It all started out innocently enough; I began riding to the office on fair-weather fall Fridays. No life-altering agenda in mind, just an occasional break from commuter-rail commutes, hushed by smart-phone culture. The next spring I joined thousands to ride the 2013 Boston Marathon course at midnight before the morning race, the longest I'd ever ridden. In February of 2015 it snowed 100" in Boston, and the trains stopped working. I bought knobby tires and warmer gloves, and at 50 became a daily, year-round bike commuter. After a year of commuting about 22 miles a day round trip (21 of that on roads, and about half of it hazardous), I was offered a slot to join a group of 15 experienced cyclists to ride 400 miles, from Montréal to Boston. An opportunity to see how a similar city (with even worse weather) had developed a balanced transportation network that included cycling, the ride would also be a pilot fundraising effort for the Boston Cyclists Union. The snows of 2015 demonstrated the fragility of Boston's network. My work-friend Jon had organized the ride, and said he thought I was up for the challenge. Only later did I understand that I was not included as a peer of the other riders, but as a test subject; if I did not die during the 5-day journey, future rides could be expanded to "regular people". It seemed touch and go sometimes, but I did not die. In 2017 the ride reversed directions, from south to north, so Bos/tréal became the name, and I designed the logo. So I had to go again, and again. 2020 had other plans, and I missed the ride in 2024, but otherwise it has become an anticipated mile-marker. Training for the trip starts with long rides in the snow, and fills the spring season, adding mileage weekly until we return from Quebec at the start of June. The accumulation of ten years of commuting, training, and Bos/tréal trips have changed me, as a rider, and as a citizen, leading me to deeper familiarity and explorations of my neighborhood, my region, my country and other countries I would never have acquired otherwise. Discovering cycling as a viable means of transportation for short trips and foreign adventures has been a boon. It has also earned me unexpected friends, unexpected fitness, and yes, an unexpected ambulance ride. In all honesty, the ride had some growing pains, and I don't align with all the changes over the years, and I've had my differences with the BCU as an organization. But over the last decade, my options for safer commuting have improved, and greater Boston's roads have improved for cycling safety. The BCU has been a part of that progress, and I hope you will join me in helping them guide us toward a more balanced and humane transportation network.