Cyclists came to the Vineyard from all over the world to participate in the annual Multiple Sclerosis ride. Many of them were personally affected by multiple sclerosis, either by diagnosis or being close to someone who has been diagnosed.

Oak Bluffs chief of police Erik Blake took the outside route to inside bicycling. Now he teaches a Tuesday morning spin interval class at Blitz Fitness in West Tisbury.

More than 600 cyclists showed up at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School on a sunny, breezy morning to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Boys' and Girls' Club.

George Bernard Shaw once said, “You see things, and you say, Why? But I dream things that never were and I say, Why not?” For Kimberly Cartwright, founder and owner of the indoor cycling studio Om of Motion, the quotation carries weight.

“Om is my Why not?’” Ms. Cartwright states on her website, omofmotion.com.

It’s a mistake to think that all significant events are unusual or out of the commonplace, or surrounded by some sensational circumstances. Take a man or a woman rounding a corner on a bicycle. That looks, maybe, like a pretty routine occurrence. But perhaps it isn’t.

At 5:30 in the morning, most of the tires on the road are bicycle wheels. Cyclists hit the pavement early, avoiding the hassles of traffic and marveling at the dawn glow that bathes the Island. Some cyclists are commuting to work, some are out for a quick pedal, some are preparing for future competitions.

Less than two months after earning rights to share the new
Martha's Vineyard Skatepark, bikers are once again being told to
keep out.

The reversal came Monday night during an emotional parks department
meeting moments after commissioners heard pleas from teenage bikers
anxious to stay in the park. In the end, commissioners bowed to the
advice of Oak Bluffs' insurance agent and town counsel to ban
bikers.

It was built for skateboarders after a grassroots effort that lasted
years, but less than three months after the Martha's Vineyard
Skatepark opened in Oak Bluffs, the skaters are dealing with some
uninvited guests - bicyclists.

A few weeks ago I went on a bike trip to Woods Hole with a group from The Anchors in Edgartown. We rode the bike path to North Falmouth and back, a pretty ride past a stretch of beach and a varied landscape of woods, fields and cranberry bog. As I pedaled along, shifting my 18 gears, a helmet planted firmly on my head, I remembered my first trip to Martha’s Vineyard. I arrived then on a three-speed Raleigh with an army surplus saddlebag slung over the rear fender and nothing but hair on my head.