How Did This Begin? It started out innocently enough; In the fall of 2012 I began riding to the office on fair-weather Fridays. In 2015 Boston had received 100" of snow by March, and the trains became so unreliable that evening commutes could take hours. I turned in my MBTA monthly pass, bought warmer gloves and knobby tires, and became a year-round bike commuter at the age of 50. It was hard, frequently uncomfortable, and sometimes scary, but the 22 mile round trip became my daily routine. After a year of bike commuting, I was offered a slot in a group of 15 more experienced cyclists to ride 400 miles, from Montréal to Boston. Conceived by my work-friend Jon Ramos, the ride would be a pilot fundraiser for the Boston Cyclists Union (BCU), a local organization focused on advocating for the improvement of Boston’s cycling infrastructure. Montréal, a city similar to Boston but with even worse weather, had successfully incorporated cycling into a balanced metropolitan transportation system and offered lessons in how to strengthen Boston's system. As ride organizer and recruiter, Jon professed a belief in my ability to meet the challenge of a 400-mile ride up and over the Green Mountains. Initially flattered, I later understood my roster-spot was not as a riding peer, but as test subject; if I did not die during the 5-day journey, future rides could be expanded to "regular people". Despite three days of strong indications to the contrary, I did not die. That first trip taught us several things, primarily that we rode in the wrong direction. Montréal-to-Boston required us to offload 4 days of food into storage in Burlington, VT before crossing the border into Quebec for the ride start, then cycling 104 miles from Montréal to Burlington and reloading the truck with food before setting up camp, taking a shower, and having dinner. This was, in short, a mistake. In 2017 we departed from Boston, heading west before turning north along the Connecticut River in Northfield, Massachusetts. The itinerary that became our annual route involves passing through a dark forest named Satan’s Kingdom, winding northward through the length of Vermont, and passing through a second dark forest named Satan’s Kingdom, 111 miles after the first one. The 3rd day is spent grinding up and over the ridge of the Green Mountains, and the 4th day includes flying down onto the floor of the bucolic Champlain Valley. After averaging about 75 miles a day through Day 4, including lots of elevation, Day 5 is long and flat, traversing the Hero Islands to the top of Lake Champlain and across the border onto the flatlands of Quebec toward the St. Lawrence River. The ride’s new south-to-north route prompted a name change to the geographically illustrative “Bos/tréal”. The new name demanded T-shirts, so I designed the logo, formally becoming a Bos/tréal organizer (a big step-up from crash-test-dummy) and a fully engaged advocate for those who choose self-powered transportation. For this year’s10th anniversary, I’m training hard by joining weekend rides to supplement my 100 mile/ week commuting miles. Bos/tréal training begins each March with long weekend rides on cold, sandy roads with a bunch of strangers, adding mileage and elevation weekly until we depart for Quebec on Memorial Day weekend. These sessions are as important as the 5-day ride itself. For many prospective Bos/tréalers, the early season rides offer their first experience in group riding, teaching situational awareness as a critical safety skill for long-distance rides and within automotive traffic. Why Am I Still Doing This? Ten years of commuting, training, and Bos/tréal changed me as a rider and a citizen. Switching from the train to a bicycle transformed my familiarity with my neighborhood, my region, the larger U.S., and other countries in ways I never expected. Using cycling as a viable means of transportation for short trips and foreign adventures has been an ongoing boon, even as it has become a normalized part of my life It’s earned me unexpected friends, unexpected fitness, and yes, one unexpected ambulance ride. Bos/tréal has grown over the years, starting with 15 riders in 2016, now settled on a maximum of 40. Bos/tréal and the BCU have had some growing pains, but my options for safer commuting have increased over the last decade with improved cycling infrastructure, and greater Boston’s roads are less hazardous thanks to the BCU’s efforts and progress. Your contribution through my campaign reinforces the goal of safer streets for all, and I hope you’ll join me in promoting a more balanced and humane transportation network.