I used to have no qualms about bicycling on Boston city streets. Then again, in my 20s I did a lot of reckless things, like go to work without a morning shower, eat cake for dinner, go 2 years between pap smears, forgo ear plugs at punk shows, rent cars without the extra insurance, order burritos on dates, smoke cigarettes, and talk to homeless people. But age confers wisdom, and fear. And while death, dismemberment, and disfigurement could just as readily occur as I cower in my home eating vegetables, whole grains and fish-oil capsules on my yoga mat, somehow my natural instinct tells me that perching my flesh and blood on top of a puny diamond-shaped frame and pedaling in the same cramped space as cars, taxis, construction vehicles, buses, duck boats, and jaywalkers is just batshit dangerous.
After many years neglecting the plight of his city’s cyclists — who can forget when he disbanded the Bicycle Advisory Committee? — Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is concertedly trying to make Boston a “bicyclists’ haven”. What brought about this change of policy? Was it because Menino finally headed the advocacy groups who complain how city cyclists are regularly harassed, hurt, and even killed? Is it because cycling is good for the urban and global environment? Is it because Boston just can’t accommodate any more cars? No, it’s because Menino has finally put his fat ass on a bike and discovered, “Hey, cycling in Boston is pretty effing scary.”
In response to this epiphany, Menino appointed Boston’s first ever “bike czar,” a former Olympic cyclist who “wants to make big changes, but is focusing first on simpler projects, like adding bike lanes and encouraging more people to ride, by awarding businesses that encourage cycling.” Yeah, before you make any changes to the traffic patterns and laws that imperil cyclists, just flood the streets with cyclists! Like war, when soldiers are used as cannon fodder to attain a greater strategic aim. Every cyclist’s death will bring a little more public awareness.
Personally, it’ll take a lot to get me back on a bike as a mode of transport in Boston. I need bike lanes that rival the size of car lanes; real crackdowns on double-parking, speeding, and reckless driving; a ban on driving while handling a cell phone; and a major attitude adjustment among drivers who think it’s okay to ‘threaten’ cyclists with their 2-tons of metal. Maybe they should all follow Menino’s lead and try getting on a bike.
