Ride with the Mayor event promotes biking in La Crosse

Kabat says 1 in 8 people ride to work, appointments.

Bicycles are not only for recreation in La Crosse.

Getting that point across is one reason for the annual Ride with the Mayor, which brought bike-riders to the Gundersen Health System neighborhood Tuesday.

La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat said bikes account for a large segment of transportation in the city.  

“One in eight people, here in our city, that’s how they get to work, how they get to appointments,” Kabat said. “That’s why it’s really important for us as a city to be making investments in, not only obviously our infrastructure for streets and for cars, but also for bicycles.”

City leaders in La Crosse want to keep the community’s silver status, as a place where bicycling is very popular.  

Former Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, head of the Wisconsin Bike Fed group, says La Crosse is good at promoting bike-related activities, calling the city one of the best in Wisconsin for bicycling.

Kabat says highway improvement plans, which call for new bike lanes on streets like South Ave., might take too much private property to be worthwhile.

Kabat likes the idea of using old railroad right-of-way and similar property for new bike trails.