What biking season?

I usually get annoyed when the bike racks on State Street, near the Bike Fed's Madison office, are full and it's hard to cram mine in. But yesterday I had a different reaction.

I went to State Street after work to visit an art exhibits and found this situation at the rack closest to my destination:

Although it took a little extra effort to lock up my bike, my reaction was more of delight than dismay. Yesterday was the first day in Madison with sustained below-freezing temperatures and a pretty vigorous wind. But people are still biking. Who says that Wisconsin has biking weather only half of the year?

Saris Gala raises $95,000 for the Bike Fed

The seventh annual Saris Gala, benefiting the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, was held at the Saris Cycling Group headquarters in Madison, Wis., on Friday, October 29th. Silent and live auctions helped bring in $95,000 to support a variety of infrastructure and educational programs throughout Wisconsin, including Safe Routes to School. Thanks to all who contributed!

"We strongly support bicycling advocacy in Madison and across the country," said Saris President Chris Fortune. "So working with the Bike Fed is really important to us. We're proud to host the Saris Gala, but we did not do this alone. This is a community event that relies heavily on volunteers and the generous support of our industry partners."

This year's event had a Halloween theme complete with a costume ride and costume contest. More than 600 attendees enjoyed food and drinks, bid on auction items, and listened to cycling commentator Phil Liggett (in the photo from Focal Flame with a fan) talk about his experiences at the Tour de France. Pro-cyclist-turned-coach Robbie Ventura led the live auction and got the crowd bidding on items like a Cyclesport Travel trip to the Pyrenees, Vision Quest Coaching Camp package, and a high-end Trek bike of the winner's choosing.

Kevin Hardman, the Bike Fed's executive director, said, "We're grateful for partners like Saris who are stepping up to make Wisconsin a better place to bike. The Saris Gala funds important work to increase transportation choices throughout the state, including our Safe Routes to School programs. Over the years, we have taught more than 9,000 kids how to stay safe on streets and sidewalks. We're looking forward to continuing this work and helping more Wisconsinites make bicycling a convenient part of their daily lives."

Photo credit: Clint Thayer / Focal Flame Photography

Governor Announces $32.5 Million for Non-Motorized Projects

Last week, Governor Jim Doyle announced $32.5 million for 56 transportation enhancement and bicycle and pedestrian facilities projects across the state. Congratulations to the 40-plus communities who will receive this funding for through 2014 as part of the federal Transportation Enhancements program and the state and federal Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Program, including a dozen communities who will complete bicycle and/or pedestrian plans.

The federal and state funding will close several gaps in Wisconsin's transportation system. It will extend the Beerline Trail in Milwaukee, launch the first phase of the Yahara River Trail connecting Madison and McFarland, connect school to parks and shopping in Crandall, and create a north-south shared bicycle-pedestrian route along the Winnebago-Calumet County border. Click here for the complete list of grant projects.

Two statewide projects also received funding in this round, including the Bike Fed's Share & Be Aware program. We'll work with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Bureau of Transportation Safety to teach more bicyclists and motorists in 2011 about sharing the road. We're looking forward to being able to bring this important information to people throughout the state.

Madison, Milwaukee and La Crosse make national Bicycle Friendly Communities list - again!

The League of American Bicyclists yesterday announced its list of 2010 Bicycle Friendly Communities, and La Crosse, Milwaukee and Madison are on it once again. Madison received gold, the second-highest designation (with platinum being the highest), while Milwaukee and La Crosse each received bronze. You can download the complete list of honorees here.

Madison by Bike guided tour, Sept. 19

Have you ever considered going to work, the grocery store or a friend's house by bike, but aren't sure which route to take or what type of bike gear you might need?

The Bike Fed's Madison office is joining with We Are All Mechanics and 20by2020 to offer Madison by Bike, an fun event to familiarize Madisonians with bicycle routes and resources.

Madison by Bike will take place Sunday, Sept. 19, from 1 - 4 p.m. The event consists of two sessions, a Resource Hour and a Guided Tour. Attend just one session or come out for both!

Resource Hour: 1:00-2:00pm
Held at the Machinery Row end of Law Park (the grassy area near the intersection of John Nolen Drive and Williamson Street). Volunteers will be on hand to answer your questions about biking in Madison and show you how to use the free City of Madison bike map.

Guided Bicycle Tour: 2:00-4:00pm
Enjoy a relaxed, 7-mile guided tour of bike paths downtown and on Madison's near east side. Tony Fernandez from the City of Madison Engineering Department will stop at a few places along the way to educate riders about new bicycle infrastructure and discuss plans for future bicycle improvements. Click here for a route map. This friendly ride is perfect for anyone who wants to experience more of Madison by bike or for those bicycling veterans who want to enjoy a fun, relaxing Sunday ride.

For more information, email Amanda White or India Viola.

Lance Armstrong and Major Taylor: Two World Champions

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz (left) and bicycling champion Lance Armstrong (right) at Ride the Drive in Madison, Wis., August 29, 2010.

As I was posting pictures from Ride the Drive to the Bike Fed's Flickr page this morning, I noticed Major Taylor on Lance Armstrong's t-shirt, captured here in this photo by Laura Whitmore of Madison Parks.

Major Taylor was a barrier-breaking American athlete on many levels. He was the 1899 world champion for the 1-mile bicycle sprint - an amazing feat on its own, but even more so considering that he was black, and sports associations in much of the country prohibited competition by black athletes at the time. (Later that year, he knocked down the one-mile world record to 1 minute, 19 seconds.) Taylor was America's second black world championship athlete.

Not until after he won the world championship was he allowed to participate in the U.S. national championships in 1900. In 1901, he went to Europe and beat every European cycling champion.

After he retired from racing in 1910, he was plagued by misfortune. At 53, he died in the charity ward of Cook County Hospital, Chicago, in 1932.

But Major Taylor's legacy has not been forgotten. A significant player in preserving his memory is the Major Taylor Association, based in Worchester, Massachusetts (where Taylor moved in 1895 and was pleasantly surprised by a lower level of overt prejudice than he had encountered in his home state of Indiana). A number of Major Taylor bike clubs throughout the United States encourage safe and fun cycling among African Americans through organized rides and events. (Check out the Web site of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Minnesota, which recently co-hosted a national summit of bike clubs made up of African-American cyclists).

An archive of period newspaper articles about Taylor is available on the Web site of the Major Taylor Society.

Thanks for a great Ride the Drive!

World bicycling champion Lance Armstrong with Jack Hirt, executive director of the Midwest Cycling Series. Photo by Sknurr Photography.

Double-decker bicyclists begin their loop around Ride the Drive. Photo by Sknurr Photography.

Thanks to everyone who joined us at Ride the Drive - a celebration for anyone who wants to run, ride, skate or stroll in the city of Madison - on August 29. We had a great time meeting so many of you. We're grateful to everyone who became a Bike Fed member at Ride the Drive, and so is Burley, which donated a Travoy trailer and three detachable transit bags to raffle off for these new members. Congratulations to Jeremy Basoulek of McFarland, who will now be toting his groceries by bike!

At the opening ceremonies, Lance Armstrong hit home with a lot of children in the crowd when he talked about the freedom he felt when he first lost his training wheels as a kid and was allowed to bike around the block by himself. We've never forgotten the freedom that bicycling brings to both kids and adults, and love helping more people experience that freedom in our day-to-day work here at the Bike Fed.

We'll be posting more photos from Ride the Drive later this week.

Join the Bike Fed at Ride the Drive and win a Burley Travoy

Bicycle trailer manufacturer Burley wants to encourage more people to join the Bike Fed in making Wisconsin a better place to bike. So, if you join the Bike Fed at Ride the Drive on August 29 in Madison, you will be entered to win a new Travoy trailer and two attachable Transit Bags. The trailer is designed especially for commuting and shopping, and it's easy to attach and detach so you can take it with you once you've parked your bike. Skip the grocery cart – use your Travoy. You can see the Travoy and sign up for membership at one of the two Bike Fed booths at Ride the Drive - one on Capitol Square (where the Travoy will be on display) and the other at Olin Park. We'll draw the winner at the end of the day. At Burley's request, only people who sign up for membership at Ride the Drive are eligible to enter to win the Travoy. We look forward to seeing you at Ride the Drive!

Help kids with disabilities lose their training wheels

We got this email from the Madison Area Down Syndrome Society (MADSS) today and thought some of you might be interested in volunteering. It sounds like a really fun opportunity:

Each summer the Madison Area Down Syndrome Society (MADSS) bring the Lose the Training Wheels Bike Camp to our area to help children with different disabilities learn to ride on two wheels. In addition to helping provide children with disabilities another way to stay physically fit and to socially engage with their peers, learning to ride on two wheels often inspires new found confidence and independence in program participants. ...

We are once again seeking more than 80 physically fit volunteers to serve as "spotters" and in other capacities during the week of July 12-16th. ... We are also still seeking sponsors and donors for this event.

Lose the Training Wheels is a national program that boasts an 85% success rate in getting kids confidently riding without training wheels. Interested in helping out? Check out MADSS Bike Camp page.

If you're not in the Madison area, but would like to see the program brought to your part of the state, check out their camp schedule page and read the second paragraph from the top for more information.

Milwaukee hosted a Lose the Training Wheels camp in June. Contact the Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin if you'd like to be involved with next year's camp.

More people making Wisconsin a better place to bike

We're pretty cranked (excuse the pun) about a deal that several Madison-area bike shops, in partnership with Trek, are offering in July. Williamson Bicycle Works, Machinery Row Bicycles, Budget Bicycle Center, Middleton Cycle, Village Pedaler (Monona) and Trek Stores-Madison will provide complimentary Bike Fed memberships to every non-member who buys a Trek bike in the month of July.

Machinery Row has additionally committed to providing a gift membership to every Wisconsinite who buys any bike there through the end of the year.

Apparently, these folks agree with us that everyone who rides a bike in Wisconsin should be a Bike Fed member. It's a great way to preserve and expand the amazing work that the Bike Fed does – whether it's educating kids about traffic safety through Safe Routes to School, improving roads and trails through partnerships with local governments, or showing workplaces how they can accommodate bicycle commuting. (And I'm not praising the Bike Fed just because I work here. I was on that page earlier in my career, too – just ask my friends.)

If you're affiliated with a business that would like to run a similar promotion, please contact our director of membership and development, Hilary Carroll. In the meantime, we're looking forward to this opportunity to connect with more people in our state and get them involved in making Wisconsin a better place to bicycle.

Commuting tips from Susan Schmitz of Downtown Madison Inc.

During Bike to Work Week in Madison, Downtown Madison Inc. (DMI) and Godfrey & Kahn sponsored a commuter tips luncheon at the Madison Municipal Building. Susan Schmitz, DMI's president, handed out a list of great commuter tips that we'd like to share here. There are a couple of Madison-specific references, but most of the information is applicable no matter where you are in the state. Here goes

It is not hard — it is fun — and you can do it!

The thought of commuting to work via a bicycle can seem like a daunting task. But if you consider the following tips, it will help you work through your fears and make it an enjoyable experience.

SIX TIPS FOR BICYCLE COMMUTING

COMMITMENT:
It is important that you be committed to trying this new way of getting to work and home. The dynamics are different than driving a car.

PATIENCE:
Because bicycling to work is different that driving a car to work, patience is extremely important—change is hard for people and you need to take your time in order to build confidence in what you are doing. Also, you will be sharing the road with other bicyclists and motor vehicles—this takes some getting used to and can be inhibiting. That is why the next tip is important for your confidence and your safety.

GATHER INFORMATION:
Gather any and all information that you can get your hands on before starting. The Bike Fed is the best place to get started. They can help you with your route and provide you with tips about riding and the rules that you must follow (including bike etiquette). Also, you will want to talk to other commuters. Make sure to check out your chosen route on the weekend when you are not in a hurry so you can get used to the stops, lights and crossings—this will help build confidence. Having alternate routes is very helpful.

HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT:
Go to a local bike shop (preferably one near your home or on your bike route) and ask them to help you get ready for commuting. There are many great locally owned bike shops in Madison and they all have trained staff that will ask you the right questions and give you the right answers.

PLAN AHEAD:
Planning ahead is the most important part of bicycle commuting. You need to take time to think about your clothes, shoes, make-up, hair, errands on the way home, etc. This is where talking to other commuters will be helpful. Start with getting the right “pack” for your bike. Think about what you want to keep at work so that you do not have to haul items back and forth every day. This is especially important with shoes and boots because they take up a lot of space and they can be heavy. Also, keep hair products and make-up at work. It takes time to figure out what works best for your lifestyle, but that is where the “patience” comes in.

ENJOY:
This is the best part of all! Once you have everything figured out, you can relax and enjoy your commute! There are bike paths next to both lakes and there is nothing better than the sunrise on Lake Monona and the sunset on Lake Mendota! Remember that you are being good to your mind, body and the environment! It becomes addicting!

ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET!

Something fun to remember when biking, there is no bad weather—just bad clothing.

Susan commutes by bike year-round. "Winter riding is so much fun," she says. "You feel like a kid going through the snow."

You can see more pictures from the commuter tips luncheon, including a show-and-tell of cool commuter accessories, on our Flickr page.

cLips of Faith = Super Fun in Madison

Last night, Madison served as the kick-off city for New Belgium Brewery's cLips of Faith Beer and Film Tour. The event was a fundraiser for the Bike Fed, and we had plenty of enthusiastic volunteers from the Bike Fed and local biking groups, including folks from the ACT Ride and the Bikers Against MS Ride.

The event was the world premiere for 17 short independent films, with the themes of sustainability, bicycling and beer running throughout. Sustainability was also a big theme in the beer garden itself, with several "Compost Offices" collecting the biodegradable beer cups, trays and food scraps for transformation into fertilizer by Wisconsin's Purple Cow Organics.

We're hoping to make this an annual event. In the meantime, you might enjoy Tour de Fat in Milwaukee on July 3, another New Belgium fundraiser for the Bike Fed where one lucky person will trade in their car for a $3,000 custom commuter bike. You want to be that lucky person? Find out how to enter here.

Apply for Safe Routes to School and Bicycle Facilities Funding Now

On behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin will offer June training sessions covering application processes for Safe Routes to School (July 9, 2010, deadline) and the Transportation Enhancement and Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Programs (August 2, 2010, deadline). These sessions will be held in several locations around the state to help communities and schools better understand the application process, what is required in an application, what makes a good application, and the project selection process.

Location	Date	Time
Fox Cities Area Menasha Public Library 440 First Street Menasha, WI 54952	Tuesday, June 15	1:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Milwaukee Greenfield Pavilion 2028 S. 124 St. West Allis, WI 53227	Tuesday, June 22	1:00 - 3:30 p.m
La Crosse County Administration Center 400 N 4th Street, Room B190 La Crosse, WI 54601	Thursday, June 24	2:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Madison Madison Public Library - Room 202 201 W Mifflin Street Madison, WI 53703	Friday, June 25	1:00 - 3:30 p.m

If you are interested in attending a training session please reply to Jessica Wineberg Binder with your name and the session you will attend.

You can find more information about Safe Routes to School and the information sessions on the Bike Fed Web site.

Rollin' to Work With Mayor Cieslewicz in Madison

Thanks to WKOW for documenting our morning commute!

Join the Bike Fed at Ride the Drive in Madison on Sunday

Join us for RIDE THE DRIVE! Ride the Drive is a celebration of Madison’s commitment to healthy, active lifestyles. This community event is an invitation for all citizens to leave their cars behind to experience some of Madison’s most scenic byways a whole new way - by riding, walking, skating, or strolling along some of our city’s most beautiful streets. SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2010 | 10am - 4pm Ride the Drive is free, open-to-the-public, and a family event — a whole new way to experience our great city. There are activities planned for all ages! Check them out at Ride the Drive Activities. The route is a 6-mile loop from East Washington Avenue to State Street to North Shore Drive to John Nolen Drive. Get directions or view route map. Get updates on Ride the Drive Find Ride the Drive on Facebook Follow Ride the Drive on Twitter

Bike to the Mallards = $1 donation to the Bike Fed

Trek Stores of Madison are sponsoring the Trek Store Bike Blind again this year at Madison Mallards games, which is a secured bike parking lot for fans who ride their bikes to the Mallards games this summer. For each fan who rides their bike and parks it in the lot during a game, $1 will be donated to the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. Also, you can get $1 off a bleacher ticket when you show your helmet at the ticket office. And they'll even fill your tires!

July 14 will be a special Bike to the Ballpark night. Trek will offer free bike safety checks starting at 6 p.m. and the game starts at 7 p.m.

U.S. Transplant Games looking for cycling course volunteers

Madison will host the 2010 U.S. Transplant Games. The U.S. Transplant Games happen every two years and to raise money and awareness for transplant programs across the country by giving living donors and organ recipients a chance to show off their quality of life. The games are expected to attract 8,000 competitors and visitors to Madison. They will feature athletes of all abilities, from those who just want some fun to those who want to crush the competition (the latter go on to represent the United States in the World Summer Transplant Games).

The Games are looking for volunteer course marshals for the 5K Time Trial and 20K Road Race on Sunday, August 1 on a shut down John Nolen Drive. Volunteers should have prior experience marshaling cycling events, must attend one volunteer training in Madison, and will be on or near John Nolen Drive from 8am-2pm the day of the event to help with course management. The Games are looking for people who aren’t timid and are willing to open their mouth to people infringing on the course if need be.

Questions? Contact Jocelyn Vande Velde, education product manager, Saris Cycling Group.

Ride the Drive Volunteer Opportunities Now Available!

Ride the Drive on June 6 is a community event that invites all citizens to leave their cars behind to experience some of Madison's most scenic byways from a whole new perspective - by riding, walking, skating or strolling. Volunteering for Ride the Drive is a great way to help make this a successful event and have a lot of fun at the same time.

More than 250 volunteers are needed for Ride the Drive. As a volunteer you will receive a really cool Ride the Drive t-shirt, an informational training, snacks and so many smiles, it will make your summer!

Thousands of people will be out enjoying walking, biking, running and rolling in the traffic-free streets. Sign-up to volunteer here.

Contact RidetheDrive@cityofmadison.com" with questions.

German television features Madison bike trip

Westdeutscher Rundfunk, a television network in western Germany, recently featured a news segment on a group of Madison civic and business leaders who have been touring Muenster, Germany, to learn how the city makes it so easy for residents to get around by bike. (35% of Muenster residents commute by bike.)

You can read a partial translation of the news segment at 20 by 2020, the delegation's Web site.

Muenster, Germany: Bicycling paradise

The Bike Fed's executive director, Kevin Hardman, is visiting some of Europe's best biking cities with Dane County business and government leaders. Here are some of his photos of bicycles and bicycle infrastructure in the city.



The goal of the trip is to learn from these cities so that Madison can raise the number of people who use bicycles and other alternative transportation means - 20% of the population by 2020. You can find out more about the trip here.

Participants in the trip will be speaking at the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin's Annual Bicycle Summit on April 21 at the Madison Concourse Hotel, 1 West Dayton Street.