#LightsBrigade - Help us #BrightenUp Cyclists in Your Community
October 28, 2021
As the days are getting darker, MassBike is kicking off another season of our signature #LightsBrigade program and we need your help to distribute free bike lights to help cyclists in your area ride safer.
Earlier this month, we hosted our October Meet-Up where we talked about our Lights Brigade program and the practicalities of bike lights. If you missed the meet-up or want to rewatch the meeting, the recording is now available on the MassBike Youtube Channel.
There are two ways to help support our Lights Brigade program & help cyclists #BrightenUp to ride safer. You can volunteer or donate to enable MassBike to purchase bike lights for your community.
Read moreACTION ALERT: Critical Traffic Safety & E-Bike Bills Need Your Help
October 12, 2021
On Thursday, October 14th at 10am, the Joint Committee on Transportation is hearing bills related to bicycles and pedestrians, including several of MassBike's priority bills for this legislative session about e-bikes and traffic safety. We need your help! By the end of this week, please send the Joint Committee on Transportation members your personal stories about electric bicycles and/or traffic safety to show the impact these critical bills will have for better bicycling across Massachusetts.
Read more below about the specific bills we support. Then email your comments, sharing why you personally support these bills and urging them to be favorably reported out of committee. The formal deadline to support these bills is Friday, October 15th at 5pm, though of course they will accept input from citizens at any time.
Please direct your emails to:
- Rep William M. Straus, Chair - [email protected]
- Rep Marcos A. Devers, Vice Chair - [email protected]
- Sen John F. Keenan, Vice Chair - [email protected]
- Your State Senator and State Representative: https://malegislature.gov/search/findmylegislator
- CC: [email protected] so we can keep track of your testimony
Bay State Bike Month and MCBC 2021 Wrap Up
October 07, 2021This Bay State Bike Month advocates hosted over 100 events across the commonwealth and got their wheels turning to celebrate bicycling statewide. We are excited to use the tailwinds you all generated as we ride towards better bicycling for everyone in Massachusetts.
The MassCommute Bicycling Challenge celebrated its 27th consecutive year with riders logging trips across the state. Collectively, we rode over 5,000 miles and took more than 700 trips.
We will be celebrating all of our winners at the Bike Bash at Assembly on October 13th from 4:30-6:30pm. The Bike Bash is our opportunity to thank our Bike Month event hosts & participants, acknowledge the generous contributions from our sponsors, and congratulate the MassCommute Bicycle Challenge Winners. We will be hosting a raffle with prizes from Kryptonite Lock, Bern Helmets, and more with a grand prize drawing of a new medium-sized REI Co-op CTY E2 E-bike thanks to your local REI Co-Op. RSVP for the Bike Bash today so you don’t miss out on the festivities.
Congratulations to all of our MassCommute Bicycle Challenge category winners and our prize drawing winners. We are thankful to our sponsors for supplying such great prize packages. Thank you to ValleyBike, BlueBikes, Pedalin’ Fools, Kryptonite Lock, Priority Bicycles, and Axcelis for supporting our prize packages. You can check out the final leaderboards and prize winners below.
Read moreOctober Meet-Up: #LightsBrigade
October 07, 2021
The days are getting shorter and it’s time to #BrightenUp cyclists across the commonwealth with MassBike’s #LightsBrigade program. Each year, volunteers across Massachusetts take to our streets and pathways to flag down ninja bikers and distribute free bike lights to keep cyclists safer and legal while biking at night.
For our October MassBike Meet-Up on Monday, October 25th at noon, we’ll be talking all things #LightsBrigade and bike lights. Join our virtual chat to hear about the program from some of our great volunteers and learn how you can get involved with a lights handout in your community.
We’ll also discuss Massachusetts laws around bike lights and practicalities around using lights. Come with any questions you may have about bike light usage or our #LightsBrigade program.
RSVP for October Meet-Up
Celebrate Bike Month at the Bike Bash
October 01, 2021
This Bay State Bike Month advocates like you hosted over 100 events across the commonwealth and got their wheels turning to celebrate bicycling statewide. From commuter breakfasts (like the one we hosted at CIC Boston shown above) to kids bike rodeos to historic bicycle tours– all the events on the Bay State Bike Month Calendar showed how residents across the commonwealth love bicycling. We are excited to use the tailwinds you all generated as we ride towards better bicycling for everyone in Massachusetts.
Keep the Bay State Bike Month fun going by joining us at our outdoors Bike Bash on Wednesday, October 13th! From 4:30pm-6:30pm, we’ll be partying at Assembly Row’s new Public Lawn (by the PKL courts).
We'll have food provided by The Smoke Shop BBQ and Night Shift Brewing is offering to donate $2 for every drink, so you can grab a brew and support MassBike! To get in the party mood, we’ll be joined by some musical entertainment A Trike Called Funk and Hot Molasses.
We’ll be raffling off prizes from Kryptonite, Bern Helmets, and a grand prize of a new medium-sized REI Co-op CTY E2 E-bike thanks to our friends at your local REI Co-Op. This e-bike makes getting around town breezy fun, with multimode pedal assist, a stable, upright ride, and an integrated cargo-ready rear rack.
RSVP is required to ensure we have enough snacks on hand for everyone. Free bike valet parking will be provided, so roll on down and let’s party!
RSVP For the Bike Bash @ Assembly
MassBike Meet-Up September 2021
September 16, 2021
Our MassBike September Meet-Up is on Monday, September 27th at noon, join us to learn about Cycling Education. From Safe Routes to School to Bicycling Instructor training, we'll discuss what MassBike is doing for cycling education throughout Massachusetts and how you can get involved. So grab your lunch, come with any questions you have about MassBike's cycling education work and any updates about what's been happening in your community.
Join to learn about:
- Safe Routes to School
- Older Adult Education
- Bicycle Instructor Training
RSVP
MassBike Meet-Ups happen every fourth Monday of the month, these virtual chats fill you in on our work, give you a chance to ask questions, and let us know what you’ve been working on in your community.
Bay State Bike Month is Rolling Along
September 15, 2021
Bay State Bike Month is off to a strong start- over 70 bicycling events across the state were added to our events calendar and our first bicycle challenge showed off the variety of items you can carry by bike. Make sure to find an event near you on the Bay State Bike Month Website and don’t forget to share with us how you’re celebrating Bay State Bike Month by tagging us @MassBike on social media. Keep reading to learn about more ways you can find your bike joy this September.
Be a Bike Buddy Challenge | Sep. 12th-18th
Everyone knows that bikes are better with friends! To celebrate Rolling Together Again, be a bike buddy, like Rep Nika Elugardo who shared this photo for one of our 2020 Bike Month challenges, by riding with a friend!
The "Be a Bike Buddy" challenge runs until September 18th and one lucky winner & their bike buddy will each receive a set of MassBike socks in either black or green, a MassBike Buff, and a 2021 Bay State Bike Month T-shirt so they can be bike-twins.
How to Join the Challenge:
- Take a ride with your bike buddy (bonus points if it’s a new rider) & snap a ride selfie of the both of you
- Share your story about your ride with us! Either post your photo and story on social media and tag @MassBike or email your photo and story to [email protected]
Stay tuned to our weekly Bike Month emails, MassBike’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), & the Bay State Bike Month website for details on September bicycle challenges.
Bike Month Celebration: Cycling Legends of the West End Launch Party + Roller Racing
Saturday, September 18th from 4-8pm, join MassBike and the West End Museum for Bike Month Celebration and the launch of the Cycling Legends of the West End Exhibit. The event will feature lots of bicycling fun– including roller racing set up outside the museum so you can race your friends. If racing isn't your thing, join a short bike tour to check out cycling infrastructure near the museum with MassBike.
“Cycling Legends of the West End” spotlights three fascinating characters in cycling history. The exhibit also recounts the invention of the bicycle, its popularization and innovations in the 1800s, the bike craze of the 1890s, and the renaissance of the 1970s. Come celebrate the history of bicycling and the current bike boom with MassBike & the West End Museum!
Learn More
MassCommute Bicycle Challenge | September 19th-26th
We’re gearing up for the MassCommute Bicycle Challenge, the premier event of Bay State Bike Month, which will be rolling September 19th-26th. Log your trips every day either with your Transportation Management Association (TMA) or with MassBike’s Love to Ride Group and you will be entered to win daily prizes!
If you’re participating with MassBike’s Love to Ride Group, make sure to fill out the MassCommute Bicycle Challenge Entry Form to become eligible for the daily prize drawing.
Learn More
Stay engaged with Bay State Bike Month by joining our mailing list & following MassBike on social media
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Carry It With You Challenge Recap
September 14, 2021
Glenn's bike to work set up is ready for any conditions
During our “Carry It With You” Challenge, you all show off some of your best bicycling hauls! One lucky winner received a basket from Nantucket Bike Basket Co. to help make it even easier to load up their bicycle with whatever they need to carry. Here is just a very small sampling of some the great entries we recieved:
Suzy, who says, "You can't beat taking the world with you on a bike! And of course a dog. Always a dog."
Bridge Across the Ocean - A New Book by Jack B Rochester
September 10, 2021
Jedediah Smith, Luke Lin, David Bondsman and Rick Saundersson have created the most innovative bicycle drive in history: The Spinner, a technologically advanced device that produces and stores its own energy without needing batteries. It’s 2011, and it’s ideally positioned for the just-emerging city bike market, and the world’s largest bicycle maker in Taiwan is interested.
Just before they are to leave for Taipei to meet with Joyful Bike, Luke is struck down while cycling and killed by a hit-and-run driver. Although heartbroken, the three friends decide to continue with their business trip, taking Luke’s fiancée Suzie Sun with them.
At Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, the group encounters two Japanese agents of business espionage who don’t know what they have, but nevertheless want to steal it. The “information worms” pursue the cyclists to Taipei, where the stakes grow ever higher and a battle of espionage ensues.
The guys begin negotiations with Joyful’s director of business development, Jung-Shan Lai. She takes them cycling on Joyful’s newest Dragon Fire carbon fiber bikes through Taiwan’s breathtaking scenery as they continue trying to thwart the attacks of the information worms.
Jack’s fourth novel portrays, as cyclist and author John Gantz wrote in his review, as “the span of the metaphoric bridge across the ocean (with) one end in New Hampshire and the other in Taiwan.”
Sara Dykman, author of Bicycling with Butterflies, wrote in her review, “We need stories like Bridge Across the Ocean to remind us that cycling is an act of vulnerability and an act of joy. Some readers will decide to one day bike through Taiwan. Others will daydream about breakthroughs in bike tech. Everyone will carry Luke’s story in their mind. I did all three because after all, as Joyful Bike’s CEO says, “The bicycle is my destiny.”
Join us for a Publication Party on Tuesday, September 14th at 7:30pm! You’re invited to join us for “Bikes ‘n’ Books,” our virtual publication party, where you can meet the author and Galen Mook, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, watch a video, and enter a drawing for a free copy of Bridge. Just click on RSVP here to get the zoom information to join!
RSVP Here
Read moreBay State Bike Month is Here!
September 01, 2021
Bay State Bike Month has arrived and all September long advocates across Massachusetts are hosting events to celebrate bicycling. To find a bikey event near you, you can head to the Bay State Bike Month Website to check out the Events Calendar. In addition to in-person events, MassBike is hosting a series of bicycle challenges to encourage riders to find their bike joy and ride their bike for a chance to win prizes.
Carry It With You Challenge
Bicycles are a great form of recreation, transportation, and a sustainable, self-powered way to haul stuff around town. Whether you’ve loaded up panniers, made use of a rack, or found another inventive way to carry something by bike- we want to know about it for our Carry It With You Challenge!
This challenge runs from September 1st to September 11th and one lucky winner will receive a basket from Nantucket Bike Basket Co.
How to Join the Challenge:
- Take a ride where you carry something on your bicycle & snap a pic of your carrying set up
- Share your story about what you carried with you by bike with us! Either post your photo and story on social media and tag @MassBike or email your photo and story to [email protected]
MassCommute Bicycle Challenge - September 19th-26th
Back in its 27th year, MCBC is the signature event of Bay State Bike Month. The challenge promotes and encourages logging bicycle miles and trips through friendly competition between individuals, organizations, and teams. Get ready by logging your bicycling trips as part of the MassBike Love to Ride Group or your Transportation Management Association (TMA)'s trip logging platform. Once MCBC starts, all bicycle trips you log will enter you for a chance to win some great prizes. Learn more at the MassCommute Bicycle Challenge page and stay tuned to the Bay State Bike Month website for more details.
Read more