Every day, for three weeks since the Park&Pedal Fest 2016 celebration, I have arrived at the Herter Park&Pedal hub for my morning commute around 8:15am. And without exception, every day it has been full. Fortunately for me, at Herter, there is plenty of overflow parking. For the last three weeks I’ve noticed that the number of Park&Pedalers in the overflow parking has been growing, sometimes exceeding the number of Park&Pedalers in the sanctioned spaces.
Today I pulled up next to a woman who looked to be in her 60’s taking a bike off her car which she had parked in one of the overflow spaces. She did not look like a seasoned cyclist, but rather someone who might usually encourage her kids to ride their bikes, but stay in the comfort of her car for her own trips. Just like everyone else I have talked to on these great mornings of Park&Pedaling, she just loved the idea, and had, for the first time in many years, changed her routine of getting in her car and battling traffic all the way to work. She told me she was riding six miles in to work at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and was getting exercise and feeling a “mental health improvement” from not sitting in gridlock traffic. I nodded my head in agreement. What a great way to start off a beautiful Friday morning.
