MassBike Hosted Webinars

Wednesday, August 5 @ 12p: Why W’Ebike: Practical Ebike Experiences, Ride Farther, Have Fun and Be Healthy

In the last few years, electric bikes have grown in popularity, and within the past few months b/c of the shutdown, e-bike sales have skyrocketed. Recent advances in technology have allowed batteries to become smaller, lighter, cheaper, and longer range, enhancing the usefulness, appeal, and affordability of these machines. Join us as we talk about e-bikes, including the policies and legislation being worked on by MassBike, different types of bikes and buying/maintenance tips from local bike shops, the benefits of regional e-bike share, and hear from some e-bikes owners about their experiences on a boosted two-wheels.

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How MA Bike Laws are Made

Most laws and regulations that affect your riding are made on a statewide level, and involve a lot of tough conversations about crafting legislation, enforcement, education, and insurance. To help step us through the process of creating bicycling laws, and to see how they are implemented in the real world, we're inviting State Senator Will Brownsberger (Second Suffolk and Middlesex District) and Josh Zisson a lawyer from Bike Safe Boston for an informational webinar.

Join us on July 7 for an hour discussion of presentation and Q&A with the Senator to answer your questions about the status of certain bills such as An Act to reduce traffic fatalities and An Act relative to automated enforcement, and with Josh to hear of examples from his profession dealing with the aftermath of crashes on our roadways.

Please stay tuned for a recap of the event and the link to the conversation on our YouTube channel.

Pedaling Through the Pages

Join in on a conversation with two bicycle book authors Larry Finison and Christina Uss as they discuss their work in researching and writing about the cultural, historical, and inspiring aspects of the bicycle. These two authors represent two very different approaches to bicycling literature; historical non-fiction and children's books. 

Larry Finison comes with an historical lens as he details his research and explorations of Boston's bicycling history with his books Boston's Bicycle Craze, 1880-1900: A Story of Race, Sport, and Society and Boston's Twentieth Century Bicycling Renaissance: Cultural Change on Two Wheels. And Christina Uss remembers the joys of bicycling as a kid in her book The Adventures of a Girls Called Bicycle, about an introverted 12-year-old girl learning to make friends by riding her bike from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco.

This is an hour long lunchtime workshop to hear stories from the other side of the page about the research and discovered voices that bring bicycling, both fiction and non-fiction, to life. The authors will read from their works, talk about the writing process, and answer questions you'll bring about bicycling as told through the pages of a book. You can see the whole presentation on our MassBike YouTube Channel HERE.

ABCs of Bike Maintenance w/ Hamilton-Wenham Library

We all know that bicycling is a great way to get around town, keep fit, and reduce your carbon footprint. And especially during this time of quarantine, going on a bike ride is a great way to keep yourself sane by clearing your head (while keeping distance from others). But, along with your sanity, you've also got to maintain your bike if you want your ride to go as planned... so we're here to help you know what to check so you're ready to roll. Please join us for an evening virtual workshop to cover how to maintain your bike to keep you riding safe and smooth. We'll go through the basics in an hour-long presentation to cover how to diagnose your bike's ABCs (Air, Brakes, and Chain). You'll come away with bit of home-mechanic know-how, so you can check the condition of your bike, and also fix your bike when things start to go awry.

From DC to Your Block: How National, Regional, and State Advocacy Groups Build a Bicycle Movement

Do you wonder how national, state, and local groups build a bicycle movement that reaches from your hometown bike lane all the way up to the halls of power in Washington, DC? Join us for a discussion with a collection of policy wonks from statewide, regional, and national advocacy organizations. We'll host Ken McLeod from the League of American Bicyclists, Andrew Dupuy from the Rails to Trails Conservancy, and Kristine Keeney from the East Coast Greenway Alliance to detail some of the work in Washington, on Beacon Hill, and regionally that goes into our paths and trails. We discuss federal and state policies that go into our transportation funding, outline regional coordination that'd building out in a network of rail-trails throughout New England, and remember how each frustrating local battle helps move the needle for all of us. See the whole presentation video of the webinar, and see here for the slides from the presentation.

Bikepacking the Bay Circuit Trail

Feeling cooped up during the stay at home order? We've got a cure: Take a trip out in the woods by bike! We hosted a lunch + learn conversation about bike packing around Massachusetts, featuring adventurous bike packers who traversed the Bay Circuit Trail, a 230-mi trek through 37 cities and towns that loop the outskirts of Greater Boston! We featured stories from Jamie Lent who rode the entire trail in 2019, some awesome photos, and a Q&A. We also hosted a short "How to Go on a Bike Overnight" presentation from Adventure Cycling Association to detail some basic bike travel skills. See the whole presentation video of the webinar on our YouTube channel. And check out the slides from the presentation here.

Know Your Bike Laws w/ Bike Safe Boston

What should you do if you're right hooked by a driver when riding? Do you have to stay to the far right in the vehicle travel lane when riding? What if someone opens a car door and steps out and you bike into them? Can cops really take a kid's bicycle if they're not wearing a helmet?... We've heard a lot of questions about how to interpret the laws pertaining to bicyclists and bicycling in Massachusetts, and we gotta admit it's a bit confusing when you dig into the Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 85, Section 11B. To help us understand some of the nuances, we've invited bike lawyer Josh Zisson from Bike Safe Boston to host a discussion of the rights and responsibilities of all road users out there. For this hour-long event, we covered the laws, what can happen if you break them, and what you should know if you're ever in a crash. See the whole presentation on our YouTube channel.