As far as, for starters, the old announcement, “passing on the right,” this was said to me just now by a beautifully tanked woman in a bikini, owning the downtown sidewalk. She was slightly gasping and moaning as she almost carressed my side going by. I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to read anything into that …
Spring has past sprung, we’ve finally had some really hotter weather, and a young man’s heart turns to thoughts of … e-cycling and skateboarders going past.
In the last couple of weeks, you can see them again all around our sidewalks and byways, busy and not so busy city streets, burgeoning-in-length bike paths, and parking lots of all sizes. While I don’t necessarily want to go as far as skater boyz …
Despite the fact that the city of Hudson, being the city of Hudson and all that entails, many months ago municipally moved to limit or outright outlaw on many or most city streets the ability to “travel” — like they were some kind of sovereign citizens — via certain means that I’ll call e-cycling. The actual, specific legal language was of course burdensome, but this scribe who is neither a legal scholar nor a lover or user of such means of transport, for now taken broadly, takes into account a realm of various things on wheels or even the old hoverboards that are smaller than cars or traditional motorcycles, and not bicycles. We started along this path with skateboards, kept them at the forefront for many a year, introduced seques that even did things like cross on the St. Croix River bridge, then broadened into a whole array of other things. (I remember complimenting a young girl in our cul de sac for her almost-athletic-like ability to manuever while “hovering” in a long dress.) And to another online commentator, who lamented the use of the cul de sac on which she lives for a-regular-duo bike or e-cycle linkage to a bike trail — it’s asked why they don’t just whip around the back way to hit the trail — hey, invite them in and ask for more courteousy over coffee or a beer; no wait, keep them sober so they don’t wipe out, (in front of your driveway?)
— Today is gonna be the day that I throw it on back to you, Hudson … To shop, dine, play, as that is the descending order list shown on flags that unfurl downtown, actually tarps hung upside-down on street light poles, as good things come in threes, (and for a lucky 13 of other some threesomes seen on shop windows, all within three blocks, see the lead post item, then quiz your friends/shoppers/gawkers, a trio of them, no doubt.)
The news, it being May 22, of reopenings, that’s what this is. Kelly’s Pub and Grill is now officially, until at least 1 a.m. and back at you for breakfast at 9 and that’s also a.m., and 2nd St. Mercantile remains, also open for business while re-decking its inventory, (being full-service, HudsonWiNightlife held the ladder firmly in place while a sign was erected and its brackets unsuccessfully adjusted with multiple wrenches.) Kelly’s, jumping the gun over the rest and actually opening on Thursday, sticking with its advertised plan for what date to enter into the market, reported good business in the first two days. Also, conversely, the word on the street from regular patrons had it that Max’s Social House would also be fully reopen on Friday (now it turns out it’s Saturday or so for the downstairs and its never-ending reconstruction), and the Smilin’ Moose Lodge Bar and Grill as of this Friday brings back its three-days-a-weekend, mid-day acoustic musicians on the patio, as rainy weather held off for just long enough. Come Sunday night, take that and the sunny weather in from 2-6 p.m., then rock with the classic and I mean that, one-man-band virtuoso Jeff Loven, who is back playing at Dick’s Bar and Grill, and you might want to come very early, because if last two years at this date were any indication at all, it’s likely to fill up. We’re thinking 7-ish for his three-hour show that ends at midnight, the event of the season, to open and close the summer only, at least here. You might also want to try out downtown New Richmond this weekend, for more such opening-up-the-outdoors, with art and music, maybe even juggling, enjoy the warmth happenings. And River Falls? Don’t know, but my best bets for gigs is Tarnation Tavern, formerly Maverick’s and the Corner Saloon, threes again, and perhaps Johnnies, maybe even Sunday night. Check in there for the latest hometown-based acts, a commonality.
Meanwhile, back in homestead Hudson, in the same neighborhood as the other venues mentioned, Dunn Bros. Coffee is closing at 5 p.m. Friday, and back open again early the next day for your caffeine fix, because of the across-town Hudson High School graduation, (portraits of graduates to be seen on various downtown shop windows, many dozens of smiling faces, photography-based businesses and those with other basis, like the antiques the grads likely won’t buy.) And as far as the much anticipated Urban Table, the door was open but with last construction still being finished, and the wording on the edge of the side swung door is “stay tuned.” With boyz whippin’ by. (UPDATE: And early on Sunday, one then two bicycles and their cyclists were seen exiting St. Croix Cigar Co. I think it was, then parking their bikes and just maybe considering entering Main Plate next door for some juice, fresh squeezed, and bacon, as it was not yet 11 a.m. and they’d already been open a long time, moreso then across the street Micklesen Drug Store, which flung its doors, more than one, open at the crack of 10 a.m. I scrounged up all their stamps, a popular item on days like these, so don’t expect that right now. But Main Street had long been already hopping. (Four, then five, now six, of these businesses here are also present in the list of three-shopping-prongs that is the lead post item.)
So, to update the song lyric reference, as some of this is now Saturday/Sunday, not Friday, today WAS gonna be the day, but we’ll never throw it back to you. —
Jumping back to skateboarding, this has long been kinda counterculture, although definitely not any kind of cutting edge, but it has been “cool” since the days of Tony Hawk, a name even I recognize, when it was introduced as a much more legit form of competition, even Olympian. It has always been the type of thing whose very mention made most parents take pause and/or roll their eyes. Still, some of the devices have a bit of that Stuart worshipping the band Winger lack of appeal, being a bit lame. This is not as faux dangerous as, say, headbanging with Danzig.
There is a point to all this. While gramps and ma might be offended if somebody went whipping by them on the wide sidewalk, I have never in the least felt that way. And when the city takes a stance to radically restrict such usage, it just feels a bit too much like, how can I say this, big brother? Put the signs up in a downtown area, or even a stretch of rural highway in Pierce County, saying, don’t you dare do this. I find it ironic to the point of being silly that there is such a sign to go sans skateboarding in the parking lot where there is currently both a police station and a library. But there is a skateboarding park a block away, and one up by the YMCA, constructed by the local Rotary clubs. Let’s keep in a more broad sense a bit more of that robust urban appeal, though I realize that while serving youth, such adoption has a definite downside, pointed out emphatically by one family marred by promotion taking place on the site of illegal drug use. But you can maintain a lot of the same argument for keeping a certain amount of graffiti. I thought that those who tagged a shipwrecked boat on Lake Michigan down by Milwaukee provided a form of art, although painting as such was deemed to be dangerous. Maybe that could have been a good use for the boat or two that got caught up and left for dead down in the Beer Can Island area in these parts. Make it a museum?
I do find most of these young people, doing their thing on the sidewalk, to be almost polite. Much more so than what you see on many a freeway and its audacious lane-traders (ALT) or odorous lane deviators (OLD). So many young kids state meekly the infamous, “(coming by) on your right.”
I now have to reference a good deed I saw online about someone who might be thought to be a stoner. They went to at least one social media platform to write, you dropped your wallet and you might need it back, so contact me, and gave their contact details. A less than good deed, in a neighboring town, a friend who just got stung with a DUI — the bartender tried out on him too many sips, too big of ones apparently, of his new experimental shots on the poor sap who got accidentally soshed — thinks an e-cycle might be his “ticket.”
Such safe users do have a choice to make and I saw this on display just the other day. For those about to roll … They will in downtown Hudson routinely encounter street light poles placed somewhat midrange on the sidewalks between the building and curb, and have to become street light people by choosing which way to go around them. Don’t go straight. That person I saw? They took pause when encountering such a choice going kitty-corner across the intersection from the DQ. The path less traveled? Or more?
I have had other, positive exchanges with skateboarders, like the one with whom I complimented his style while he did a trick over the top of a manhole right next to the old Holiday Marathon gas station.
I also have been impressed by the practicality of the technique shown by boarders as they hopped with both feet over a curb downtown. Others in the same category of these graphs, although technically not legal, have been seen afoot in the big former Associated Bank parking lot, divided into a pair of parts beneath a lower hill, and inside or in front of the bandshell in Lakefront Park.
And if you really wanted to ban such related activities, why have there be bike parking stations, presumably for e-cycles too, in various lots in the downtown.
The Hudson City Council added to its written ordinance, in October 2025, on motorized vehicles — ATVs, UTVs and off-highway motorcycles including certain types of e-bikes — aimed at addressing underage operators driving on city streets, which the police chief and council members had reported seeing and hearing of in recent times, as of the passage of the rule, even though such activity had gone on for some time.
The ordinance prohibits the use of qualifying vehicles powered only by electricity, Police Chief Geoff Willems said. And the vehicles can’t be driven on public property, including streets and sidewalks.
Going forward, instead of a traffic violation, the penalty for driving the vehicles will be an ordinance citation — it won’t go on someone’s permanent record, but warnings followed by fines could be in order, per Willems. The ordinance states that those fines could total up to $250 per offense, plus any prosecution costs. No injuries had been reported up to the time the ordinance was passed — a pleasant fact that seemed to surprise the chief — although his officers had seen skateboarders cross four lanes of traffic on busy roadways up on the hill.
Some new electric vehicles, often marketed as e-bikes, can go 40-50 mph and are 100 percent powered by an electric motor, as opposed to a mixture of electric assist and pedaling.
Here are more specifics about the new Hudson city ordinance:
Electric bikes are classified into three categories: Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3, each with specific regulations.
Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are allowed on most bike paths and trails unless posted otherwise.
Class 3 e-bikes are restricted from certain bike paths but can be used on roadways and multi-use paths.
Riders must be at least 16 years old to operate a Class 3 e-bike.
Helmets are required for all riders under 18, regardless of bike class.
Local municipalities may have additional regulations, so check local laws before riding. Wisconsin recognizes the three-class e-bike system and treats e-bikes like bicycles for most rules—no license, registration, or insurance. Two standouts: Class 3 riders must be 16-plus, and sidewalk riding depends on local ordinance. Moped laws are basically the same as for other motorized vehicles. On state-managed bicycle touring trails, Class 1 and 3 are allowed with a 15 mph cap, while local governments can set their own rules for city paths and parks.