TLDR; I am going to ride to Canada, and I need YOUR help!
Hello! My name is Emma, and I love bicycles. I love working on my bikes and I love riding my bikes. I love being able to get to campus in 5 minutes flat and anywhere I want in Boston in less than 30. The only things I don’t love about biking is sometimes getting to work sweaty and sometimes feeling really unsafe when biking around aggressive drivers, but more on that later.
When I first got to college, I still saw biking as a recreational activity - one that meant you usually load your bike into a car then drive somewhere remote and comfortable. That all changed when I realized I could use my bike to get nearly everywhere! No longer was the bicycle just a fitness tool (though it certainly is), but it was also my means of transportation. As my love for biking as a form of transportation grew, my knowledge on it did too. Through my coursework as a transportation engineering student at Northeastern University & my time immersing myself into Boston’s bike community, I learned that providing dedicated bicycle infrastructure makes cities more green, equitable, safe, and accessible.
This is the kind of work that the Boston Cyclists Union is doing in my city. Their advocacy work has had a measurable impact on how safe I feel on my bike. Even in the past few years, I have seen tangible improvements to bicycle infrastructure in Boston, including influencing a protected bicycle lane on the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, which I use several times a week to cross into Cambridge from Boston.
Last year, I wondered to myself, ‘how can I get involved in the Boston Cyclists Union?’ My answer came with Bos/Treal, a weeklong bike tour & fundraiser that benefits the BCU’s work. Last year due to Covid, we only rode to Burlington, Vermont, but it was still a blast. I was challenged, met some of the coolest folks ever, and learned a ton about myself, my abilities, and Boston’s history of bicycle advocacy. And the best part, this year I’m doing it again AND riding all the way to Montréal! On May 27, I will meet with my fellow bike enthusiasts on the steps of Boston’s City Hall. We will snap pictures and then pedal off for 500 miles, all the way to Montreal. We’ll camp along the way, and once we reach Montreal, we’ll meet with bike activists and planners, explore amazing bike-infrastructure ideas to bring back home, and otherwise engage with Montreal bikers. We return by bus on June 3.
The catch is that I can’t do it without you! Don’t worry, you don’t have to ride 500 miles, but you can donate to my ride. Bos/Treal is the Boston Cyclists Union’s biggest fundraiser of the year. I implore you to donate so that they continue doing their amazing work, and I can ride all the way to Canada. Thank you so much for your consideration, and any amount helps. Seriously, even $5!
THANK YOU!!!
