In 2022, the MasBike staff kept busy supporting better bicycling initiatives across the Commonwealth. By working with coalition partners, we made progress through advocacy, education, legislation, and community building around better bicycling initiatives. We're proud of all we accomplished this year and took some time to reflect on our favorite MassBike moments, read on for some of the staff highlights from the past year.

Galen - Executive Director 

Charlie Proctor Memorial Ride 40-milers

Galen (center) at the State House E-Bike Demo Day

This year we ran the first annual Charlie Proctor Memorial Ride, in honor of Charlie who was killed in a crash in Arlington in 2020. Along with our advocacy to support the Town of Arlington redesigning the intersection where Charlie was killed, we honored Charlie’s memory by hosting a ride for his family, friends, and our fellow advocates around the Mystic Lakes and along the Minuteman pathway. Now, MassBike doesn’t run a lot of rides, and this one was particularly tricky with all the jurisdictions to manage (DCR and the three towns of the bikeway), but we got everyone in alignment and on a bright and warm late spring day we hosted over 80 folks for a ride and after party at the Tufts Sailing Pavilion. Not only was the ride an organizational success, but I was also heartened by the memories shared by Charlie’s friends and family recounting stories of Charlie’s bike rides, hiking treks, and sailing adventures.

Looking back on 2022, I’m also invigorated by MassBike’s work with e-bikes this year. Along with successes on e-bike legislation and distribution to low-income residents in Worcester, our advocacy directly put butts on bikes during our e-bike demo days, specifically at Hale Reservation and at the State House in downtown Boston. For DCR Commissioner Montgomery, the demo day at Hale was the first time he’d been on an e-bike, and the first time he’d even gotten on a pedal bike in years to experience the parks from behind the handlebars. And for Representative Jeff Roy, after zipping around Beacon Hill on one of our e-bikes, he went and bought his own to ride the roads around Franklin and (we assume) to give him a boost as he participates annually in the Pan Mass Challenge.

And lastly, our Safe Routes to Schools work in the City of Cambridge was a reminder of how essential bicycling education is for youth development. Over the past two years, due to COVID we were working mostly remotely to present our safe cycling curriculum with videos and zoom classes, which meant we couldn’t have on-bike learning. But this year we were back in action! Our star instructors led about five hundred 6th graders students in the City of Cambridge this year, and those kids were stoked to be riding. We’ve been running this program for four years and this is by far the most engaged the students have been. Every student was able to ride by the end of the program, even going late into November we had group rides in below-freezing temperatures (without complaints!). I personally was able to join for the final riding day, and I brought four extra sets of gloves thinking some students would forget, and I ended up handing out every glove I had for the kiddos to borrow.

Alex - E-Bike Grant Manager

One of my favorite 2022 moments occurred recently, at our final deployment. We were able to distribute two e-bikes to participants who are from The Democratic Republic of Congo. They are both getting familiar with their surroundings here in the United States, and having their own reliable transportation is already making a difference in their lives. They can now go to their doctor’s appointments, shopping, and school at their free will, without depending on a ride or public transportation. Also, their usage reporting is done via a phone call, and even though they are not fluent, they use the opportunity to improve their English skills. I’ll forever remember their faces, full of awe and gratitude, when they saw their e-bikes for the first time.

I am proud and humbled by the many opportunities I have had in 2022 to work with the MassBike team. People come and go, but funny and challenging moments are always remembered. The commitment, loyalty, and passion that I have witnessed firsthand this year in ‘the small but mighty’ MassBike staff is something that will ‘roll’ with me for the rest of my life.

Chrystal - Development Coordinator

One of my highlights was our Bike Month Kick Off event in New Bedford. We partnered with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, the South Coast Bikeway, and New Bedford Star Chasers to support a ride along the protected hurricane barrier. It was awesome how many people turned out for the group ride!

Sixty-year-old Bearina learning to ride her e-bike with Galen during an e-bike distribution event at Landry’s Bicycles was another favorite memory. Her determination to keep on practicing even after an initial fall was inspiring. As were later reports from Alex that Bearina and her daughter were riding together in the park.

I'll also always remember the sight of 508 Bike Life youth and our Ebike participants pedaling in from a downtown Worcester bike tour to our valet station at a WooSox game during our Bike to the Ballpark event. 

Jes - Communications Coordinator

One of my favorite MassBike adventures this year was instructing a bike rodeo as part of the Ashuwillticook Rail-Trail Roll Along event. I always love the chance to teach on-bike skills to kids but the Roll Along event was really special.

After the bike rodeo and bike decorating party, the Roll Along ride down the Ashuwillticook included stops for a series of dance performances by local Berkshires artists. It was a beautiful day out on the rail trail, that had recently celebrated its expansion into Pittsfield.

The ribbon cutting for the Ashuwillticook Extension in Pittsfield was another highlight for me. I loved getting to chat with the advocates who had been working on the trail for over 30 years. It was a cold day but spirits were high with bicyclists of all ages coming out to support the extension. While I missed the actual ceremony because I was staffing the bike valet, I had some great conversations with local Berkshires bicyclists and rail supporters while parking bikes.