As we pedaled our supplies to our #bratcakes station, the clock flashed 5:28 am on the Capitol City Path bike counter in downtown Madison. Only 24 bikes had passed by since midnight, and our #bratcakes crew grew the number ever so slightly with each bike that breezed by.
Pink and orange flares shot around the sun as it rose over Lake Monona. It was clear that our 5th annual #bratcakes event was going to be one for the ages. Grills were lit, pancake batter mixed by hand, table cloths taped down, coffee arranged, bike parking racks set-up, our employees eagerly prepared for the coming Wisconsin Bike Week festivity.
We wait all year for #bratcakes, not only because of its quirky combo of Wisconsin delicacies - but because it's our way of encouraging Madisonians to get out and try at least one trip by bike. Since our inaugural event we've broken the record for most #bratcakes served in one morning year after year, enticing more locals to dust off their bike and try our curious culinary concoction. And when a beautiful forecast played out before us, we knew we had a good chance of hitting our goal: to serve 1,000 #bratcakes.
With t-shirts advertising our #bratcakes slogan, we laid out our offering to the bike commuters who passed by. A freshly grilled pancake, wrapped around a Bavaria Haus brat, drizzled with pure maple syrup. Vegetarian and gluten free options were also available.
By the time the event ended at 9am, the bike counter read 1,046. We had done it. We had just served 1,007 #bratcakes! It took:
- 50 lb of brats from Bavaria Sausage
- 12 gallons of buttermilk
- 15 gallons of hot coffee from Marigold Kitchen
- 5 gallons of iced coffee from True Coffee Roasters
- 3 cargo bikes from The Cargo Bike Shop
- 1 swimmer (a historic first for us!)
- Unlimited fun
Thanks to everyone who came out in support of Wisconsin Bike Week to visit us on the bike path! We'll see you again at next year's #bratcakes.
