Madison Bikes

Just a quick note that we’re cancelling the Madison Bikes Mural Ride that was planned for Sunday (3/15). We’re sad that we have to make this announcement, but given the COVID-19 situation, we’ve decided that it would be best to cancel the event. Public Health Madison & Dane County have recommend cancelling or postponing events and large gatherings, and that’s what we’ll do. For more information and local updates about COVID-19, please visit https://www.publichealthmdc.com/‚Ķ/resources-by-‚Ķ/coronavirus

Did you have an opportunity to get out and enjoy the warm (and windy…) weekend on your bike? Well, lots of people did: The bike counters on the the Cap City Trail and SW Path had by far their highest counts of 2020 yesterday:

If you’re a 3-season rider, now may be a great time to dust off that bike of yours and get into the habit of riding again.

This Week

On Wednesday, the Transportation Commission is meeting. One exciting agenda item:

The City is planning to have rainbow pride flags, celebrating the LGTBQ+ community, painted on the pavement at two locations. One location will be up at the top of State Street; the other crosswalks will be on the Cap City Trail at Monona Terrace. Funding will come from donations and grants. The hope is that the crosswalks will be installed in June, ready for Pride Month and Madison Bike Week.

Other items on the agenda:

• The City is applying for funding from WisDOT for four ped/bike projects. It’s uncertain how many (if any) will be funded, but all would be a nice addition to our low-stress network.
  • Autumn Ridge Path – shared use path between Stein Ave. and STH 30 (east of Stoughton Rd. and west of Swanton Rd.)
  • Tancho Dr. Path – shared use path between Tancho Dr. and STH 151, where there is an existing path and underpass of the highway
  • West Towne Path – extension of shared use path between Commerce Dr. and S. Junction Rd.
  • W. Main St. bike boulevard improvements and E. Main St. and S. Blount St. bicycle and pedestrian improvements.
• The Commission is also asked to approve routes for the delivery robots that UW Dining is using. The vehicles are generally banned from bike paths, and on sidewalks they’re only allowed on the permitted routes (as well as on the UW campus). Map below.
• A public hearing about Metro’s proposed changes to their bus routes and stops will start at 6pm. You can find the proposed changes, meant to reduce delays, missed transfer and to speed up service here.

If you want to provide input on any of these items, please submit your comments to Patrick McGuigan.

Want to learn how to build bike wheels? It’s a cool skill to have, and not as difficult as you may imagine. The Cargo Bike Shop is hosting a workshop on the topic on Thursday. More information on the Facebook event page.

Looking for a new bike? Bike-O-Rama, “Southern Wisconsin’s Largest Bicycle Sale,” is happening from Friday to Sunday, and there will be lots and lots of bike on display and available for test rides. Free admission at the Alliant Center.

On Sunday, the Madison Bikes Mural Ride is happening! Explore Madison’s many murals on the east side by bike, on a 12-mile or a 5-mile route. Meet at Ian’s Pizza at Garver Feed Mill at 12:30pm.

Coinciding with the mural ride is the return of BCycle on March 15! It’ll be good to have the bike share system back online for the season — and maybe this year we’ll see some more new stations added.

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.

Thank you to the volunteers who came the Free Bikes 4 Kids event on Saturday!

This Week

Monday

Transportation Policy and Planning Board will meet at 5 pm in Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd in room 215. The Board will discuss the future of the city’s bike registration program. Currently, bikes are required to be registered with the City; the Board is discussing repealing the program, expanding enforcement/engagement, and other options. If you can’t make the meeting, submit comments to the members here; read the presentation here.

Wednesday

The Madison Area Transportation Planning Board will meet at 6:30 pm in the Water Utility at 119 E. Olin Avenue in Room A-B. You can read the agenda here. They currently have a survey out about their rebranding efforts – it only takes 5 minutes!

The Board of Public Works will meet at 4:30 pm in Room 108 in the City- County Building at 210 Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd. On the agenda is the Anderson St. project. It looks like the board prefers option 3 which would have no eastbound bike lane but a multi-use path along the south side of the road. It is unclear if this would include any improvements to the Stoughton Rd intersection.

Saturday

Revolution Cycles (2330 Atwood Avenue) will host French New Wave/ Ands/ Threadmaker. From the Facebook description:

The French New Wave makes their first Madison appearance in 18 years! Members of Dramatic Lovers, CONTROL, ASUMAYA, Heller Mason, etc. making twisting, bossa-nova-inflected, slow-core tunes.

Ands rolls in from Chicago to bring their mathy, angular mayhem to the bike shop. From the fine folks who brought you Space Blood, Cut Teeth, & As Hell.

Threadmaker makes all their thread from scratch each night. Find them at the intersection of noise rock and free improv.

Sunday

Sponsored by the Sierra Club and from the Facebook event:

Transitioning Transportation – Clean, Just & Resilient.

Come to this workshop to learn about transportation and its influence on climate change. How can we transition our transportation system in Dane Co? Presenters will provide information on:

– The amount of greenhouse gases from the transportation sector

– Areas in which we can build resilience and reduce emissions

– Examples of projects already in progress.

And we will have small group discussions to gather your ideas. What can we do as a community to reduce emissions that result in a clean, just and resilient transportation system?

We need your input as we implement Dane Co’s Climate Action Plan!

For the Future

If you, like me, have been obsessively checking the weather calendar for the next few months, you might be excited for spring (or, more accurately in Wisconsin, the sudden shift to summer after that last blizzard). However, you can get in a great last winter ride before the spring equinox! We’re hosting a Mural Ride on March 15 – longer and shorter routes available, with free pizza at the beginning generously provided by Ian’s, and discounted drinks & food at Working Draft after the ride!

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.

Last week

Of course, our Winter Bike Anywhere Day and our commuter stations had to be on the coldest day of the year –⁠ this past Friday. All the media outlets made it sound like stepping outside would mean certain injury or death, but despite the cold, we had a hardy crew visit both of our commuter stations: one outdoors in Law Park and the other in the toasty lobby of HotelRED.

Thanks to our sponsors, volunteers, and all the people who came by to say hello, share a cup of coffee, or grab a snack. We love seeing you, even if your beards, eyelashes, and face masks are covered in frost.

The week ahead

And now that our event is past, the weather has warmed up, the sun is setting later each day, and we are all thinking of longer rides with less need to bundle up. The city schedule is pretty light this week, and there are just a couple of community meetings.

Monday

Transportation Policy and Planning Board will be meeting at 5:00 pm in room 215 of the Municipal Bldg. There isn’t anything specifically bike-related on the agenda, but several items might affect streets and issues important to bicyclists. The TPPB will again be considering the downtown routing of the future BRT lines. Some alternatives may affect infrastructure or bicycling comfort level on some streets, and all alternatives have trade offs. The choice is mostly about putting BRT on the Capital Square vs the outer loop, but there are a few variations on those two main alternatives. They will also be looking at the west side route options, but those both are less thorny and less likely to affect bicycling routes.

The other issue on the agenda that may be of interest is an update on the Wilson St project that we have written about in the past. There are no new materials available for this agenda item, and no decisions are going to be made at the meeting.

If you are interested in this meeting, you can attend in person, peak to any agenda item, or watch the meeting on line.

Madison Bikes Board of Directors will be meeting at 6:00 pm at the Central Library. All are welcome to attend. Our next working meeting –⁠ the one where we have more discussions for volunteers –⁠ will be next Monday, Feb 24, at 6:00 pm at Bendy Works on E Doty St.

Tuesday

Wisconsin non-partisan primary. A national election year can be very confusing in Wisconsin because there are FOUR election days. February is the primary for non-partisan elections. That means winnowing down the slate to two candidate in the following races: Supreme Court, School Board, and County Supervisor. So make sure to vote on Tuesday. If you need information on how to register, where to vote, or what you need to vote, go to this statewide site or check out the League of Women Voters, who also publish candidate answers to help you pick your candidates.

What are the other dates and what are they for?

• April 7: Election of Supreme Court, School Board, and County Supervisor AND the presidential primary.
• August 11: Partisan Primary for state Senator, state Representative, and US Representative. No US Senate race in Wisconsin this year.
• Nov 3: National and state election: President, US Representative, and state Senator and Representative.

Also Tuesday, the UW will host another Crossroads of Ideas discussion, this time on Affordable Housing in Dane County. These are always interesting sessions, as they bring together the academic, business, and public sector participants for a lively exchange of ideas. One way to make housing more affordable? Make sure people have good transportation choices instead of being tied to driving everywhere.

Thursday

Hands-on suspension service session at Slow Roll Cycles, in the Lake Edge Shopping Center, 4118 Monona Dr. This is a more advanced class, and you need to have attended one of the earlier classes and enroll. There is also a fee. More information can be found 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.

Phew, that was more snow than expected! I only went on a short ride earlier on Sunday, and on the fat bike it was slow-but-fun. Be prepared for possibly challenging conditions on Monday, especially on side streets. Once again, I’m really happy that the City has allocated funds to clear the paths on weekends. Our Facebook Community group is a good place to get and discuss the latest info on path conditions.

Last Week

On Monday I had the opportunity to meet with the Wisconsin Bike Fed’s new executive director, Kirsten Finn. We had a good talk about the Bike Feds priorities and how the Bike Fed and Madison Bikes can work together to make biking better for everyone. Stay tuned: We may be hosting a joint event later this spring.

The Transportation Policy and Planning Board approved a resolution that would prohibit personal delivery devices (a.k.a. delivery robots) from operating on city sidewalks except where specifically approved. You may have seen these devices on the UW campus, making food deliveries to residence halls. State law allows the operation of the devices but gives cities the ability to restrict them on sidewalks or bike paths. The ordinance approved at the TPPB meeting only addressed sidewalks.

The TPPB also got the ball rolling on possibly reforming the city’s bike/ped enhancement and the neighborhood traffic management programs. These are pots of money that can be used for smaller infrastructure improvements for people walking and biking, such as speed humps or pavement markings. The current process for deciding which projects are and aren’t funded, and out of which pot of money could probably use some improvement, and the board will work on that for the next couple of months.

News also broke last week that the Judge Doyle Square project — and with that the new Bike Center there — will be delayed by several months. Instead of March, June is now the projected opening date. Big bummer for Freewheel Collective who will be operating the center.

And finally, Madison got a new bike shop: Black Saddle Bikes had their soft opening. They’re located on the north side at 601 N Sherman Ave. Congrats to Black Saddle owner Mitch, who has been around the Madison bike scene for a long time.

This Week

Start your Tuesday with Bike Fitchburg’s Winter Commuter Station. Friday is International Winter Bike to Work Day, and Bike Fitchburg is joining the celebration early. Between 7 and 9 am, come to the bike roundabout at the intersection of the Cannonball, Southwest Path, and Cap City Trail for bagels and coffee.

On Tuesday evening a public input meeting about Anderson St between Wright St and Stoughton Rd is taking place. The project includes sewer work and resurfacing the street, but also a new sidewalk and bike facilities on the south side of the street. This is great news, as currently this is a gap in our low-stress bike network between the Starkweather Creek Path and the Reindahl Path. 6 PM at East Madison Community Center, 8 Straubel Court.

The Transportation Commission is meeting on Wednesday. The agenda is focused mostly on transit matters, such as proposed Metro service changes and a study that will look into how we can reorganize our whole transit system from the ground up. 5 pm, Madison Municipal Building Rm 215. Full agenda here.

As mentioned above, Friday is International Winter Bike to Work Day. Madison Bikes like to emphasize that trips to work are only a small part of all trips that can be done by bike, and so we’ll be celebrating Winter Bike Anywhere Day. Join us at two bike stations from 7 to 9 am: At Law Park near Machinery Row we’ll be serving coffee from Just Coffee and baked goods from Madison Sourdough; and on the west side we’ll be at HotelRED for coffee and sweet treats.

You can also sign up and pledge to ride on Friday on the International Winter Bike to Work Day website. Let’s put Madison on the map!

On Saturday, you head out to the west side Trek Store for a chili cook-off. “Just bring a crockpot of your finest chili into the shop by 1pm, and we’ll all do a taste test and vote for our favorite. The winner will be announced at 2pm. All chili chefs will get a $20 coupon, and the all-time winner will get a $100 Trek gift card.”

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.

Lots of traffic on the SW Path

Last Week

Sunday’s unseasonably warm and sunny weather seems to have gotten people out on their bikes as evidenced by an uptick in bike traffic recorded by the bike counters. The counter on the Southwest Path showed 405 people biked over it, up from the previous week’s weekday high of 403, and the counter on the Capital City Path soared to 649 people on bikes over the surprisingly consistent weekday numbers between 478 and 505. It is typical this time of year for weekend counts to be lower than weekday counts since there are more people commuting by bike in the winter than people riding recreationally on the weekends. It is important to note, however, that a percentage of weekend bike traffic consists of commuters who work on weekends.

This Week

Monday, February 3,

At 5:00 PM Madison’s Transportation Policy & Planning Board (TPPB) is meeting in Room 215 of the City County Building at 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. This meeting the TPPB will look at creating a subcommittee to look at Pedestrian/Bicycle Enhancement and Traffic Calming. The TPPB will also discuss BRT updates, and a 2020 work plan which includes the Wilson Street Corridor Study and the Madison Ordinance Analysis of Parking Strategies (MOAPS). Read the full agenda here.

Tuesday, February 4,

Tuesday is Transit/Transportation Equity Day, which is on Rosa Parks’ birthday to recognize and honor the civil rights champion. The Sierra Club is organizing two rallies at the State Capitol in support of funding 11 transit project proposals in Wisconsin, one of the being a Madison Metro one. The first rally is from 7:30 to 10 AM, and the second is from 4:30 to 6:30 PM. You can learn more about these events and RSVP on the Transit Equity Day page on Sierra Club’s website.

Wednesday, February 5,

The Madison Area Transportation Planning Board (MATPB) is meeting at 6:30 PM in Rooms A&B at the Madison Water Utility Building located at 119 E. Olin Ave., which can be accessed by bike from the Wingra Creek Path. The MATPB will be amending the 2020-2025 Transportation Improvement Plan to include Madison’s east-west BRT line. They are also going to look at designating a section of US-151 as an Alternative Fuels Corridor. Read the full agenda here.

Saturday, February 8

The 5th race in the Hugh Jass Fat Bike Race Series will be taking place at Blackhawk Trails located at 10118 Blackhawk Rd. in Madison. The theme for this race is TOGA PARTY, and participants will be awarded points for racing in a toga. Having flannel/plaid on your body/bike will also earn points. Registration for the event starts at 9:00 AM and the race starts at 11. Registration is $40, or $30 for youths under 16. Learn more about this event and register at their website or on 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. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.

Monday being a holiday, everyone can enjoy the newly-cleared paths across the city due to the additional money in the city budget. This our first test of having paths cleared on the weekend and holidays, and Friday’s snowstorm was the perfect test. Can you imagine waiting until Tuesday to have tour paths cleared? Two TV stations also covered this new service, after the city issued a press release, but we’ve all been very excited to have the paths treated as well as local streets.

The Greenbush Neighborhood Association has a survey on traffic issues along Vilas Park Drive as part of the master plan for the park. We were specifically asked to share it with bicyclists, since this is an important route for a lot of people. You can access the survey here. Although originally planned to run through the end of the month, they will probably extend that deadline. Feel free to pass it on to your networks and other groups.

The week ahead

There’s not too much happening in city meetings, but there are some great classes and community events this week. It looks like everything is happening on Wednesday.

Wednesday

The city will hold two sessions of their bicycle-friendly driver training. When this came out, I called John Rider — who is teaching the class — and asked who he saw as the intended audience. They are targeting small businesses who have fleet drivers or delivery services, but anyone is welcome to sign up. This is the first time the city has taught this class, and the registration deadline was Friday, but more sessions will be available in the future.

In the evening, the Transportation Commission will be meeting at 5:00 pm in Room 215 of the Municipal Bldg. Earlier this month the Transportation Planning and Policy Board had a presentation on the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (aka traffic calming.) At this meeting, the TC will also receive a presentation. So you can watch the meeting streaming or check out the PPt.

Trek will hold a handle bar taping class at their west store off Mineral Point Rd at 6:00 pm . This is a great way to spruce up your bike, and if you aren’t sure how to put new tape on your handle bars, bring your bike along and learn by doing. Registration required.

Another community class is being offered by Slow Roll bike shop in Monona. This one is a level 2 suspension learning class. You do not have to have attended the 101 class to attend this one.

What have we been talking about on Facebook?

Besides the usual discussions about bad intersections/roadways and insufficiently-cleared lanes and curb cuts, there was a lively discussion of the best neighborhoods to buy in if one is going to bike to the UW. Someone from Austin posted that she and her family are looking to buy a house, and they wanted a bicycle-friendly real estate agent. The good news is that we all decided that there are many good neighborhoods with safe, easy biking to downtown and campus, and so therefore the agent one works with is less important. (But people had lots of agent recommendations too.)

Someone also posted a link to a study finding Madison the third most sustainable metro area for transportation, principally due to our high use of biking, walking, and transit. Nice job.

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.

Last Week

Initial reports are that the Free Bikes 4 Kids collection went well with hundreds of bikes collected.

Also last week saw some discussion of the poor quality of bike rack options at the Alliant Energy Center campus at the Bike Swap on the Madison Bikes Community Facebook Page. You can read the thread here.

Image: Packed fence racks at Alliant Energy Center Saturday. Fence racks do not meet City of Madison standards for bike racks. Photo credit: Robbie Webber.

This Week

Monday, January 13,

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

Wednesday, January 15,

At 6:45 PM one of Madison’s newest bike shops—Slow Roll Cycles—is continuing its Suspension Learning classes with the Suspension Learning Session 202 Level. This is the second level of their bicycle suspension learning sessions. It is not required to have attended the 101 class as long as you understand the basics of suspension and how it works, but if you want to take part in the hands-on service session you must have sat in on the 101 or 201 level sessions. You can read more about this session here on the event’s Facebook page.

At 7:00 PM there are two events to choose from. The first I will mention is the Lower Yahara River Trail (LYRT) Phase 2 Public Meeting. This meeting will take place at the Pleasant Springs Town Hall located at 2354 CTH N in Stoughton. Phase 2 of the LYRT will see a trail built between Fish Camp County Park and Lake Kegonsa State Park along the north side of Lake Kegonsa. You can read more about it on Dane County Parks web page or on the Facebook Events page.

Image: Early proposed alignment for the Lower Yahara River Trail. Phase 2 would be constructed between Fish Camp County Park and Lake Kegonsa State Park. Source: Dane County Parks Presentation from February 27, 2014.

The other 7:00 PM event is a Capitol Times talk called Madison’s Gentrifying Neighborhoods: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. This talk will be at the High Noon Saloon located at 701 East Washington Ave. Doors open at 6 PM and the talk starts at 7 and is a free event. You can read more about it on High Noon’s website or at the Facebook Events page.

Thursday, January 16,

The Cargo Bike Shop is hosting a Wheel Building Session starting at 6:00 PM. The event will be $25 and will cover a spoke wrench, snacks, and possibly a beverage. Not included in the costs will be the components for your wheelset, but the Cargo Bike Shop does have on hand great hubs, rims, spokes, and nipples and will work with you to help design your ideal wheelset. The session will start with a review of wheel components and theory and then move into lacing, tensioning, and trueing. You can learn more about the event and buy tickets at the 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. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.