The Boston Cyclists Union is proud to announce the winners of the 2020 Golden Cog Awards, which honor leadership and contributions to promote biking in Boston:

• The Ride for Black Lives (Organizers: Alex Joachim, Tiffany Cogell, Elijah Mandela Evans, Laura Gray, Greg Hum, Chris Aileen Ditunno, Saskia VannJames, Noah Hicks and Peter Cheung)
   
• Vivian Ortiz (Super Volunteer, Do-Everything-Advocate, Bike Ambassador to All. League of American Bicyclists Board Member and Certified Cycling Instructor, Safe Routes to School Outreach Coordinator)

Please join us on December 3rd for the Golden Cog Awards (attendance is FREE) to thank our honorees! You’ll get to hear from the winners and thank them in person. (Well, virtually at least.) Plus, we’ll update you on our work and celebrate many milestone achievements this year — including brand new bike lanes! 

The Golden Cog Awards
Thursday, Dec. 3rd
7:30 – 8:15 p.m.

Please join us in congratulating
the 2020 Golden Cog Award winners!

The Ride for Black Lives
Left to right: Alex Joachim, Chris Aileen Ditunno, Saskia VannJames, Tiffany Cogell, Greg Hum, Noah Hicks, Peter Cheung (Not pictured: Elijah Mandela Evans, Laura Gray)

The Ride for Black Lives is a bike ride in solidarity with the fight against systems and acts of oppression, police brutality against, criminal injustice system against, and murder of Black people, including and especially those who are LGBTQ+’, disabled, poor, and under control of the criminal justice system. 

The Ride for Black Lives began this year amid the nationwide reckoning with racism, police violence and the criminal justice system. The ride rallied hundreds of supporters every month for inspiring shows of support in the fights against racism and injustice. And by bringing these issues to the forefront through biking, it forced the bike community itself to reflect and take steps to become more inclusive, representative and a better ally in building a more just society.
 

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Vivian Ortiz 

Vivian grew up in El Paso, TX, and has lived in Boston since 2009. You can find her leading her neighbors on bike rides on the Neponset River Greenway trail in Mattapan as That Bike Lady. She became car-free in 2007 and started riding a bicycle in 2015. The following year, she attended her first National Bike Summit and also traveled to Boise, ID, to become a League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor. Vivian serves on a number of boards, including the League of American Bicyclists, Boston Nature Center Sanctuary Committee, LivableStreets Alliance, and the Neponset River Greenway Council. Vivian is the Metro Boston outreach coordinator for the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School program.
 

Whether she’s teaching people how to bike, speaking up in public meetings, or volunteering for seemingly every BCU campaign and event, Vivian does everything she can to spread the joy of biking to everyone in Greater Boston. She is a committed advocate for safe streets and an equitable, accessible bike network; an exemplary organizer always eager to engage her neighbors and build coalitions; and a beloved local leader dedicated to fostering a bigger, stronger and more inclusive bike community. Vivian is known to all.

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Stay tuned! We’ll be announcing some surprise guest speakers soon.

Until then, RSVP to the event, and we’ll see you on December 3rd!

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A special thank you to our lead sponsors