While winter riding can be difficult due to the usually cold, wet, and dark conditions, this January’s warmer than average temperatures and sunny afternoons, as well as the looming cabin fever staying inside due to COVID-19, have found many of us logging more outdoors miles than usual.

The MassBike staff has found ourselves taking advantage of the dry January weather by exploring our local rail trails. Jes took her first ride of 2021 on the Southern New England Trunkline Trail in Douglas. Galen biked along the scenic Massachusetts Water Resource Authority Aqueduct Trails in Needham. While Chrystal has been biking on the Mattapoisett Rail Trail whose phase 1B will be open to the public this spring. Even as it gets colder and wetter, we want to make sure you are prepared to keep riding outside all winter long.

As MassBike welcomes in the New Year, we first must acknowledge what this past year meant for us and for so many people who faced loss and tough challenges. We have all been forced to look at the world with new eyes, and to ask hard questions about how we treat each other and build a better world together. For MassBike this meant continuously pivoting our work to face the headwinds and manage each moment to maintain momentum for bike advocacy across the state. Through it all, we kept rolling. Below are a few notable inflection points that defined our year.

Earlier this year, MassBike teamed up with WatsonActive with support from the Mass in Motion program to offer grants up to $1,000 to organizations for bike-related activities. These grants sought to expand access to bicycling through local capacity building and support projects that work within the framework of the Four E’s of Bicycle Advocacy: Encouragement, Engineering, Education, Evaluation and Planning. Each of the E’s is viewed through the lens of “Equity and Inclusion,” with the goal to increase participation in bicycling for transportation, fitness, and recreation. 

MassBike was thrilled to award six organizations across the state with mini-grants to further bike-related activities across the commonwealth. We provided technical assistance to the implementation of the mini-grants through periodic check-ins to ensure the projects stayed on track in the extra challenging year that was 2020.

This year we've been so grateful for the support we’ve received this year from cycling advocates across the commonwealth. We’ve kept bicycle advocacy strong, thanks to our coalition partners and the financial support of our generous donors. With the 2020 bike boom, MassBike is in the perfect position to push bicycling advocacy forward statewide but we need more donors to help keep the momentum going. Give now and the Charlie Proctor Memorial Fund will double your donation. Your donation helps MassBike support our partners across Massachusetts as we work together for better bicycling for all.

Those who tuned into MassBike’s annual meeting met a few of our coalition partners, we wanted to introduce you to a few leaders in bicycle advocacy who are working with MassBike across the state.

On Monday, December 7th, over 220 MassBike supporters joined together over zoom to hear about the great work being done by our partners and cycling advocates from across the commonwealth. We at MassBike would like to thank everyone who came, we were overwhelmed by the support we received during the program. As promised, we have the recording of the event for those of you who couldn’t attend the entire evening.

You can view the entire two-hour program in full below. For your convenience, we have also created videos of each segment so you can tune into what you missed or are most interested in watching and sharing with others. In this post, we've included a recap of each segment, including the video and pertinent links so you don’t miss any of the great content that was shared on Monday. 

2020 has been a challenging year but it has also brought lots of new opportunities for bicycling advocacy so to tackle the work we’ve needed to grow our team. MassBike is excited to announce we’ve added two wonderful new staff members. Please welcome Chrystal Walsh our new Development Coordinator and Jes Slavin our new Communications Coordinator. We are thrilled to have their help as we use the momentum of this bike boom to drive advocacy forward across the commonwealth. 

Chrystal and Jes both worked hard on our recent #GivingTuesday fundraising push and are currently helping to put together the MassBike Annual Meeting that’s happening on Monday, December 7th at 6pm. We wanted to introduce them to you before you meet them virtually for the first time at the Annual Meeting (which you should RSVP for right now if you haven’t yet).

On November 15th, iconic bridges and buildings across the Commonwealth glowed yellow for the World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims. As part of the MA Vision Zero Coalition, MassBike honored this day by remembering those we have lost in bicycle crashes this year. Usually, we gather together for World Day of Remembrance. But this year, like during much of 2020, we mourned those we have lost in bicycle crashes this year while apart. We lit candles at home and shared photos of the structures lit up yellow to honor road traffic victims. In this incredibly hard year, we are continuing to honor World Day of Remembrance throughout the month of November.

Christopher Weigl's Memorial Ghost Bike with his camera bag Photo by Rachel Smook

We've wrapped up a successful Bay State Bike Month and MassCommute Bicycle Challenge, and we wanted to share the numbers and thank all the riders (and winners) for their collective efforts to get wheels turning this September for Bike Month.

Together, we all got more fit, had fun riding with friends, saved money, and (most importantly) helped protect the planet by reducing greenhouse gas emissions one pedal stroke at a time. Check out the stats below:

Bike Month starts TODAY!

September is Bay State Bike Month, and our statewide events calendar and bicycle challenges are up and rolling. With so much going on both virtually and in-person (distanced), we hope you will join us for a unifying month of celebrating biking in all corners of Massachusetts.

Some highlights this week:

• Sep. 1: Bike/Walk Holyoke Virtual Scavenger Hunt
• Sep. 2: Webinar: Intro to Everyday Biking (feat. Galen from MassBike)
• Sep. 5: Concord Bike Rodeo
• All Month Long: Ride for Food: Off the Beaten Path

And much more to come throughout the month, so be sure to check our Bay State Bike Month calendar often. And you can plan your own event and submit it for our calendar to help spread the word.

** 7/17/20 UPDATE: The e-bike and micromobility amendment 163 passed with a voice vote in the Senate to be included in their version of the transportation bond bill! Thanks to all the supporters and constituents who contacted their Senators to ask them to support defining e-bikes in Massachusetts. **

We need your help! This Thursday, July 16th the MA Senate will debate and vote on the transportation bond bill, which includes a specific amendment filed by Senator Sal DiDomenico to classify electric bicycles.

This amendment defines e-bikes to make them distinct from mopeds, so they can be regulated similar to bicycles. We need your help to ask your Senator to vote "YES" on Amendment Number 163. The vote is taking place this Thursday, July 16 so please take a minute to help TODAY!

This is our chance to ensure e-bikes are legalized throughout Massachusetts. Please contact your Senator before this Thursday.

For more information about MassBike advocacy related to defining electric bicycles, please see our page here.