The Wind Was A Blowin’ And The Bikers Were A Bikin’

This morning I rode to work with a whole big group of other people. I had not planned on riding with so many. I got up, looked out the window, put on my hat, put on my helmet, zipped up my sweater, pulled up my wool socks, put on my jacket, put on my shoes, wrapped a scarf around my head, put on my gloves, and was out the door (a scant ten minutes after starting). In short it wasn’t the kind of day I was expecting to run into a critical mass of cyclists. But boy was I happy to find tens of other cyclists out there braving the driving snow and in general having a grand old time.

This more than anything else screams to me that we have pedaled past some critical point. 2 years ago on a day like this you would be hard pressed to find a single cyclist out on the streets, and more than likely it would be a grizzled super commuter that had been braving this kind of weather for 25+ years. Today however, on almost any given day you will find a whole host of cyclists plying the streets of Boston/Cambridge/Somerville.

So the real question is, “what happened?” What was it that suddenly opened the flood gates to cycling. Was it gas hitting 4 dollars a gallon? The threat of global warming? The cities baby steps towards cycling infrastructure? The obesity epidemic? The horrible pain of driving in this city? The rise in popularity of fixed gears? The creation of this website (ha ha)?

My opinion is that it was a bit of each. I think we have reached the point where the snowball is rolling down the hill getting bigger and bigger. The more people that cycle, the more people see cyclists. The more they see them, the more they feel comfortable giving it a try (everyone else is doing it right?). More cyclist will drive demand for more cycling infrastructure, which in turn will draw out more people (“New bike lane! I will try riding to work.”). More cyclists on the road will condition drivers to look for cyclists leading to less accidents, plus removing people from cars means there is less cars on the road which could also lead to less accidents (data from Cambridge and others seems to show this). There are many positive feedback loops in play here, all of which are pushing more and more people to try cycling for the first time as a mode of transportation.

My prediction is that 2010 is going to be the year that cycling took a HUGE leap forward in terms of popularity in Boston. The last remaining mental barrier is this weather, when spring rolls around expect the streets to be packed with two wheeled citizens. Get your friends, get your bikes, and come be part of the fun! Till then, a big tip of my helmet to all of you pushing through this weather. While us snow riders know that winter isn’t that bad, I think we are all hoping spring gets here fast.

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