A Champion For Cycling In Boston

"Blue track suit billowing, Mayor Thomas M. Menino pedaled up Congress Street, legs churning against a stiff wind that turned a ceremonial half-mile ride into an exercise in perseverance.

"I didn't think we'd ride into a hurricane," the mayor shouted from his Specialized bicycle.

The mayor's campaign to make Boston a bike-friendly city has forced to him to fight headwinds of another sort: an entrenched transportation culture that has long considered the car the king of the road.

But seven months after Menino announced the initiative, advocates say the bike, long an afterthought in city road projects, is at least some getting respect.

In July, the city plans to unveil its first designated bike lanes, on Commonwealth Avenue between the Boston University Bridge and Kenmore Square. The city may also add bike lanes to Massachusetts Avenue between Albany Street and Huntington Avenue, Tremont Street along Boston Common, and on American Legion Highway, which runs past Franklin Park.

By year's end, officials plan to install 250 bike racks across the city and 750 over the next three years."

"This year, Bicycling Magazine put Boston on its list of up-and-coming cities, dubbed "5 for the future." The magazine said that "central to Boston's noteworthy move is Mayor Thomas Menino's newfound love of cycling." "