Keynotes

Representative Ayanna Pressley

US Congresswoman, MA District 7, Ayanna Pressley joined our meeting live for her keynote address. Representative Pressley talked about her work on the Congressional Bike Caucus and her work in Washington. 

• The Future of Transportation Caucus 
• The Freedom to Move Act 
• Congressional Bike Caucus Leaders Introduce  Bill to Fund Bikeshare Transit Nationwide

Senator Ed Markey

US Senator Ed Markey sent in pre-recorded remarks for the annual meeting where he discussed his work for a greener future and better bicycling for all.

• Complete Streets Act 
• Infrastructure Legislation 
• Green Infrastructure Package 
• Connecting America’s Active Transportation System Act

MA Senator Will Brownsberger

MA Senator, 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex District, Will Brownsberger joined live to talk about his work to make our streets safer for all bicyclists.

• Hands Free Act
• Automated Enforcement of Speed Limits
• An Act to Reduce Trafic Fatalities

MA Representative Lindsay Sabadosa

MA Representative, 1st Hampshire District, Lindsay Sabadosa joined live to talk about her work. She talked about the joint transportation committee and brought up legislation that will be crucial to expanding rail trails across the state. She urged everyone to write in support of House Bill 1790 and Senate Bill 83 to help cities fund land acquisition for rail trails.

• An Act authorizing municipalities to expend certain funds for the acquisition of land to be used for rail trails: H.1790 and S.83
• Connect with Rep Sabadosa: lindsaysabadosa.com, @LSabadosaMA on Facebook, and @SabadosaMA on Instagram/Twitter

Advocacy Highlights

Worcester Earn-A-Bike

Worcester Earn-A-Bike youth worker Danielle joined us to talk about her experience with Earn-a-Bike. She talked about the over 200 bikes they’ve distributed in 2020 and how the program has helped her find her #BikeJoy.

• Worcester Earn-a-Bike

Ghost Bike Committee

Ghost Bike Committee member Peter Cheung talked with MassBike Executive Director Galen Mook about his work creating the ghost bike memorials for bicyclists who have died due to traffic violence across Massachusetts.

• 2020 World Day of Remembrance
• "We Need Each Other" A letter from Executive Director Galen Mook

Bike Shop Owner Q&A

Connecticut River Valley Chapter President Kristen Sykes facilitated a Q&A with Nik, owner of Sadie’s Bikes in Turners Falls, and Charles, owner of Crimson Bikes in Cambridge, about how bike shops fared in 2020. They discussed the challenges of 2020 and how being designated essential services allowed them to keep Massachusetts rolling.

• Bike Shops as Essential Services

E-Bikes and Racial Justice

Tiffany Cogell, a racial justice activist and e-bike advocate, joined to talk about how electric pedal-assist bikes allowed her to participate in the Ride for Black Lives of which she is a co-organizer.

• MassBike’s work on e-bikes
• Ride for Black Lives Boston

Mass Central Rail Trail

Pete Sutton of Mass DOT gave a presentation about the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT), a proposed trail that would link Boston to Northampton. He went over the MCRT feasibility study and urged people to apply for the current round of MassTrails Grants.

• Mass Central Rail Trail Feasibility Study
• Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) Map
• Massachusetts Interactive Trail Map
• MassTrails Grants

Cambridge Safe Routes to Schools & Older Adult Workshops

Adi Philson joined to talk about Cambridge’s Safe Routes to Schools Program and Older Adult Bicycle Workshops she helped conduct in 2020. She discussed having to pivot the bicycle education programs for kids to include video learning and some exciting feedback from the older adult workshops.

• Safe Routes to School
• City of Cambridge Bicycle Workshops
• ABC’s of Bike Maintenance video

Awardees

Connecticut River Valley Advocate of the Year

George Kohout, President of the Friends of Northampton Trails, was awarded the Connecticut River Valley Advocate of the Year Award for his work with the Friends of Northampton Trails.

• Friends of Northampton Trails
  

MassBike Advocate of the Year

Peter Cheung, Ghost Bike Committee Lead, was awarded the MassBike Advocate of the Year for his work on ghost bike installations across the state.

• Christopher Weigl Ghost Bike Memorial Ceremony

Breakout Rooms & Meet and Greet

Despite the program going long, we had quite a few supporters stick around for our break out room meet and greets. It was great to be able to connect in small groups and for folks to talk with one another and meet fellow advocates from across the state. At the very end, we came back together to chat a little bit more and it almost felt like we were all together in person.

Thank you again for the huge support during our annual meeting. We know that most of us are zoomed out after a year of socially distanced gatherings, but we hope you found it informative and that you were able to feel connected to the wonderful cycling community we have here in Massachusetts. 

MassBike’s work is fully funded by supporters like you. Think about how your commute has changed during Covid, and whether you can direct some of your savings to MassBike. If you donate even a portion of what you saved on decreased commuting costs to MassBike each month, it would help sustain our very important work across the commonwealth. We even have a special level called the 351 Club which represents all the cities and towns in Massachusetts. Just $20 a month gets you into the 351 Club- it’s a great way to support our state-wide advocacy.

MassBike is here to be your advocate, if you have any feedback about the Annual Meeting, questions about the content, or projects you want us to help with- let us know. You can always reach us at [email protected].