What Programs and Resources Does Wisconsin Bike Fed Offer?

Wisconsin Bike Fed offers a mix of hands-on community programs, advocacy resources, and organized rides. Its programs fall into four areas: training (such as how to host a bike rodeo), direct community service (Mobile Bike Repair in Madison and Milwaukee, and MilWALKee Walks), reference resources (an E-Bike Resource Guide, a Ride Guide, and safety tips), and events (Wisconsin Bike Week, Ride Across Wisconsin, and Santa Cycle Rampage). If you want to know whether the organization is relevant to you, the quick test is: are you a rider, a local organizer, a business that wants visibility, or someone who cares about bicycle advocacy in Wisconsin? Each group has a matching entry point below.

Training and Community Programs

Host a Bike Rodeo

Bike Fed runs train-the-trainer classes that teach you how to organize a successful bike rodeo — a youth bike skills and safety event. This is aimed at schools, clubs, and local volunteers who want to run their own event rather than rely on Bike Fed staff. The practical value is that you leave with a repeatable format you can stage in your own community.

Mobile Bike Repair

This program creates what Bike Fed describes as an oasis in Madison and Milwaukee neighborhoods that are bike-focused. It brings repair services directly into communities rather than asking residents to travel to a shop. If you live in or organize around those two cities, this is the most direct service offering on the site.

MilWALKee Walks

A separate program with its own website, focused on walking in Milwaukee. It sits alongside the biking programs for people whose interest is pedestrian safety and walkability rather than cycling alone.

Reference Resources

The E-Bike Resource Guide is explicitly described as evolving, so treat it as a starting hub rather than a fixed manual. The Ride Guide doubles as a resource and an opportunity: the site explains how your business, community, organization, or event can be featured in its pages.

Events and Rides

• Wisconsin Bike Week — framed around the idea that bikes build community.
• Ride Across Wisconsin (RAW) — Bike Fed's signature fundraising event and a way to see the state by bike.
• Santa Cycle Rampage — a holiday-season slow roll; a Milwaukee edition appears on the event calendar.
• Ride For Your Life 2026 — a bike ride, walk, and rally aimed at preventing tragedy, tied to advocacy.
• Community events — the calendar lists items such as the Annual Fete Ghede Ride & Ancestor Celebration and Kern Park Kross in Milwaukee, plus a Veteran's Day Ride.

Check the event calendar before planning, since listings carry specific dates and locations.

Advocacy and Support

Advocacy is a core pillar: the site highlights "Make Your Voice Heard" under safety and legislative/local advocacy categories, and Ride For Your Life connects riding with a policy message. There are also fundraising channels, including an online auction and an "Indeed We Can" fundraiser, which indicate the organization relies on member and community support. The homepage invites visitors to join, but the site does not state membership pricing, so confirm costs directly if that matters to your decision.

How to Choose Your Entry Point

• Want to run a youth bike event? Start with the bike rodeo training.
• Need repairs and live in Madison or Milwaukee? Look at Mobile Bike Repair.
• Researching e-bikes? Use the E-Bike Resource Guide.
• Want your business or event listed? Read the Ride Guide inclusion information.
• Looking for a ride or a cause? Browse the event calendar and the RAW and Bike Week pages.

The site also publishes bike stories and gear reviews, such as a piece on the Red Granite Grinder gravel event and a bike shop favorites roundup, which are useful if you want a sense of Wisconsin's riding culture before committing to a program.