Contact: Marybeth McGinnis
484-949-4931
MADISON— Today, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Madison Bikes board of directors’ member, Robbie Webber spoke at a press conference about the 24th annual Madison Bike Week that is happening until Saturday, September 18. Madison Bike Week celebrates biking to work, school, a park, the library, a restaurant — or riding a bicycle simply to feel the wind blowing. It also highlights the importance of safe, well-lit, and clean bike lanes and intersections throughout the city.
“Combined with improved transit and safer streets for walking, we aim to make Madison a place where everyone, regardless of their age or ability, has realistic, comfortable, safe, and easy options for getting around the city,” said Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. “Bicycling is a great choice for those trips with a distance too far to walk, but maybe not logical by transit.”
This year, Madison Bike Week features several pop-up bike stations with free treats and/ bike checks, movies, organized bike rides, and special Madison Bike Week offers from local businesses.
“Madison Bike Week is a great opportunity for current and new riders to celebrate our community support for bicycling and explore the city by bike. We have a lot of people moving to the city every year, and if they try out short trips by bike, they often find it is faster than driving, and there’s no parking cost! Madison Bikes wants to support people of all ages, abilities, and socioeconomic factors easily biking through the city, regardless of the time of year or destination,” said Robbie Webber, Madison Bikes board of directors member.
“Barriers to cycling go far beyond infrastructure (or lack thereof). BikEquity is working to understand the different opportunities and challenges historically marginalized communities experience while cycling. With this knowledge, we create meaningful solutions to uplift and empower communities of Color. The City of Madison’s initiatives such as ‘Vision Zero’ will ease concerns about traffic safety. I hope the city continues to support our work addressing the hopes and needs of our communities of Color. The goal is to make bicycling a safer and more accessible option for transportation, leisure, and fitness for all Madison residents.” — Francisco Sayu, founder, BikEquity Inc.
“Madison is an amazing biking community, with so many miles of paved paths, bike lanes, and bike boulevards. In regards to accessibility, many of us hope the city will keep moving forward in bringing those bikeways to every neighborhood, to make them safe for all types of riders and cycles, and to support programs that promote ridership no matter one’s race, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or physical ability.” — Brian McNurlen, founder, Madison Adaptive Cycling.
Madison Bike Week is made possible through the generous support from Wheel & Sprocket, MGE, and Trek/BCycle. Additional support comes from Black Saddle Bike Shop and Schwinn.
All are welcome to participate in Madison Bike Week. Bring your COVID bike, your old bike, or the electric bike you rent just for this event.
For more information and the event calendar visit www.madisonbikes.org/bikeweek.
