (see time and location below). A group supporting canopy trees in Madison has sent out an alert for this meeting. Option #2 would allow more space for trees as well as more space for bikes.

Also this week:

Monday is the Madison Bikes board meeting at 6:00 pm at the Central Library. As with all Madison Bikes committees, the board meetings are open to everyone. So if you want to know more about us or see how we work, feel free to drop by.

Wednesday is the Board of Public Works, 5:30 pm in Room 108 of the City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Blvd. All city files on the project can be found here. They will be considering options for rebuilding Winnebago. The BPW is the “lead” committee for this item, meaning they will be making a recommendation to the Council. How the BPW votes would be the default option if the Council decides not to discuss it further. (This is called being on the consent agenda, because the Council only discusses a handful of items at each meeting. All the other recommendations by cit committees are accepted and passed by the Council in one big vote. That’s why city committee meetings and their recommendations are VERY important.

If you read this far, you’ve now had a lesson on how things work at the city.

Also Wednesday is the Madison Bikes Advocacy Committee, meeting at 6:00 pm at Bendy Works, 106 E Doty St, 2nd floor. All are welcome.

Saturday is the next Tour de la Familia Latina/Tour of the Latin Family, a casual and friendly ride at the pace where kids and inexperienced bicyclists can enjoy the day and the sights of Madison. All are welcome. Ride leaves from Olin Park at 1:00 pm. They’ve been riding all winter!

That’s about it for this week on the Madison Bikes calendar. If you have an event you would like included, send it our way.

In Case You Missed It

There are always great contributions, opinions, comments, and updates from our members and on the Madison Bikes Facebook group, so if you aren’t checking that out, here’s what you might have missed:

Kierstin Kloeckner urges people to write to Capital Brewery and the Middleton City Council in support of extending bike lanes on High Point Rd from Greenway to Terrace Ave (those are the two local roads that go under the Betline

News comes that the Capital City Trail south of the Beltline — through the E-way — will get the first renovations since it opened in 2001. Look how long bike trails last! But some parts of the Cap City Trail are getting sort of rough, so despite the detours we’ll have to endure, this is a good thing.

And a great article about how a Northern Virginia parking garage is used as a bike park after hours. Glad someone is using at empty structure at night!

Plus discussions about Atwood, the best bike racks for apartments, and lots of other fun and info.

It’s almost spring, so I thought I’d include a nice photo of a bike relaxing by the lake. Here’s what’s happening.

Madison is hiring a Transportation Director, and it would be great if we had a really dynamic pool of candidates. This is a very important new position that will be able to shape all modes of transportation. So if you either know anyone who might be a good hire or have networks where a great person might see it, here’s the job announcement.

In the week to come:

Monday: The Madison Bikes board will meet at 6:00 pm at the Central Library. The board meeting and all committees are open to the public, so if you’d like to see what we are up to or have ideas for us, come on by.

Wednesday: The Madison Bikes Advocacy Committee will meet at 6:00 pm at the Bendy Works, 106 E Doty St, 2^nd floor. Again, this meeting is open, so if you want to help us out, come on by to chat.

The Madison Transportation Planning Board Citizen Advisory Committee is meeting in Room 103A of the City-County Bldg, and there are a couple of items on the agenda that might interest bicyclists. They will continue to discuss the Low-Stress Bicycle Network Analysis and also will review and look at recommendation on scoring and funding the Transportation Alternatives block grant. What that means is that they will consider how to pick bike-ped projects to be funded by federal transportation money. The full agenda and contact for the meeting can be found here.

Saturday: Café Domestique (1408 Williamson St) Spring Rides will start off on March 24 and run until April 14. The general idea is to get some base miles in. They will be riding even if the weather is lousy. This Saturday’s ride is going to average 15 mph and go 30-50 miles. Coffee at 8:30 am and roll out at 9:00 am. More info on their Facebook page.

Also of interest:

Survey: An MBA student from the University of Maryland is doing a survey on how people use their bikes and what type of bikes they own. They specifically sent it to us because they wanted responses from cities that are bike-friendly. It only takes a few minutes to complete, so if you’d like to help out, you can find it at the link above. And feel free to pass it on to your friends, family, and other bike groups.

Popular Facebook posts from the Madison Bikes group in the past week

You can find all the following in the news feed on the Madison Bikes Facebook group. There are new articles and links posted almost every day, so the group is a great way to keep up with the news and also learn something about what other communities are doing.

• A long, and somewhat contentious discussion of the acquittal of the motorist involved in the bicyclist fatality on Highway 14 in 2016
• Some great photos from Saturday’s Tour of the Latino Family
• And, unfortunately, a pedestrian was hit on S Park St and a bicyclist hit at E Johnson and North.
• And people had a lot to say about the collapse of the pedestrian bridge in Miami.

Update on Winnebago projects

This past week saw the public meeting to discuss the reconstruction on Winnebago Ave. We’ll have to get an update later this week from Grant or another person who attended, but just today came news that the project has been delayed, along with changes to the diagonal crossing of the Isthmus Path at Riverside.

Below is information sent out by Alder Marsha Rummel. Mark your calendars for March 27, when the main Winnebago project will be before the Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission to discuss a revised design.

1. Winnebago diagonal crossing canceled, planning to resume after construction season ends.

Last week I posted a tentative date for the Winnebago diagonal bike crossing project at Riverside for February 26. It is not happening. I have been informed the project has been delayed. Recommendations from the community and Ped Bike to add bike connections to Winnebago at Merry St made Engineering realize that they did not have sufficient funds allocated in 2018 for the project. City Engineer Rob Phillips promised me that staff would engage with the public in the early fall to look at a larger project for next/future year.

2. Winnebago reconstruction delayed for parking study.

If you attended the second Winnebago reconstruction PIM meeting last week or last December and signed up for the email list, you would have received this email from project manager Jim Wolfe on Friday: The City has decided to delay the upcoming meetings and mailings for 2018 reconstruction of Winnebago St. between Second and Bashford. The updated schedule for the project is noted below. With this additional time, City Traffic Engineering will conduct a parking study of the area, and this data will help with deciding on a proposed design for Winnebago St. The project website will also be updated with this revised schedule.

Pedestrian, Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Commission: March 27
Mail estimated assessments: April 6
Board of Public Works public hearing: April 18
Common Council public hearing: May 1
Bid project: early May
Start construction: early June

The parking study will provide important data to show how residents, employees and visitors park on the four block area from 2nd St to Bashford. The study will be done twice – soon and after March 15 when alternate side parking ends. There are benefits to Option 2 but I have heard concerns about the loss of parking so this study will provide important information to help decisionmakers.

Meetings and events this week

The week is a little short on city meetings, but there are still lots of things to do.

Monday: After a full day of strategic planning on Sunday, the board decided to cancel our board meeting on Monday at the Library. These meetings are always open to the public, but we won’t be at the library this month, so we don’t want you to come out in the horrible weather predicted, just to find us MIA.

But the MEAThead ride is still on, as it is every Monday through March. They will be leaving from Ford’s Gym, 2114 Winnebago, at 7:00 pm for a no-drop, Lake Monona loop with optional loop through Arboretum.

Tuesday is the Spring Primary Election, so bike on over to your polling place and make your voice heard! There are primaries in Districts 6, 11, and 15 on the County Board, so if you live in one of those areas (near east, neat west, and far west), then you will see a county board race on your ballot. There is also a state-wide primary for Supreme Court Justice, so everyone can vote in that one. Spring voter turnout is very, very low, so your vote will be especially important. Not sure where to vote, who’s on the ballot, or who the candidates are? Head on over to the League of Women Voters of Dane County website to read candidate statements and answers or to find out where to vote. Polls are open 7:00 am –⁠ 8:00 pm, and you can register at the polls. Find out more about how to vote and what you need to register or what voter IDs are acceptable at the ink above or on the City of Madison Clerk’s site.

Because Tuesday is Election Day, the Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission meets on Wednesday this month –⁠ 5:00 pm in Room 201 of the City-County Building. You can see what’s on the agenda here. It looks like a pretty short agenda, but they will be discussing the winter maintenance policy for bike facilities. Did you know you can watch the PBMVC meetings on cable or on your computer, just in case you want to know what they are doing, but don’t want to go downtown? Head over to the Madison City Channel and watch it live or check out the recording later.

Also on Wednesday is the Madison Bikes Advocacy Committee meeting at 6:00 pm in the offices of Bendyworks, 106 E Doty St #200. As with all our committee meetings, you are welcome to attend to either watch or participate.

And that’s about it for the week ahead. We’ll have more information on Winnebago later, or go to our Facebook groups to join the discussion.

It’s bitter cold, then it’s amazingly warm; it’s snowing, then it’s raining. There’s ice, and then the streets are bone dry. That’s winter in southern Wisconsin. But there are lots of activities and city meetings to think about and attend. So here we go with our weekly update of the goings-on.

The week ahead

On Monday, both Madison Bikes and Bike Fitchburg will be holding meetings. The Madison Bikes Board of Directors meets at the Madison Central Library at 6:00 pm. Fitchburg Bikes meets at the Fiitchburg Library at 6:30 pm.

Also on Monday, the weekly MEAThead ride leaves at 7:00 pm from Ford’s Gym, 2114 Winnebago St, for a Lake Monona Loop ride, with an optional loop through the Arboretum. This is a weekly ride from November through March, so just put it on your calendar.

Tuesday, the monthly Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission meeting (5:00 pm in Rm 201 of the City-County Bldg, agenda here) will take up a number of seemingly routine, but actually quite important matters. Remember that you can go to all city meetings to watch, and you can also register to testify on any item on the agenda. You can summit comments or your support/opposition via email or in writing in person. Your voice is important! To get more information on the items below, just click the agenda link and follow the attachments for each item.

The PBMVC will discuss the following items:

• Projects within the neighborhood Traffic Management Program (AKA traffic calming).
• Where new traffic signal will be installed.
• A number of general city engineering projects that affect bicycling, including the project at Winnebago and Riverside, a few short path connections, and the repaving of the path that leads to Memorial High School.
• Bicycle-specific projects coming up in this year, mosst of which are small items like flashing lights or curb ramps.
• The city’s policy of bike route maitenance policy.

Also on the agenda is a state law being considered that would add electric bikes to the definiton of “bicycle” in state statutes. You can see a staff review of the proposed state law by Traffic Engineering.

If you’re not I the mood for a city meeting on Tuesday, you can head over to Manna Café on N. Sherman to join up with Down With Bikes for their biweekly winter social ride and games night. Leaving from Manna at 6:30 pm, they will weave through the North Side to arrive at Player’s Bar for ping pong, pool, and board games.

Wednesday

Although the Middleton Pedestrian, Bike, Transit Committee is listed on the Madison Bikes calendar as meeting on Wednesday at 6:30 pm at the Middleton City Hall, no evidence of it can be found on the City of Middleton meetings website. If you are interested in upcoming issues, it might be worth a call to the city to see if a meeting is scheduled.

Finally, on Thursday, the Long Range Transportation Planning Committee will be meeting (5:00 pm in Room 108 of the City-County Bldg, agenda here.) The principal item on the agenda will be continued work on the transportation component of the Imagine Madison planning process, which is the update to the city Comprehensive Plan.

And some reminders:

If you have an event, meeting, or ride that you would like us to list on the Madison Bikes calendar, please drop us a note.

And don’t forget to mark your calendars for Feb 3, when we will be at the Frozen Assets Festival and Fundraiser for the Clean Lakes Alliance. It’s happening on the lake behind (or would that be in front of?) the Edgewater. Drop by and see us and enjoy all the activities, including a fat bike race on the ice on Friday, and on Saturday our popular fat bike sled pull. (Sorry, kids only.)

Although we still have over a week to go, the big news is that we are busy preparing for the Winter Bike Fashion Show on December 9 at the High Noon. Make sure to invite all your friends who are curious about how and why to bike in cold weather. You can even invite those friends who think we are all nuts; they may just have fun or gain a new respect for the cold-weather pedalers. We have a great roster of models lined up!

View post on imgur.com

Besides the fashion show, there are a couple of city meetings and a whole lot of fun cool/cold weather events to keep your blood and legs moving. Or, you can just be a spectator at the Cyclocross Championships on Saturday.

Monday

Bike Fitchburg monthly meeting, 6:30-8:30 pm at the Fitchburg Public Library. If you live or work in Fitchburg or just care about what happens there, here’s a great group to influence policy in our neighboring city.

MEAThead ride, starting at Fords Gym at 7:00 pm at 2114 Winnebago. This is a no-drop ride of Lake Monona with an optional loop through the Arboretum. If this sounds like fun, but you can’t make this one, it is held every Monday from November until March 6.

Tuesday

The Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission will meet at 5:00 pm in room 201 of the City-County Building. On the agenda is a resolution to proceed with development of a bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor running east and west. The eastern and western termini area still to be determined. More information is available in the documents for the meeting. While this is not strictly a bicycle issue, BRT can be a complement to improved bicycling in the city as part of a strong multimodal transportation system. But we will have to be careful that the BRT is not built at the expense of bicycle facilities that allow access to important destinations in the same corridor. Also on the agenda is a discussion of the continuing Imagine Madison planning process. You can watch the meeting streaming here.

Also on Tuesday is another edition of the Tuesday Night Ride, a social no-drop ride averaging 10 mph. Leaving from Colectivo on the Square at 6pm sharp. Don’t forget your lights! This week they will stop by Alt Brew, hoping there will be a new Bicycle Benefits Madison, WI deal.

Thursday

The same two issues mentioned on the PBMVC agenda –⁠ the Imagine Madison update and the resolution in favor of the BRT Phase 1 will also be on the agenda of the Long Range Transportation Planning Committee on Thursday, meeting at 5:00 pm in room 108 of the City-County Building.

Saturday

The Cyclocross State Championships at the Trek Headquarters, 801 W Madison St, Waterloo. It’s back for 2017! Once again, Revolution Cycles Club is promoting the WI State Cyclocross Championships. Expect thrills, spills, and chills on a technical course at Trek HQ!

View post on imgur.com

Photo from the 2016 Global Fat Bike Day at CamRock

And if cyclocross isn’t your thing, then how celebrating Global Fat Bike Day at the CamRock Cafe and Sport, 217 W Main St, Cambridge. It will be the same day as the Cambridge Country Christmas, so there are events for the whole family. Details here. Group Ride at 2:00 pm. Lots of beverages (brews and non-alcoholic options) stashed at stop points around the trails. Fun back at CamRock Sport at 5:00 pm with Bonfires, Food, and more. All donations and all money raised for food, beverages, etc. going to the Bike Park. Music starts at 7:00 pm and goes all night. And somewhere in there the Badgers will be playing for the Big Ten title!

Sunday

Finally, to round out the week, come to the Cargo Bike/Café Domestique Shop Social, 1404 Williamson St. There will be warm beverages, a short ride, and the chance to learn more about the hosts. 3:00 pm: Meet for a hot beverage 3:30 pm: Roll out for a Lake Monona Loop. 4:30-6 pm: Demos/activities at Cargo and Café Domestique.

Remember, we have all these events listed on the Madison Bikes calendar. If you would like to have an event listed, send us an email.

Photo courtesy of Joel Patenaude

Last week, the bike network got one more connection in the form of a bridge over McKee road near S. High Point Rd. The bridge is part of a path that will run from Valley View Rd south to Verona and meet up with the Military Ridge Trail. Parts of the trail are already built, and this new bridge is a big addition. You can see the plans for the entire planned length as well as updates on construction on the city’s website.

Also last week, a bumpy and cracked section of the Wingra Creek Path that runs from Olin Park under John Nolen Drive and a bit west was repaved. It’s always nice to have smooth, fresh pavement, and we appreciate the city keeping our paths maintained.

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Nice, smooth pavement on the Wingra Creek Path

Grant has created a new Facebook group to keep everyone updated on the Atwood St Reconstruction. You can find it here.

There aren’t too many city meetings this week. I guess that’s what happens during the 5th week of the month. Remember you only have two more days until the end of the month, and that means the end of your chance to fill your Madison Bike! Bingo card! Thanks to all the businesses that participated and all the people that biked. I discovered some new places and had a lot of fun.

City meetings this week

Tuesday, the City Council will be accepting the final plans for Crazy Legs Plaza and Wingra Park. Both of these locations are important to bicyclists, because the SW Path passes through Crazy Legs Plaza, and Wingra Park is an important bike connection on the south side of Monroe St. This is part of the Monroe St reconstruction, so you’ve probably heard about the meetings and open houses to discuss these plans. But if you are sure what they are doing, you can find the plans on line or attend the Council meeting at 6:30 p in the City-County Bldg.

Wednesday, the Madison Area Transportation Planning Board will have a presentation on bicycle and pedestrian crashes in Dane County. The meeting is at 6:30 PM at the Madison Water Utility Building, 119 E. Olin Avenue. We’ll try to get an update on this project and see what they found. If anyone attends, maybe you can give us a report.

If you have an event that you’d like added, send the details to info@madisonbikes.org.

Atwood meeting. Photo credit: Travis Youman

The upcoming week is a bit slow for meetings, but there are a couple of road and path maintenance projects that may affect your travel this week. And last week featured an important public information meeting to gather input and outline plans for the reconstruction of Atwood Ave in a few years. The reconstruction will be from Fair Oaks to Cottage Grove Road.

This update of the Atwood meeting comes from India Viola:

Coming up this week:

Monday, October 9, at 6:00 pm Madison Bikes board will meet at the Public Library, 201 W Mifflin St.

Also starting Monday and lasting until Wednesday, the SW Path will be closed from S. Prospect to Breese Terrace so the path can be resurfaced. There will be a detour that will take bicyclists onto surface streets, including lanes coned off on Regent and Monroe St. More information on this project and a map of the detour can be found on the city project page.

Tuesday, October 10 Bike-tober Bicycle Mixer. Ian’s Pizza on State Street 5pm -7pm.  (map)

Who loves Ian’s?! Who loves bikes?! Who loves all the gracious employees who give you Bicycle Benefits in Madison?! We are celebrating all of it with a FREE SLICE NIGHT for bike riders and staff of Bicycle Benefits locations in Madison! Come meet other bike riders, cool people and get energized with great calories and bike banter. How do you prove that you are a biker in Madison? Well, if you haven’t heard, Bicycle Benefits is a program where you get a little $5 sticker for your helmet and show it at businesses everywhere to get a discount or reward for riding your bike there. Here are all the places that it works in Madison. If you or your friends don’t have stickers yet, no sweat, they have them Ian’s Pizza Madison Maybe MORE EXCITING! This event counts as a “special event” if you are playing Madison Bike Bingo 2017 so bring your card or pick one up on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, the Transit and Parking Commission will consider the proposal by Freewheel Bicycles to operate the bike center at Judge Doyle Square. A new building is planned for the site where the Government East parking ramp is currently located on E. Doty St. As part of the redevelopment, there will be a bike center featuring secure bike parking, lockers, showers, and a repair shop. Freeweel will be offering many of the same services they have at their Park St location, as well as classes. All the details of the proposal that will be discussed can be found here as part of the meeting schedule. The TPC meeting is at 5:00 pm at the Central Library. This item will be coming to the Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission later, so you will have another chance to weigh in.

Sunday, October 15, 9:00am – 6:00pm Middleton Off-Road Ride

5191 Vosen Rd, Middleton, WI 53562, USA (map)

Ten Miles West of Madison, all off-road on private land otherwise not accessible to riding Adults: $35 Kids: $20 The ride will start at 10am, but everyone should be unloaded, lined up, and ready to go before the riders meeting at 9:45am. We suggest getting to the ride between 9am and 9:30am. Lunch won’t be provided, but complimentary rest stops will be available during the ride. The only way to register to ride is to contact Dan. You can contact Dan Fargen by Email:ddkj@td.net Phone: (608)445-8288

If you have a meeting or event that you would like to have included on the Madison Bikes Calendar, drop us an email.

Probably the event this week that holds the most interest for bicyclists is the Atwood Reconstruction Public Information Meeting that will take place at Olbrich Gardens on Wednesday from 6:30-8:00. This is your opportunity to both find out what the plans are and also ask questions. If you are either curious about what’s going to happen or want to express your opinion, here’s your first chance.

Also happening this week:

On Monday, Sun Prairie Moves will host another Slow Roll, a fun, casual ride for all ages and abilities. The ride will start at Orfan Community Park and wil ride on paved city paths. For more information, check their Facebook page.

Tuesday the Madison Bikes Communication Committee will meet at Memorial Union Terrace. All are welcome to attend if you would like to help us out with getting the word out about not just our activities, but important meetings across the city.

Also on Tuesday the Common Council will consider the following for items:

• Final plans for Monroe Street,
• Allowing bicyclists to ride on the 100 block of W Mifflin. Yeah! The cul-de-sac at the end of W Mifflin will finally be connected to top of State Street and the Square,
• Allowing the Police Department to donate abandoned and recovered bikes to non-profits. Previously, if the bikes couldn’t be sold at auction, the were required by law to send them to the landfill.

The Council meetings in the City-County Building starting at 6:30. Anyone can speak on any item on the agenda. Just fill out a slip when you arrive. You will have three minutes to speak.

Wednesday brings the monthly meeting of the Transportation Planning Board (the body that does transportation planning for the entire metro and urbanized area. A lot of the biggest projects in the area are discussed here, so if you want to know what’s up with big highway projects down to the regional bike network, these are the meetings where those discussions happen. You can find the agenda and materials for each item this month here.

This month the meeting will take place in Verona because they will be considering land use and transportation plans for Verona this month. The Board tries to hold meetings around the region during the year to make things easier for people all over the affected area, but most regular meetings take place in Madison.

If you have a meeting or event that you would like to have included on the Madison Bikes Calendar, drop us an email.