Cyclists Take Over the Boston Marathon Course
- 5 years ago
While runners were getting their last sleep before the Boston Marathon, hundreds of cyclists headed to Hopkinton to ride the course. The Midnight Marathon Bike Ride gives those that didn’t get into the race a chance to enjoy the historic route.
The ride’s founder, Greg Hum, said the ride started when he was a student at Boston University. “It started off with me and a couple friends in college thinking it would be fun to bring our bikes on the commuter rail train out to the starting line of the marathon route, and then bike back into the city to our college dorms.”
Now in its eleventh year, the event has become an unofficial Boston tradition. One year, in 2013, the Midnight Marathon Bike Ride worked with the Boston commuter rail to charter a train with 700 cyclists and their bikes all loaded on the train out to the start.
After the bombing in 2013, The Boston MBTA commuter rail banned bikes on the trains during the marathon weekend, so Hum hired moving vans to transport up to 300 bikes from downtown Boston to the start in Hopkinton. They sold tickets for $30 to transport bikes, and the money is used to pay for the next year’s vans and support local bike advocacy programs. Hum said, “The silver lining is that we do get to support local bike advocacy.”
Cyclists filled the 10:40 train from Boston South Station to the start in Hopkinton, where they were reunited with their bikes. From there, a stream of cyclists rode their way along the course. Local bike shop Crimson Bikes supported the ride with rest stop snacks and mechanical assistance. Some residents along the route set up camp in their lawns to cheer on riders.
The mostly downhill route made the ride friendly for casual cyclists, and even other modes of transportation. “We’ve had unicyclists come,” said Hum. “At least one unicycle every year since I’ve done this. We’ve had packs of rollerbladers come do the marathon route with us in the middle of the night. We’ve even had packs of skateboarders come do the ride in the middle of the night. So we’ve got all modes of transportation.” Riders also encountered runners taking part in the tradition of running from the finish line out to the start, to take part in the official race.
While the ride has become part of a tradition, Hum said not to expect the ride to become a part of the official Boston Marathon program. “This whole ride kind of depends on the idea that we’re sharing this tradition with them, and not in an official capacity, because we are riding bikes and we’re not running. And it’s not a race. We’re just doing the ride purely out of fun, and if people decide to race each other, that’s up to them.”
The ride’s founder, Greg Hum, said the ride started when he was a student at Boston University. “It started off with me and a couple friends in college thinking it would be fun to bring our bikes on the commuter rail train out to the starting line of the marathon route, and then bike back into the city to our college dorms.”
Now in its eleventh year, the event has become an unofficial Boston tradition. One year, in 2013, the Midnight Marathon Bike Ride worked with the Boston commuter rail to charter a train with 700 cyclists and their bikes all loaded on the train out to the start.
After the bombing in 2013, The Boston MBTA commuter rail banned bikes on the trains during the marathon weekend, so Hum hired moving vans to transport up to 300 bikes from downtown Boston to the start in Hopkinton. They sold tickets for $30 to transport bikes, and the money is used to pay for the next year’s vans and support local bike advocacy programs. Hum said, “The silver lining is that we do get to support local bike advocacy.”
Cyclists filled the 10:40 train from Boston South Station to the start in Hopkinton, where they were reunited with their bikes. From there, a stream of cyclists rode their way along the course. Local bike shop Crimson Bikes supported the ride with rest stop snacks and mechanical assistance. Some residents along the route set up camp in their lawns to cheer on riders.
The mostly downhill route made the ride friendly for casual cyclists, and even other modes of transportation. “We’ve had unicyclists come,” said Hum. “At least one unicycle every year since I’ve done this. We’ve had packs of rollerbladers come do the marathon route with us in the middle of the night. We’ve even had packs of skateboarders come do the ride in the middle of the night. So we’ve got all modes of transportation.” Riders also encountered runners taking part in the tradition of running from the finish line out to the start, to take part in the official race.
While the ride has become part of a tradition, Hum said not to expect the ride to become a part of the official Boston Marathon program. “This whole ride kind of depends on the idea that we’re sharing this tradition with them, and not in an official capacity, because we are riding bikes and we’re not running. And it’s not a race. We’re just doing the ride purely out of fun, and if people decide to race each other, that’s up to them.”