See Your City, Ride The Drive
June 2, 2010 2:09 PM
Last August's Ride the Drive was one of the most popular new events in Madison. So, we're doing it again this year. Twice. The first will be this Sunday, June 6th, from 10 AM to 4 PM. We'll close six miles of downtown Madison streets to cars and open them up to walkers, bikers, runners, roller bladers, parents with strollers, kid chalk artists, musicians, frisbee players, hula hoopers, kiters and anyone who just wants to enjoy a few hours on the open streets and get a new perspective on their city.
It's called Ride the Drive because the premier car-free street will be John Nolen Drive, which has everybody's favorite, breathtaking view of our city. But the route actually is a six mile loop that includes the Capitol Square, State Street, some of East Washington Avenue and more.
It's free for anyone who wants to come and costs for taxpayers are minimal. We have great sponsors including Culligan Total Water, 105.5 Triple M, Group Health Cooperative, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and we have partnered with organizations such as MSCR, Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club of Dane County and Dreambikes to provide a fun day of activities. But the inspiration and most of the funding for the event comes from the Trek Bicycle Company. Trek has been a great corporate citizen and we're proud that they call Madison (and Waterloo and other places in our region) home.
I do have one request: we could still use more volunteers to help out with monitoring intersections and with other tasks that day. So, if you'd like to help out for a few hours, call Steve Doniger at 608-266-6517, visit the Ride the Drive volunteer page at http://www.cityofmadison.com/transportation/ridethedrive/volunteer.cfm, or send an e-mail to ridethedrive@cityofmadison.com.
There will be another Ride the Drive in late August when Lance Armstrong will join us. But even without Lance, we'll have a great time this Sunday.
