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Wisconsin Bike Week is June 6th to 13th

by Dave Cieslewicz

Resource: Wisconsin Bike Fed

Wisconsin Bike Week

 
Okay, so there’s some confusion and we take responsibility for it. But this will be good. Trust us.

You may be hearing about National Bike to Work Week and events happening in your community. That’s because, well, this is National Bike to Work Week and we think that’s great.

But the Wisconsin Bike Fed, which organizes many events around the state, decided this year to move our own Bike Week back a month to June 6th to the 13th. Why?

Well, many of us woke up Monday morning to the primary reason. A cold steady rain blanketed much of the state. By evening commute time, a gale was blowing in from the north. This might not be what May is like in Washington, DC, where the League of American Bicyclists declares it Bike to Work Week, but it sure as heck is standard issue spring weather here in the Upper Midwest.

So, we like our odds better the second week in June.

Another reason for the switch is that we can key off some events already planned around that time. For example, the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Elroy-Sparta Trail, the nation’s first Rails to Trails project, will be held Saturday, June 6th in Kendall and all along the trail. This is especially important as the trail faces some real challenges with an open pit gravel mine proposed right next to it in the Town of Wilton.

And in Madison, the popular “Ride the Drive” open streets event will take place the next day on Sunday, June 7th.

Our final reason and biggest reason for separating our events from the national “Bike to Work Week” is that we’ve taken the “to work” out of it. We’ve declared it just plain old “Bike Week.” Don’t fret. All of your favorite Bike to Work Week events are still on the calendar, including the amazing “Bacon on the Bike Path” brought to you by Planet Bike and the more recent, hot new edition “Brat Cakes on the Bike Path” sponsored by Saris.

But in cooperation with others we’ve incorporated events like a Family Bike Ride at the Zoo in Madison organized by Julia Stanley and sponsored by Schwinn, and a Women’s Biking Clinic organized by Renee Callaway, a former board member, and sponsored by Meriter Hospital. MINI of Madison and New Belgium are putting together a great Friday night party at Olin Park, and there will be a lot more. Look for the full calendar of events in Madison, Milwaukee, La Crosse and Eau Claire on our website later this week. If you have events in your community just let us know and we’ll put them up on the calendar for all the world to admire.

So, go ahead and enjoy National Bike to Work Week now, and stop by our commuter stations Friday May 15th, but get ready for Wisconsin’s Bike Week in June. It’ll be great fun and, we hope, great weather as well.