Do you remember that moment in the movie The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy first lands in Oz? She is surrounded by color, discovery and new possibility. Perhaps that's a little bit extreme, but I had a little bit of that feeling after rolling into town after a very long and hot day of great trail riding. Here was the glittering city, and it welcomed me AND my bike.
Madison is the capital city of Wisconsin and home to its namesake university, The University of Wisconsin - Madison. With a population of just over 250,000 Madison's government has embraced multiple forms of transportation and so have its citizens. I was amazed just how many trails there were. Everywhere you looked, especially in downtown, there was another bike trail. Street crossings often had dedicated bike signals. Pedestrian crossings had flashers that would alert oncoming traffic to the waiting pedestrian or bike rider. Perhaps the coolest element of the flashers was that traffic obeyed them and came to a stop allowing passage. Even the busiest roads came to a stop allowing a safe, unhassled crossing.
As we rolled through town, traffic was largely very aware of our presence, and had no issues slowing down or going around. The streets were well labeled, and with the network of trails we had no issues getting around town. I mentioned earlier how Madison seems to be proud of it's bike friendly status. At many of it's busiest intersections they've installed signage that tracks how many people are using the trail on a daily and yearly basis. The numbers listed were very impressive. The trails are well taken care of and signage is plentiful for noting what streets are nearby as well as popular loops and throughways. As the sun set, the trails were well lit and people still rode around the city center in concert with car and bus traffic.
In conclusion. I definitely think Madison is worth a visit if you're looking for an urban bike adventure. There is plenty to see and do and much is available to you on two wheels.
Oh and the fancy colors and other stuff? Here's a ferris wheel we saw on the way to the hotel.
'till next time
-Matt
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