Boston Bike Story: Tea Su

I’ve been biking my whole life. I used to bike to school when I was in middle school and college. Where I grew up in China, people would bike together and take the street because there were no bike lanes. When I came to America, I took my folding bike on the plane because I knew I wanted to bike when I got here.

I choose to bike because I’m not used to thinking about bike safety too much, so I have the courage to bike. My favorite bike experience is biking to the Blue Hills with my cycling team on the weekends. I learned a lot of hand signals from my cycling team and how to bike safely here. I understand why cyclists sometimes bike aggressively because we have to protect ourselves on the road.

I take every chance in school to present about bikes. (Once I did a presentation about bike safety for my classmates. Another time I did one about how hesitant international students are to join clubs after I joined the cycling club.) I’ve also done research on biking in Boston. I talk to my friends about biking and some of them have started after hearing me talk about it so much. Tons of people, even strangers, ask me about my folding bike because they want to buy one too. Biking has helped me make connections.” — Tea Su, Jamaica Plain


This story is part of the Bike Union’s Boston Bike Story project. Read more stories here.