It’s November! And, it’s Monday, which means it’s time for another Member Spotlight. This week, read about Will Maddrey’s early experiences biking across the US with shaping both his love for cycling and his experience with dangerous road conditions firsthand — formative moments that now drive his advocacy work with WMATA today.
I fell in love with cycling at 16, riding 3,200 miles from Charleston, South Carolina, to the Santa Monica Pier on Overland Summer’s American Challenge in the Summer of 2016. Over six weeks crossing rural America, the most dangerous part of the trip was almost always cars. In Kansas, semis passed us on tiny shoulders in 40 mph crosswinds. We had to lean into the wind ahead of time so we wouldn’t get pushed into the road once each truck had gone by. Many of our hosts had met Merritt Levitan, who was killed by a distracted driver on the same trip three years earlier, and they prayed for our safety.
In 2021 I came back to Overland as a leader, taking two groups of 14 to 16 year olds up the coast of Maine, from just south of Portland to Acadia. It was one of the most stressful jobs I’ve ever had. On busy roads around Portland, I split my campers into pods of three or four so the endless line of cars could leapfrog between them. The next summer, a camper on the American Challenge died after falling into traffic in a construction zone, and Overland ended its cycling trips. It makes me profoundly sad to know that this company doesn’t do any biking trips anymore, because it is too dangerous.
When I moved back to Minneapolis in 2023 for a job in Edina, my mom gave me an e-bike as a graduation gift. I was skeptical, since I’d had plenty of regular bikes I loved, but I was quickly proven wrong, as my 45-minute commute was perfect for it. The ride around the Chain of Lakes was great. Then I hit the wall of Highway 62. Wooddale to Valley View had no bike facilities, plenty of close passes, and no safe way across the highway. I watched proposals like the France Ave Pedestrian Tunnel closely, even putting up flyers around the neighborhood to get the word out. Yet, most of what I was excited for failed due to spirited opposition.
I’d wanted to organize with other Edina advocates for a long time, but I wasn’t sure any existed. WMATA gave us a place to find each other, support each other, and combine our power across the West Metro.
I don’t commute to Edina every week anymore, but I’m still proud to push for better streets there and in the surrounding communities. I’ve grown fond of Edina despite its shortcomings, and I’ve found a real collaborative spirit among the city staff I’ve interacted with. Progress there comes from changing hearts and minds, and I’m excited by how many Edina groups I’ve met through WMATA who are working on that. I look forward to helping them however I can!
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