ADVOCACY 101: 6 ORGANIZATIONS THAT CARE ABOUT YOUR ACCESS TO SAFE AND ENJOYABLE RIDING

In an effort to harness your recreational and lifestyle interests, the Bible brings all bicycle-related, Massachusetts-based organizations together into a short survey for your edification. We want to emphasize the depth of the biking community in Boston, and encourage both the seasoned and the uninitiated to join in. Read on and see how you can help make Boston one of the best cities for bicycles.

Bikes Not Bombs

What is Bikes Not Bombs? An activist slogan? A bike shop selling reconditioned bikes? A youth center with bicycle training programs for teens? A place to donate my old bike? An international development organization shipping donated bikes to programs in Africa and Latin America? . . . Actually, it’s all of the above. It is easy to be confused by the vast scope of Bikes Not Bombs (BNB)’s work, but if you are interested in combining a love of bicycles with a commitment to social justice, BNB is the place for you. There are many ways to get involved, from volunteering with a wrench (no experience required) to volunteering on a computer, donating bikes, donating money to our Building Fund, learning mechanics, working with youth, or even traveling overseas!

Bikes Not Bombs began in 1984 as an anti-militarist organization, shipping donated bikes to Nicaragua in defiance of the US embargo and US military aid funding the contra war. BNB set up shops and trained mechanics, bringing in hundreds of bikes to jumpstart the country’s fledgling bicycle industry and provide affordable, environmentally-friendly transportation. While the international work continued, BNB made a commitment to local work in 1990, and took root in Boston’s inner-city with a youth training center and bike shop open to the public in Roxbury, MA.

Now in our 22nd year, Bikes Not Bombs has sent over 25,000 donated bikes to projects in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and New Orleans. We created a bike shop and youth center in Diepsloot South Africa which is now successfully entering its second year of operation. Our co-ed youth Earn-A-Bike programs here in Roxbury runs 6 courses a year, turning out 10-15 teens per session who are new cyclists riding a bike they have rebuilt and earned for themselves. We’ve trained over 1600 youth in on-the-bike riding safety. We offer girls-only programs year round, and provide teen job training in mechanics. Graduates of our job training can be employed in our full-service bike shop, which sells new and used parts, repairs customer bikes, and offers reconditioned bikes for sale (including custom builds to your specifications).

So check out www.bikesnotbombs.org, send us an email at mail@bikesnotbombs.org, or call 617-442-0004. Every Wednesday night from 7-10pm, you can drop in and join our volunteer crew, processing donated bikes or helping in the office. You can become a tutor for teens, or take our mechanics courses and become a teacher in our Earn-A-Bike youth classes. Donate a bike, help transport bike donations, or check out our many other volunteer opportunities. We also need riders and volunteers for our June 11th Bike-A-Thon. This year we especially need donations to our Building Fund, which will pay for the construction and moving BNB to a long-term home. If you can donate $250 or more (or make a pledge of this amount) before May 15th, your money will be matched by a large donor! We need your help now more than ever to maintain our commitment to community.

Charles River Wheelmen

Twelve cyclists gathered in Cambridge, MA. They sat on their brick-like leather saddles, and proudly admired their flock of heavy, 10-speed steel bikes. Though comfortable wool cycling attire was available, this group resolutely shunned current fashion. There were no hard-shell helmets, no handlebar mounted gear shifts, and no power bars. Hand signal execution was highly creative. One cyclist who participated in the ride told me “we looked like a bunch of farmers.” Motorists were shocked to see adults on bikes.

The year was 1966, and the occasion was the Charles River Wheelmen (CRW) inaugural ride. None of the riders would have imagined that they were starting a tradition that would continue for forty years, and evolve into a highly organized club with a densely packed rides calendar, over 100 ride leaders, a monthly newsletter, a well-maintained website, and dedicated cycling safety advocates.

CRW has grown to 1291 active members who get together for rides and social events in the Boston area. It is a nonprofit, totally volunteer organization, whose main objective is to provide high quality year-round recreational rides with a friendly, social atmosphere. Rides are open to the general public. CRW ride leaders enjoy mapping out and sharing their favorite routes. Rides typically start in the greater Boston area, including the North Shore, South Shore and Metro West.

The club offers a variety of rides including arrowed, cue sheet, and follow-the-leader rides. There are intro rides, fitness rides, master’s rides, ice cream rides and Wednesday morning rides. In addition, there are weekend tours to Vermont and New Hampshire, five-day trips to Canada, century rides, and even a double century ride.

CRW organizes four century rides per year, two of which include a one-mile climb up Mt. Wachusett (“Climb to the Clouds”). Hundreds of participants take part in these events. CRW provides well-marked arrowed routes, food and water stops, mechanical and technical support, and great camaraderie. These highly organized centuries allow cyclists the chance to push one another, and stress the powers of their endurance. Or, for casual riders like me, these rides offer the chance to linger at the food stops, while discussing travel adventures, books, and current events with new and old friends.

The next century takes place Sunday, May 21st. On Saturday, July 29th, CRW will host a ride and party to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Visit crw.org for event registration and more information.

Hub On Wheels

HUB ON WHEELS – CITYWIDE BIKE RIDE & FESTIVAL
Discover Boston At Bike Level!
Coming October 1st!
www.HubOnWheels.org

How long have you lived in Boston? How much of it have you really seen? Hub on Wheels is a chance to join thousands of other people on a leisurely ride from City Hall Plaza, along a car-free Storrow Drive, and then around your choice of 2-mile, 10-mile, 20-mile, 30-mile or 40-mile loops around the city complete with rest stops, refresh-ments and entertainment. A pancake breakfast will be available on the plaza before the ride and a BBQ lunch afterwards – along with an entire Festival of games, music, BMX and HiWheeler bike demonstrations, end-of-season bike sales, team competitions, vendor expo, and more.

TAKE A RIDE, HELP THE KIDS
Hub on Wheels brings people together from the city and suburbs to celebrate the pleasures of cycling and share Boston’s parks, neighborhoods, diversity and architectural beauty – while helping Boston’s kids.

100% of your registration donation goes to support the programs of the Boston Digital Bridge Foundation which works with the Boston Public Schools and community organizations to use technology to improve educational outcomes, create opportunity, and change the lives of inner-city children and their families. The registration donation runs from $15 on up, depending on your age and how soon you sign up. Incentives for larger donations are available.

Hub on Wheels occurs on Sunday, October 1, 2006. Riders leave City Hall plaza at 8 AM; the festival runs from 10 AM to 1 PM. Discounted downtown parking next to City Hall is available for those driving in.

For more information, please check www.HubOnWheels.org

SUMMER ACTIVITIES AS WELL
Like ice cream? Interested in women’s history or ethnic history? Want to explore the city? Want exercise and meet great people? Come to our free Community Rides-- low-key fun from March through New Years! These shorter rides are a great weekend experience. Each of the rides is guided by community members who will lead you to points of thematic interest along a carefully designed route. For the latest schedule and more details, www.HubOnWheels.org

HAVING FUN, DOING GOOD
The beneficiary of Hub on Wheels is the Boston Digital Bridge Foundation (BDBF). a non-profit corporation providing technology training and computer equipment to underserved communities. The Foundation’s mission is to increase academic scores, provide opportunity-creating skills, and encourage life-changing attitudes in parents and students. 7,000 participants have graduated from BDBF programs in six neighborhoods and forty-five Boston Public Schools.

LivableStreets Alliance: Rethinking Urban Transportation

For more information on LivableStreets Alliance, visit www.livablestreets.info.

When it comes to balanced, sustainable transportation, there’s no question: Boston is behind the curve. The average Boston commuter sits in traffic for 45-minutes a day; rides an overcrowded mass transit system; or struggles to bike unconnected trails and unfriendly streets. For a city dependent on educated, “creative class” professionals Boston has done little to build a transportation system that really works, especially when compared with cities like Portland, OR, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boulder. And the Massachusetts legislature and Governor have yet to deliver on their promise to reinvest in transit, while T fares are scheduled to go up again.

LivableStreets Alliance believes that strong urban transportation can make Boston a more connected, livable city. We’re a non-profit committed to creating a safe, convenient, and affordable transportation network that meets the needs of everyone, whether they ride the T, walk, bike, or – yes, we’ll say it – drive a car. Looking for a city with vibrant local neighborhoods? Thriving small business districts? A true sense of community? Livable streets is an important part of the equation. And, call us crazy – but we even think that getting where you need to go should be half the fun.

There’s a global conversation happening about rethinking how transportation should work in cities. Our activities and events encourage people to think outside the box. Our recent series of forums at the Museum of Science showcased cities and technologies from around the world that are changing the way people get where they need to go, and engaged citizens in a dialogue about the future of transportation in Boston.

Strong partnerships deliver results, so we’re working with some of the area’s best transportation advocacy groups who are improving conditions for transit riders, pedestrians, bicyclists, and persons with disabilities.

We pull it all together with our online calendar, a 1-stop-shop for local events and activities from bike rides to presentations to important public meetings, and our newsletter which goes out to over 1,000 people each month.

Local community groups look to us for help getting the traffic calming they want to make their streets more livable. Area “Main Streets” programs, which focus on neighborhood development and economic revitalization, are excited about our ideas for improving pedestrian safety and by our innovative parking concepts.

We get in the trenches too, becoming directly involved in projects where we can make a difference. In partnership with other advocates, Mass Highway, and the City of Boston, we’ve influenced the design for an upcoming reconstruction project on Commonwealth Avenue between the BU Bridge and Kenmore Square. Our input will make Comm Ave. safer and better for pedestrians, mass transit users, bikers, and drivers alike.

If the heart of the BU campus isn’t a prime location for a livable street, we don’t know what is.

N E M B A

Ride the Trails -- Save the Trails
Come Mountain Bike with the NEMBA

Come experience the fun and exhilaration of the healthy sport of mountain biking with the New England Mountain Bike Association. NEMBA holds hundreds of mountain bike rides each year throughout the region, and many are easily accessible from Boston.

With 18 chapters and around 4600 members, NEMBA’s mission is to promote mountain biking and to protect mountain biking trail access on public lands. The group holds hundreds of rides, completes scores of trail care projects, and puts on many fun cycling events throughout the region. Whether you’re a veteran mountain biker or just starting out, joining NEMBA will open up a wealth of riding opportunities and help keep mountain biking alive and well in New England. Your membership will help protect the trails and the sport.

NEMBA offers many ways for you to enjoy your mountain bike. Their Topeak-Kenda Mountain Bike Adventure Series stages charity rides that have a festive atmosphere. On June 11, they are holding their annual mountain bike festival, just south of Boston, and on June 25, they will be holding a fundraising mountain bike event for the Lynn Woods Reservation, north of Boston. Both events will feature led rides for all abilities --families included-- and marked riding loops that promise to be a lot of fun.

NEMBA members are as passionate about protecting our open spaces as they are about mountain biking. Recipient of the EPA’s Environmental Merit Award, NEMBA’s Trail Care Series lets volunteers give back to the trails and help keep them in good condition. Expert crew leaders design the projects and are always on hand to show first-timers how to build great trails and preserve existing ones. Even if you’ve never built or worked on trails, we have staff to make sure you have a great and productive time giving back to the trails. Most trail care events end with a complementary lunch and a ride!

NEMBA’s website, www.NEMBA.org, has a wealth of information about where to ride and how to get the most out of the sport. Besides maps and informative articles, they host an active online “forum” that has created a vibrant cyber-community of mountain bikers. So whether you’re looking for tips about the best bikes, looking for a ride or want to keep up on the latest in mountain bike advocacy, check out their forum for the latest buzz about what’s going on in the world of mountain biking.

When you send in your tax-deductible membership, you’ll receive a year’s worth of NEMBA’s magazine, SingleTracks, which lists all of their events and rides, a membership card and some NEMBA stickers for your bike, helmet and car. More than that, you receive the satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping to give back to the trails and to the sport you enjoy. Joining NEMBA will open up a new world of mountain biking and provide you with meaningful ways to make the trails a better place to ride.

MassBike’s Advocacy: Making a Difference

If you ride a bike in the Boston area, you should be a part of MassBike. The statewide bicycling advocacy group, founded in 1977, has more than 1800 members across the state and can help you plug into the local cycling community through rides, socials, and volunteer nights. MassBike’s members also give us the power to make change, including the following:

1. Legislative Advocacy. MassBike helped pass the Bicycle/Pedestrian Access Law, which requires that new roadway project designs must provide equal access for bicyclists and pedestrians. Massachusetts is one of only four states nationwide with such a law.

2. Safe Routes to School. MassBike worked with the federal congressional delegation to win more than $5 million over the next five years to help make it safer for kids to bike and walk to school.

3. Bike Paths. MassBike works to help create bike paths, including the Minuteman Trail, now the second most popular rail-trail in the nation.

4. Motorist Awareness. In 2004, MassBike helped pass a law requiring the RMV to update the Driver’s Manual and driver’s test to include bike safety information.

5. Police Training. MassBike developed a national police bike law training curriculum, which is now employed in Massachusetts by state and local police. Educated officers make cyclists safer.

6. MBTA Bike Access. MassBike’s advocacy convinced the MBTA to allow bikes on the subway and commuter rail. Over the next year, 400 buses will also be equipped with bike racks.

Want to get involved?

Come to some of MassBike’s upcoming events, including the Bike Week Kickoff Party at Redbones BBQ (55 Chester Street, Davis Square) on Monday, May 15; our monthly volunteer nights; or MassBike’s Fourth Annual Bike Festival, held at Verrill Farm in Concord on Saturday, August 26.

You can also register for one of MassBike’s many free cycling safety classes (off-bike, held in the evening) or an all-day, on bike training to help you navigate city traffic ($50 regular, $40 for MassBike members or participants in partner charity rides). Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced cyclist, you’ll leave with useful skills and tips to keep you riding faster, better, and safer on the roads.

For more information about these fun cycling events, bike safety, or bike advocacy in Massachusetts, or to join MassBike, visit www.massbike.org.