Biker Boy is a fictional superhero character created and portrayed by Zach Cone. Biker Boy promotes

bicycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

as an alternative to walking and driving, and primarily aims to increase the use of

helmets A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the Human head, head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a Custodian helmet, policeman's helmet in the Unite ...

, among both children and adults. Biker Boy is based in

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, where he frequents local biking areas to spread awareness for bicycle safety.

Character

Biker Boy is a fictional superhero who protects and serves the bicycling community. He was invented by Zach Cone, who did not initially intend to play the character as well. "I began telling stories to the kids about superheroes", Cone states in an interview with ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. " That's when I made up this character, Biker Boy, whose bike has magical powers that tells him if someone's in trouble. The kids loved it. They thought it was real and that I was Biker Boy, even though I told them I wasn't." Biker Boy has also recorded voice announcement's for Boston's

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

train and bus services, promoting bicycling as an alternative method of transportation. The recording was a part of a larger initiative by mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three mont ...

to make Boston a more bike-friendly city. Biker Boy has been consistently noted for his red cape.

Zach Cone

Zach Cone (born July 26, 1983), is a certified

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

teacher. He attended

Brookline High School Brookline High School is a four-year public high school in Brookline, Massachusetts. It is a part of Public Schools of Brookline. As of the 2023–24 school year, 2117 students were enrolled in the high school, served by 191.8 teachers (on an ...

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

, where he realized he could sleep longer by biking to school. Cone began teaching pre-school while he was in college, often telling the students superhero stories. He invented Biker Boy originally as an external character, but the students thought he was talking about himself, hence Cone eventually assuming the role of Biker Boy himself. Cone states on the development of his character, "Six months ago I drove cross-country with some friends. We brought our bikes so we could ride as much as possible. That's when I realized Boston has a lot of work to do to be a bike friendly city and I decided to be part of the solution." When asked, "How are you the solution to Boston's bicycle problem?" Cone, as Biker Boy, immediately responded "I talk to people politely. There's too much anger in the first place. And I encourage them to wear helmets."Jonathan Simmons
"On Biking: Have no fear, Biker Boy is here"
''The Boston Globe'', June 2, 2010. (accessed 2 June 2010).

References

{{Reflist Public service announcement characters Male characters in advertising Cycling safety Public service announcements Healthcare in Boston Mascots introduced in 2010