Ride 14

Having skipped a blog post on Ride 13 (for luck!), we're back with another awesome ride lined up for tomorrow.

As many of you are aware, we've been having a great time - first with a strong contingent on the longer double loop out east toward the CG two weeks ago (and of course a good crew on the shorter ride as well), then a solid showing pedaling around Lake Monona last week.

This week, the main show will be our Isthmus Bi-Coastal route, hopefully capitalizing on some lake breeze to keep us cool. The longer riders will head out to Paoli one last time in the season to stretch their legs before the sun sets at 7:49.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

- Tyson

We had a great ride last week--who will join us this week?

We had a great ride last week, with a nice, big group, including several first-timers.  Thanks for joining us, you guys!  The whole group went on a beautiful jaunt through Maple Bluff and back downtown via the wonderful Starkweather Creek Trail.  The weather couldn't have been better.

This week, your options are 1. a shorter, more reasonably paced ride through the near-south and near-west sides of Madison, along Wingra Creek and around Lake Wingra and the beautiful parks and open spaces that predominate in that watershed and 2. a longer, faster-paced ride through the countryside east of Madison via the Lake Monona loop. Both promise to be great rides.  Hopefully the weather will also be great.

Ride routes will be posted here (http://cleanwisconsinbikeclub.blogspot.com/p/routes.html) soon.  If you're going to join us, all you need is a bike and a helmet (probably a water bottle too), and you just need to be here (634 W. Main St. in Madison) before 5:30 on Thursday.

Please join us, whether you've been on a ride with us before or not.  We have a great group of folks who will welcome you no matter what.  Looking forward to seeing you out there...

Join us Thursday for the best of summer in Madison!

This Thursday we will once again connect outdoors-loving cyclists with two fun routes around Madison / Dane County that highlight the best of where we live and what we work to protect as well as the best of Wisconsin's summer season.  Check out this great picture and those smiling faces:

That could be you!  Just meet us here at our offices at 634 West Main St. by 5:30pm on Thursday with your bike and helmet.

Our shorter, more laid-back route this week will take us across the isthmus and along Lake Mendota as much as possible to beautiful, wooded Maple Bluff and then back downtown via the Starkweather Creek bike path.  See route map and turn-by-turn directions (available in hard copy to those who attend Thursday) here: http://cleanwisconsinbikeclub.blogspot.com/p/routes.html. This ride will be about 14.5 miles.

This week's longer, speedier ride skirts Lakes Monona and Kegonsa (stopping briefly at Fish Camp County Park on the shores of Lake Kegonsa) while crisscrossing some of the bucolic countryside south of Madison. It will be about 31 miles.  Find the route map at the link above.

Looking forward to seeing you Thursday.  If you know you'll be coming, please RSVP on Facebook (here: https://www.facebook.com/events/266785560126809/) or let us know at bikerides@cleanwisconsin.org.  

10 Weeks In

A big thanks to everyone who came out to CamRock last week to support Clean Wisconsin! It was a great time, and a beautiful day to hit the MTB trails.

We're on to our 10th bike ride this week, which sadly means we're over halfway done. But we've still got lots of great riding to do, including Thursday's rides down south through McFarland (on the longer, "Waubesa" route) and through the Arboretum (on the shorter "Arb/ Southwest" route).

Unfortunately, there won't be a Clean Wisconsin representative on the longer ride this week, but we will still provide maps and cue sheets for intrepid riders looking to head out that way. Jake will be leading out the shorter ride, on what looks to be another gorgeous Wisconsin evening!

Ride safe, and we'll see you all soon.

Biking is Back!

After a little break for the holiday, we're back in action! This week marks ride 8 of the Clean Wisconsin and Friends Bike Club, and it's looking to be a great one.

For the short ride, we've got a 12-mile route we've dubbed the "Isthmus Bi-Coastal" that heads out north east along the shore of Lake Monona and then doubles back on the other side of the isthmus to wander the shore of Lake Mendota. It'll feature nice paths, good views, hopefully a nice cool lake breeze.

For the longer ride, we're headed down south to Paoli again - but (fingers crossed) without the rain this time! Since some people may be in mid-season form, we're also throwing in the option to extend it with some fun hill work (turning it into a ride we call PXL). Others of us have not gotten as much biking done as we should though, and will stick to the same route we did back on ride 4.

Whichever ride you choose, we hope you come on out to keep enjoying this beautiful Wisconsin summer!

Bike Ride 7 Canceled Today!

Yes, we know it looks sunny right now, but with a quick-developing system of severe storms coming through Dane County, we’ve decided to call off the bike ride for today.

A little rain is one thing, and we’ve biked in that before. But a special weather statement indicating a strong thunderstorm in the area is something else, especially when that statement says (and we quote):

“ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL... WINDS UP TO 50 MPH... OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING... BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS... ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.”

And what do we mean by quick-developing? Here’s the regional radar at 12:30 today:

aaand here it is 2 hours later:

Now, the way these things work, once we cancel the ride, the system will move through, maybe not even hit Madison, and we’ll look like fools and be sad we didn’t go out. But we’ve gotta make a call at some point so that people have a chance to change to their plans if necessary.

It’s like having an umbrella – if you remember to bring it, you get sunshine all day, but if you forget, you can bet you’ll be wet. If those are our options, we vote for No. 1 today. Because after all, we can all still go out on our own if the weather clears up.

In fact, you can even follow the same routes if you want – the maps and cue sheets are posted (as always) on our blog. And I’m sure they'll still give you happy hour deals at the Echo if you ask nice and tell them you’re a biking friend of Clean Wisconsin.

See you in 2 weeks (no ride on 4th of july)!

Ride 6 recap

We had a great ride last Thursday evening, with a nice group of folks, a beautiful route, and terrific weather.  Thanks to Justin, Russell, Fiona, Sarah, Gina, Addison, Amanda, Erik, and Dan for joining me (Ezra) for this one!

Here's some of the gang gearing up in the parking lot:

If you've been waiting in the wings wondering if these bike rides are family friendly, here's proof that they most certainly are.

6-year-old Addison joined us last week and had a great time! She pushed her mom, Clean Wisconsin's awesome Creative Director, Amanda Wegner, along for most of the 15-mile route we had chosen for the shorter ride this week.  When the going got tough, she jumped on the back of my bike for a few minutes of respite and to make sure I was navigating the route properly.

Thanks again to all of those who have joined us so far!  Please join us if you haven't yet--we'd love to see you.

-- Ezra Meyer (Clean Wisconsin's Water Resources Specialist)

Ride #6--celebrate the summer solstice with a lovely bike ride!

It looks like this week's amazing weather will still be with us through our weekly ride tomorrow (Thursday) evening. It's really starting to feel like summer now--and the solstice is here this weekend, so it's official. Please join us, and bring your family and friends!

The shorter ride this week (see it in detail on our routes page) is a 15-mile jaunt through the Northeast side of town to Warner Park and back downtown through Maple Bluff along the shores of Lake Mendota.  It should be a very nice ride. Clean Wisconsin staff will be on hand to lead this one again. These rides are well suited to anyone with an operational bicycle. Got a kid on an add-a-bike? Bring 'em. Got a smaller one in a trailer? Bring 'em. We're out to see the sights and have a nice time, not to break any land speed records, so don't be afraid to join us even if you're new to biking or just dusting it off after a long respite.

Since our fearless longer-ride leader, Tyson, will be out of town this week, the longer / faster ride--a 28-miler through the Town of Dunn and McFarland south of Madison--will be self-led by those who are interested. As always, we'll have maps available with turn-by-turn directions here at the parking lot between 5:00 and 5:30. Find the route map on our routes page.

Ride 5 Recap

Thanks to everyone participating, we had a great ride on Thursday. In fact, we were having so much fun chatting while getting ready to ride, that the whole group decided to stick together on the shorter loop for a tour around Lake Monona.

New and old faces getting ready to ride

Other than a chain falling off as David was parking his bike at the end, the whole trip was without incident.

"The greasy thing came off!"

We really couldn't have asked for a nicer evening, although not keeping speed with a train on our way into town would have made for a more relaxing finish. Hanging out outside in the sun at the Echo more than made up for that, though.

Ride 4 Recap + Ride 5

Last Week's Lesson 1: Just because the forecast says 0% chance of precipitation, doesn't mean it won't rain. Lots.

Last Week's Lesson 2: Just because rain happens to be letting up, doesn't mean you should say things like "Looks like the rain is starting to pass, so that's nice." It's not.

Last Week's Lesson 3: Just because it a ride starts out drizzling, and proceeds to rain through 25 of 30 miles, doesn't mean you can't have a great time!

Justin and Tyson were the only people cool(?) enough to take the long ride in the rain last week.

I feel like I say this every Tuesday, but hopefully this week the weather will be nicer. We've got a couple great routes planned: down southeast of town for the 30 mile Waubesa (Three-Lake) Loop on the longer ride, and 13.75 miles around Lake Monona (counter-clockwise) on the shorter ride. Both rides are mostly flat this week, with a couple rolling hills and plenty of nice lake-view scenery.

As always, you can check them out on the Ride Routes page.

Ride 4

As of Tuesday, the forecast is looking up compared to a week ago: 64 and mostly to partly cloudy - not bad weather for a ride.

Ho!

So as not to tempt the fates though, we're not going to try to revisit the Ride 3 routes we missed. Instead, we're going to plow on ahead to Ride 4, and enjoy some more Madison area biking classics.

Hey!

The short ride will be the "Wingra Watershed" route, which revisits Lake Wingra and the Wingra Creek, but covers a bigger portion of (you guessed it) the Wingra Watershed. It's a really nice figure 8 on a combination of streets and paths, passing by Olin Park, through the Arb, and back via Vilas Park. There are a couple hills on Arboretum Dr, but the scenery is nice enough at that point to distract from any burning legs.

Ho!

The long ride this week heads to the hamlet of Paoli. And while many bikers have taken the tour there many times, most haven't tried out what we're calling the Sam Weis Memorial Paoli Path - or the Sweis Remix, for short. (Side note here: no, Sam's not dead, he just moved on to colder pastures in Alaska.) This route heads out of town through the Arb and on the bike path as expected, but veers off to the ride at Vroman and goes up Sunset to get in as many little hills as possible. It's no "Paoli XL," but still has enough to make it interesting before coming back via Sun Valley and Sayles to the bike path all the way home.

Hey!


P.S. Don't forget to check out the maps and download cue sheets on the Ride Routes page. 

P.P.S. Yes, the Lumineers were on while I was typing this up.

Ride 2 Recap + Ride 3 On Hold

So with things getting a little hectic last week and Memorial Day weekend, I apparently forgot to update the CWF bike blog - sorry about that!

Despite the less-than-stellar weather in the morning last week, it all cleared up and we had a great time on Thursday. The ride around Lake Mendota was gorgeous - sunny, scenic, and sixty degrees. A little windy up on the north side, but not enough to be bothersome. And, of course, great company.

Ready to ride around Mendota

The Shorewood ride was similarly successful, with a good crew taking a nice tour through town and tackling a couple tough hills. Unfortunately though, we didn't get any pictures to prove it. Next time!

Thursday's crummy forecast. Click to see it bigger.

Those of you who have been watching the calendar know that this week we had planned to head the other direction, and take a lap south of town. Unfortunately, the weather doesn't look nearly likely to break for us like it did last week.


In fact, it looks so unlikely to break(we're talking 90% chance of T-Storms at 6 p.m. according to NOAA), that we're calling the ride early.


But we'll be back in force, ready to try it again next week! I hope you're all looking forward to it as much as we are.



To pass the time until then, I invite you to better my sad, sad haiku:

No bike ride this week

For better weather we wait

To ride again soon

Bike Ride 2

Rain, rain, rain.

Every day, all week.

Until: a sunny Thursday afternoon forecast! Sweet!


This week we'll build off of last week's great Bike Ride 1 with, you guessed it, Bike Ride 2. But as I mentioned on Friday, we're heading the other way this time.

The short ride will head out east and north from the Clean Wisconsin offices to tour town, campus, and the Mendota shoreline on the "Shorewood" loop. It will start out on the Southwest Commuter path briefly, then turn north to get to the Howard Temin Lakeshore Path. Following the path, we'll meander through Shorewood Hills before coming back on some nice neighborhood roads and hopping back on the commuter path in. All in all, the route will be a little longer and a little hillier than last week - but still nice and casual. Plan to be on the bike for between 1 and 1.5 hours at a similar pace to last week.

The longer ride will start our the same direction, but continue out through Shorewood and all the way around the Lake Mendota loop. The roads a little rough through town initially, but smooth out as we get out past Middleton. There's a nice mix of urban, suburban, and rural scenery on this one to make the miles (and rolling hills) fly by.

As before, maps and cue sheets are now up on the Routes page for anyone who wants to see them ahead of time and/ or print them out on there own (we'll plan to have a few extra copies on hand).

See you all in a few days!

- Tyson


P.S. Don't forget that an RSVP on Facebook or via email to bikerides@cleanwisconsin.org is requested to help us know how many to plan for - but certainly not required!

Ride 1 Re-Cap

Thanks to everyone who came out last night for the first Clean Wisconsin & Friends bike ride!

It was a great to meet everyone on the ride, and have a chance to hang out after - and we certainly couldn't have asked for a nicer evening.

early staging of the CWF crew

Our routes will be just a little longer and a little more urban next week, but just as fun - around Lake Mendota (25 miles) for the longer ride, and out through Shorewood Hills (11 miles) for the shorter.


Also, since a few people asked, I put the list of all the planned rides (subject to change, of course) on the "Calendar" page. That way you can look ahead to see if there are any in particular that sound really awesome!

showing the CW love

My only regret is that we had Ezra taking pictures, so we didn't get a shot of him riding his extra-long Surly commuter bike with his road bike strapped to the back!


We did, however, get a shot of Elizabeth really representing for Clean Wisconsin (note the rad CW shades!):


See you all next time!

- Tyson



 

Bike Ride 1

Should be a fun one! We're hitting up some classics this week for the kick-off of the Clean Wisconsin and Friends Bike Club.


A quick run-down as a reminder:

• We're leaving Thursday at 5:30 from Clean Wisconsin's offices at 634 W. Main St, Madison, WI 53703. (Yes, leaving at 5:30 means you should plan to get here sometime before that if you want to be leaving with the group.)
• Rides will be "at your own pace" which means you're welcome to ride together as a group, but are also free to do whatever you want - power ahead, stop to take pictures, ghostride the bike, etc.
•  Please, please, please read the ride rules and expectations. Clean Wisconsin isn't "running the show" here, so everyone is technically on their own, but we do want to make sure that everyone stays safe and has a good time (because we care!)
• Don't forget to stop by, hang out a minute, and have a drink Echo Tap up the road when you get back - and enjoy happy hour specials all night (because they care!).

As far as routes go, for the longer ride, we're thinking of taking the Capital City loop from the office - about 18 miles of beautiful bike path (ok, it does get a little crowded in town around rush hour) starting out across Monona Bay, heading over some gently rolling terrain through Fitchburg, and back home along the Southwest Commuter Path.

For the shorter ride, a 7-mile cruise around Wingra Creek sounds about right. Like always, it will start out the same way as the longer ride so you get to enjoy the company of your MAMIL friends for a while (that's "Middle Aged Men In Lycra" for future reference - I'm looking at you, Ezra). Then the route turns off onto the Wingra Bike Path at Olin Park. After a roll through Vilas Park, it also comes back to the office - and the Echo! - on the Southwest.


For more info, check it out over on the "Routes" page, if you haven't already. Links to Cue Sheets have now been posted below each map.

See you all soon!

- Tyson

Pre-Ride?

Here is the scene from our planned "pre-ride" last week with Clean Wisconsin staff. As you can see, weather didn't cooperate after all.

But that just means we've got good weather-karma coming our way for our first official bike ride next Thursday!

Hope you're getting excited about the Clean Wisconsin and Friends bike rides starting next week - we sure are!

In fact, we're so excited that a few of us Clean Wisconsin staff are planning to get a jump on the whole thing and do a little "shake-down" ride this week. That way we can make sure that we've dotted all our T's and crossed all our I's so everything goes off without a hitch when we do it for real next week!

Here's to hoping it doesn't rain on our little parade.

- Tyson


P.S. Check back here on Friday, for some pictures and recap from our little adventure, and then again next Monday for a little preview of what we have in store for the first CWF ride (including pdf'd maps and cue sheets in case you want to bring them, although we'll plan to have extra copies on hand as well).

First Clean Wisconsin and Friends Bike Ride - May 16

The first ever (ever!) Clean Wisconsin and Friends bike ride is less than a month away: May 16, 2013. We'll take off from Clean Wisconsin's offices (634 W. Main St.) at 5:30, and yes, hit the Echo when we get back.

It'll be an awesome time.

I've put tentative route maps up on the "Routes" page, and I'll upload pdfs of maps/ cue sheets when it gets closer:
http://cleanwisconsinbikeclub.blogspot.com/p/routes.html

Welcome to the Clean Wisconsin and Friends Bike Club

Starting May 16, join Clean Wisconsin every Thursday for a group ride around the Madison area!


Sign up at www.cleanwisconsin.org/ride
and check back here to see upcoming rides!

Every Thursday, we’ll roll out at 5:30 p.m. from the Clean Wisconsin office, 634 W. Main St., Madison. Each week, there will be two different routes: one longer route for faster, more experienced bikers, and one shorter route for more casual bikers.

For those who can't bike over, limited parking will be available in the office parking lot.


Reasons to bike with us:

1. It’s good exercise and good company.
2. We’ll provide route maps and cue sheets … all you need to do is pedal!
3. Afterward, we’ll stop at our neighborhood bar, Echo Tap, for some refreshments and enjoy Happy Hour pricing all night!
4. You can earn Clean Wisconsin & Friends Bike Club swag! Earn points for each ride you participate in and for bringing a friend. More details to come.
   

 
The Clean Wisconsin & Friends Bike Club is a friendly, just-for-fun bike group open to all.

Questions? Email us at bikerides@cleanwisconsin.org.