Hi! I’m Matthias Iris, I’m a passionate cyclist and safe streets advocate. I’m biking from Boston to Montreal for the second year to raise funds for the Boston Cyclists Union.

The BCU is a 501(c)3 headquartered in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston whose vision is to transform the streets of Boston into people-centered spaces. That means more space for human-scale transportation on bikes, scooters, foot, and more. It’s a safer, healthier, quieter, less-polluted, more-connected Boston that I really want to live in! It’s also a Boston with less traffic, because traffic is made of cars, and the only solution to traffic is to have viable alternatives to cars. It’s a win for everyone!

I’m asking for donations for the BCU because, though I already volunteer, I want to support the union financially as it grows and our advocacy shifts into high gear. We’ve been fighting an uphill battle with our Safe Streets Can’t Wait campaign, after Mayor Michelle Wu froze all street safety projects more than a year ago, but we’re finally getting traction. The Boston Globe recently broke the story about how behind closed doors and stonewalling, Mayor Wu pushed out the best and brightest in her Streets Cabinet, who, up until March 2025, were making popular and effective safety improvements all over Boston. She buried the data her own administration collected about how valuable the new bike lanes she put in were and also required every street project to have her personal approval, effectively preventing any project from going forward. We now have the attention of city councilors and this is the perfect moment to keep pushing.

I’m also asking for your support to send me to Montreal because I absolutely adore long-distance biking and this is my redemption year. Last year, I lost my passport the night before the ride and was able to ride to Burlington, Vermont only because my partner volunteered to drive up to Burlington to collect me before the rest of the Bostrealers crossed the Canadian border the next morning. I’m eager to do it all again and more—this time finishing the final 100 miles and actually getting to explore Montreal, which people gush to me is an amazing city. I want to see the gorgeous pedestrianized streets and bike infrastructure that’s the toast of the east coast, and I want to bring that energy back to Boston!

Would you please donate $20 or more to this excellent cause? I would be deeply appreciative of your generosity, and thank you for supporting safe streets advocacy in Boston. I will share a slide deck of the whole trip with every supporter, and as a special thank you to donors who give $100 or more, I’ll embroider your name on the back of my Bostreal 2026 T-shirt to remember how you helped me make this possible. I would genuinely like to do that—I’m a fiber artist who loves freehand embroidery, and I’ll need something to do on the bus ride back to Boston!

Please donate through Qgiv using the “Donate Now” button on the right, and thank you from the bottom of my heart! The future of safe, people-centered streets in Boston genuinely means so much to me, and I’m glad you’re helping me make that happen.