Ride the Drive, a free one-day event highlighting the use of alternative transportation with miles of open streets in Madison is back for the summer of 2024 and organizers say it’s going to be bigger and better than ever. On Sunday, Aug. 11, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Madisonians will once again be able to ride their bikes around the city of Madison and not have to worry about cars, trucks, and busses as they experience parks and open streets in a popular community event.
“Ride the Drive is a wonderful Madison tradition for folks of all ages, and I am excited that it is returning this year,” said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway in a statement. “It celebrates our commitment to creating people-centered spaces by opening streets to all users and is a great opportunity to get outside and visit parks, neighborhoods, and local merchants along the route.”
(Photo supplied.)
Since the inaugural Ride the Drive in 2009, this event continues to celebrate Madison’s commitment to a healthy, active lifestyle focusing on the environmental and economic impacts and the importance of social integration. It’s had a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now people are eager to have it back.
Those six parks in Madison will be Edward Klief Park, Brittingham Park, Olin Park, Law Park, R. Richard Wagner Park, and McPike Park. (See the map below.)
“The streets are closed to motor vehicles and folks can bike, roll, or stroll, however they want on public streets. It’s a pretty cool event for the city and we’re happy to get it back and relaunched,” Thompson says.
Each park will be a hub of activities and vendors that will include food and entertainment.
The longer route this year has more area to cover and more stops, so they are in need of more volunteers.
“We need about 300 [people]. So we’re looking for community folks to come out and they can get involved in a number of ways. There are various roles,” Thompson says. “Our biggest need that we have now is for intersection guides. These are folks that are stationed at intersections to ensure that their participants are safe along the route, and kind of helping to redirect any vehicle to an alternative traffic route.
“We also do have opportunities for setup crew, cleanup crew, bike ambassadors, folks that are stationed at information tables, balloon inflators, merchants for merchandising, and then photographers — folks who would be able to snap photos of the event so we have good photos.”
Sign up to volunteer online here.
The City of Madison is hoping that this year’s Ride The Drive will be a reflection on the diversity of Madison and are reaching out to multiple diverse communities to join in.
“Another thing that we want to do while relaunching Ride The Drive is to really tap into the city’s diversity. Because, yes, historically, it has been majority folks that are engaged in biking and the biking community,” Thompson says. “We want to tap into the city’s diversity because we know that folks in other communities also do bike. They also roll, and they also stroll. We see this evident at our parks, such as Aldo Leopold [Park]… we have a pumptrack out there, and all the neighborhood kids are on their bikes, on thier skateboards, are on the scooters taking advantage of those sorts of resources. So we know that folks are interested; it’s all about getting the word out to them and tapping into the city’s diversity.”
Ride the Drive is still looking for vendors and exhibitors, too. Each of the six park hubs offers all-ages activities, food, entertainment and more and it is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to showcase their non-profit organizations and businesses. “There’s no vendor fees. That’s something new for this year, too,” Thompson says. “So hopefully vendors and exhibitors can take advantage of that, too.”
Participants in this year’s Ride the Drive can start their bicycling journey anywhere along the route.
“Ride the Drive is a pretty cool event for the city and for Madisonians and we’re happy to bring it back,” Thompson says.
